John Cena In The “Definite Twilight” Of His Pro Wrestling Career; “My Time Is Up — Someone Else’s Time Is Now”

We reported earlier this week that John Cena had been honored with Sports Illustrated‘s coveted Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his work in, but more importantly OUT of the wrestling ring.

In an interview with SI.com, the 16-time world champion confirmed that he was in the “definite twilight” of his career as an in-ring professional wrestler. He was quoted as saying “My time is up — someone else’s time is now,” an obvious play off his iconic WWE entrance music which he himself wrote and recorded.

Cena ended the interview by comparing his wrestling career to a “giant relay race”, stating, “I’m in the phase where I hand the stick off.”

Big Match John’s last appearance in the ring was at WWE SuperShow Down back in October, although he only wrestled a short tag team match with Elias, tagged in at the very end and hit only his signature “Five Moves of Doom” (although technically he did add a sixth move) and quickly scored the pinfall. This has been the least active year of his career by far, and looking ahead to his schedule in 2019, that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.

Cena will be returning to the ring immediately after Christmas for the WWE Live holiday tour that will extend through mid-January. Despite being advertised for a few events that fall on television taping days, he recently clarified in an interview that he would not be appearing on TV those days, so it looks like he may only be working dark matches.