The John Cena retirement show has officially set a new record for the largest arena gate in WWE history.
As reported by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, the December 13 2025 Saturday Night’s Main Event special, where Cena competed one final time, the arena gate for the Capital One Arena in Washington DC was in excess of $6.5 million, far surpassing the previous record set by the Raw on Netflix premiere at the start of 2025.
With this being advertised as the final time fans would get to see Cena perform live, and with WWE reportedly focusing on maximising revenue as much as possible, it was expected that the retirement show was going to come with a premium ticket price for fans. With over 17,000 tickets sold for the show, the average ticket price was $383. Thurston adds that this does not include additional fees added by outlets, such as Ticketmaster. It is also added that only recent WrestleManias have seen average ticket prices higher than this fee.
Following a series of NXT vs. main roster exhibition matches, Cena headlined the show as he faced Gunther. Cena lost his final match via submission, tapping out to the sleeper hold as the fans in attendance heavily booed the finish. After the match, the stars from the roster surrounded the ring and a video package aired. Cena also posed with the top 2 titles, which were held by CM Punk and Cody Rhodes at that point, before making his way up the ramp and saluting the fans one final time before the show closed out.
John Cena Tops WWE Record With Retirement Match
Wrestlenomics has compiled a list of the top 10 WWE events and how much they grossed, adjusting previous figures for inflation. The Raw on Netflix premiere in California is now the second highest in history, followed by WrestleMania 5. Of the top 10, 4 shows have taken place outside of the United States.
It should be noted that the above figures are for arena dates only, meaning that Premium Live Events that have been held in stadiums do not factor into the rankings. Wrestlenomics has obtained date for some of the appearances on the Cena retirement tour, with his WrestleMania 41 appearance being by far the most lucrative with a stadium gate of $33 million in total.
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