John Cena retires: How the greats go out

The last time is now for WWE legend John Cena – who has hung up the jorts forever after his final match.

The 17-time world champion has retired from professional wrestling after an almost 25-year spell with WWE.

John Cena saw his career come to an end with a submission defeat to The Ring General Gunther in Washington, D.C. on 13 December. Now, BBC Bitesize looks back at how some other sporting legends have ended their careers and the remarkable way some of the greats have gone out.

John Cena

Let’s address the pair of elephants in the room with John Cena’s upcoming retirement.

Firstly – yes – we’re well aware that the world of professional wrestling is more sports entertainment than a traditional sport but the athleticism involved is second to none. Secondly, can a WWE retirement ever be considered genuine?

More wrestlers have retired and returned than we could possibly list here – but the likes of Shawn Michaels, Trish Stratus, AJ Lee and Stone Cold Steve Austin have all called time on their careers, only to step inside the squared circle at least once more.

But Cena insists that his defeat to Gunther was his final match and that this is an honest retirement, as he chooses to focus full time on his television and movie work. He announced in 2024 that the following year would be his last as a wrestler and has competed in matches around the world in 2025, winning both the WWE and the Intercontinental championships and even briefly turning heel (becoming a bad guy) for the first time in his career.

For those surprised that Cena was defeated in his final match - in particular, the manner, tapping out and giving up for the first time in two decades - it's customary for a wrestler to pass the torch on to another competitor and take the loss when ending their career. And after that loss, his catchphrase of ‘You Can’t See Me’ is now becoming all too real for fans.

Zinedine Zidane

Arguably one of the greatest footballers of all time, Zinedine Zidane won it all. The French midfielder picked up league titles in Italy and Spain, the Champions League with Real Madrid – and won the World Cup and European Championships with France.

He then went on to become one of Real Madrid’s greatest managers ever – winning the Champions League three years in a row.

But he’s still best known to some for his final action as a professional footballer – headbutting an opponent in the chest in the World Cup final.

Zidane’s France were taking on Italy in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin and the Frenchman had given his country the lead with a first-half penalty.

Italy levelled things up and the game – which Zidane had announced would be his final match ever in football – went to extra time. With just minutes remaining, Zidane was involved in a controversial off the ball incident.

The French captain headbutted defender Marco Materazzi in the chest – flooring the Italian, later revealing it was in response to insulting comments made about his sister.

The referee issued Zidane a red card – and the final act the Frenchmen made as a footballer was to forlornly walk past the World Cup trophy on his way to the dressing room.

Stuart Broad

Given England’s trials and tribulations in the 2025-26 Ashes series, how they could do with a bowler like Stuart Broad at the moment.

The pace bowler is England’s second greatest Test wicket-taker with 604 – putting him in the top five all-time bowlers in world cricket.

But taking that 604th wicket was his final action as a professional sportsman.

In 2023 during the Ashes series, Broad announced midway through the final Test that he intended on retiring from all forms of cricket.

The following morning, Broad – along with his long-term bowling attack partner James Anderson – was given a guard of honour by the Australians as he took to the field at the Oval to resume batting. The pair’s brief last stand at the crease saw Broad hit a colossal six from his final-ever faced delivery.

Not a bad way to go out – but Broad had one more trick up his sleeve. With England looking for the Test win they needed to draw the series, Broad picked up a wicket leaving the hosts chasing one more to claim victory.

A tiring Broad seemed to know it was the final over he’d be given and summoned one last effort, forcing Alex Carey to nick one behind to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.

Fittingly it was Anderson who reached Broad to celebrate with him first – as his career ended perfectly, with a six from his final ball faced and a wicket from his last ever delivery.

Jill Scott and Ellen White

Every time there’s another men’s international football tournament, it feels as if Baddiel and Skinner add on some more to the ‘years of hurt’ line.

The men’s England team haven’t won a major honour since 1966 and the women went into Euro 2022 looking for their first one ever.

It was England’s second time hosting the competition and felt like their best chance to date to end their trophy duck and put an end to the Three Lions lyric.

They got off to the perfect start – winning all three of their group games without conceding, including an 8-0 thrashing of Norway.

The Lionesses made it through to the Wembley final against Germany – winning 2-1 in extra time to claim the trophy for the first time.

Two of their leading figures in the tournament – Jill Scott and Ellen White – decided that was the perfect way for them to end their football careers.

Scott’s 161st cap for her country and White’s 113th were their final appearances not just for England but as professional footballers – both of them choosing to bow out with a gold medal having joined an incredibly small pool of English footballers to have won a major international honour.

Usain Bolt

It’s fair to say that the fastest man on the planet transformed athletics.

Usain Bolt’s seemingly effortless approach to sprinting, alongside his trademark humour and sense of fun, made every single one of his races a must-watch event.

An eight-time Olympic champion (originally nine, but subsequently disqualified from the 4x100m relay in 2008 after a teammate failed a drugs test), 11-time world champion and still holder of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m world records – Bolt had an incredible, virtually unbeatable career.

But sadly for the Jamaican sprinter, his final race did not go as planned.

Coming into the 2017 World Championships in London, Bolt was not in typical imperious form, with slower times than he had previously put on the board in the run up to a major event.

The qualifying rounds for the 100m also saw Bolt starting races in a stiffer and more laboured manner than he was used to following a season of hamstring issues – ultimately seeing him only finish third in the final.

Bolt then lined up for Jamaica in the 4x100m relay, taking on the final leg for his country. But just seconds after taking the baton, Bolt’s hamstring went causing him to crash down to the track.

Not the way the greatest sprinter of all time wanted to go out – but he still chose to end his career on his own terms, refusing the offer of a wheelchair and hobbling over the finish line with his teammates.

This article was published in December 2025