Patriots, Tom Brady Congratulate John Cena On WWE Retirement

The New England Patriots celebrated the end of John Cena’s decorated WWE career.

Cena concluded his year-long retirement tour by losing to Gunther at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” in Washington, D.C. The Massachusetts native received well-wishes from the Patriots before putting on his jorts one final time.

“Congratulations to the greatest WWE Superstar of all time on a legendary in-ring career,” the Patriots wrote Saturday on social media. “THANK YOU JOHN CENA!!”

The WWE posted a tribute video on Friday night, which they played on Saturday night, that featured a message from another all-time legend. Tom Brady wanted Cena to get the fairytale ending he was denied when getting booted from the 2022 postseason in his final NFL game.

“Congratulations on an incredible career. You’ve impacted the lives of so many people inside the ring and outside the ring,” Brady told Cena. “Good luck in your last match. I hope you fare better in yours than I did in mine.”

It’s a wrestling custom to put another star over on the way out, so Cena did not have a better swan song than Brady. After years of living by the “Never give up” mantra, Cena’s career ended when he tapped out to a sleeper hold against Gunther, who also retired Bill Goldberg earlier this year.

Cena leaves the squared circle as a record-setting 17-time World Champion. The “Peacemaker” star broke the tie with Ric Flair by beating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania earlier this year following a shocking heel turn, and he earned his last WWE gold when winning the International Championship at TD Garden last month.