The clock is ticking on John Cena's wrestling career.
Cena told Entertainment Tonight this week that he intends to retire from wrestling by the age of 50 — which is just over three years from now.
"I'm gonna be 47 this year," Cena said. "I feel great. So inside I feel great, but I know what it takes to be a WWE performer night in and night out and I don't ever wanna just go out there and do it to do it.
"I wanna have the passion -- the same passion as the fanbase -- and I wanna give them exactly what they give me. The miles on the speedometer say, 'Hey, that's gotta be done before 50.'"
A 16-time world champion in WWE, Cena has successfully branched out into Hollywood, following the path of fellow wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson. Having starred in F9, The Suicide Squad and HBO's The Peacemaker, Cena's next film, Argylle, releases next month and is currently undergoing a big marketing push ahead of its debut.
Along with the pure physicality of professional wrestling, Cena also cites increasing conflicts between his WWE and Hollywood as a reason behind his decision to hang up the jean shorts and running shoes within the next three years.
"It's tough to juggle both because, you know, when you're filming Argylle, [director] Matthew [Vaughn] won't let you go do anything else because of insurance," Cena said. "So as long as the phone keeps ringing and we've had some good opportunities here, I'll kind of preserve that for as long as I can.
"But even coming back [to WWE] for these one-at-a-time things or short three-month periods, it takes its toll more and more and I've just had an incredibly fortunate run with my health. I feel great. I just want to continue to feel great the rest of my life."
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