"I am not coming back," declares current WWE star

The stage is all set for John Cena's swan song at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event. Ahead of his last hurrah, the Never Seen 17 set the record straight on his wrestling future.

John Cena will bring the curtain down on his 26-year career tonight when he faces Gunther at Saturday Night's Main Event at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

Some fans have a hard time accepting that The Franchise Player will walk away from the wrestling business for good. And why not? It's been well documented that wrestlers who retire often come back for one more match.

WWE even fueled the online chatter by sharing an article, pitching a wild "what if" scenario, where The Rock would come back to set up a WrestleMania 42 match with John Cena.

A trilogy 13 years in the making, and a full circle moment for The Final Boss, who orchestrated The Cenation Leader's heel turn at Elimination Chamber this year.

As exciting as the idea sounds on paper, John Cena made it clear that he is not coming back to wrestle again after tonight.

Speaking to Pat McAfee on his show, the 48-year-old WWE icon urged fans to tune into Saturday Night's Main Event to get closure on his in-ring career.

"This is it. I mean, tomorrow night, this is it. I am not coming back, and I understand you only have the data before me that you go on no wrestler retires, right? That changes with me, whether it all changes and everybody else after me, current retires and decides not to come back, that's fine. What I urge fans out there, please watch tomorrow and give yourself the closure that you need, because my biggest concern is people like, 'Oh no, he's gonna parlay it into Wrestlemania, or this match would be great.' No, tomorrow night, is it. And if you don't believe me, if you're not ready to take that on, you may not get the closure you want. And I just urge fans, when they watch tomorrow. to, like, let it all out and understand that that's it."

Cena said he has accepted the fact that his time is up and that he will keep his word.

"I've come to grips with it. I look forward to tomorrow with such a positive attitude and so much excitement about like making that run one more time, but that's the last time, and I think that's important to say, because the data before me suggests that that's not a permanent thing. Man, I've been called a lot of stuff, but very rarely am I called a liar, and I promise you I'm a man of my word on this one."

You can check out the full interview below:

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What's next for John Cena after he retires at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event?

John Cena may be done with wrestling, but he isn't leaving WWE anytime soon.

In a sit-down interview with Tom Rinaldi, the Never Seen 17 revealed that he recently signed a 5-year Ambassador contract with WWE, which will keep him with the company till 2030.

Much like Titus O'Neil, Cena will continue to contribute in a backstage capacity and nurture young talent.

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If you use quotes from this article, please credit the Pat McAfee Show and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

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Edited by Sidharth Sachdeva