Every Time John Cena Tapped Out In WWE

It's all over.

After a 26-year career inside the squared circle which began on the California indies as The Prototype and swiftly moved on to WWE, John Cena's time was now at Saturday Night's Main Event, and he ended his career in a manner that shocked pro wrestling fans around the world.

Outside of an ill-fated heel turn in 2025, Cena had been an all-conquering babyface since he first won the WWE Championship in 2005, built upon a mantra of Never Give Up, along with Hustle, Loyalty & Respect, and a number of other nicknames.

On December 13, 2025, however, John Cena did give up. Upon realising he had nothing left in the tank in his final match, Big Match John tapped out before he passed out to a Gunther chokehold.

That wasn't the first time John Cena's hand had slapped the mat inside a WWE ring, though. This is every time John Cena tapped out in WWE.

1. Chris Jericho - July 18, 2002 episode of SmackDown

On the same show that was main evented by Kurt Angle vs. The Rock and Vince McMahon unveiled Stephanie McMahon as the new general manager of the blue brand, the July 18, 2002 episode of SmackDown opened with Chris Jericho vs. John Cena as their feud in the summer of 2002 continued. 

Cena had only debuted one month earlier, famously shouting "ruthless aggression" in Kurt Angle's face on the June 27 edition of SmackDown, which ended with a win for the Olympic gold medallist.

Cena - very much in his generic babyface, tight shorts stage - quickly moved into a feud with Chris Jericho and after losing to Y2J on the Fourth of July holiday episode of SmackDown, Cena and Undisputed Champion The Undertaker teamed together to pick up a win over Jericho and Kurt Angle the following week, with Cena pinning The Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla with an Oklahoma roll. Jericho then attacked Cena after the match, beating down the rookie. 

This led to another singles match on July 18 and during their five-minute match, Cena came close to pinning Jericho again with a roll-up, so Jericho, like any dirty WWE heel would, decked his opponent with a low blow.

After the DQ win for Cena, Y2J trapped the young upstart in the Walls of Jericho, and the rookie tapped several times until a group of referees and WWE officials pulled Jericho away. The Fozzy lead man then ended the segment with an exclamation point, hitting Cena with multiple chair shots to the back.

The feud between a very youthful Big Match John and Jericho, who was only months past his Undisputed Championship run, continued until Vengeance. At the pay-per-view, Jericho went for the Walls of Jericho once again, but this time Cena countered into a roll-up out of nowhere for the sudden win. 

2. Kurt Angle - No Mercy 2003

It was another former WWE Champion, this time just one month after they lost the belt, that John Cena tapped out to at No Mercy 2003 as he couldn’t withstand WWE-prime Kurt Angle’s ankle lock. 

By this point, Cena was in his heel pomp as the Doctor of Thuganomics, wearing extra-long jorts and taking down SmackDown babyfaces with rap after rap as he cemented himself as a rising star. 

Cena had already worked with the likes of Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker in 2003, and he transitioned to a feud with Angle immediately after the Wrestling Machine dropped the WWE Title to Brock Lesnar in their famous Iron Man match, with Cena kicking off the programme by interrupting an Angle call-out of Lesnar on the September 25 episode of SmackDown and attacking the former champion.

Cena and Lesnar then teamed together to defeat Kurt Angle and The Undertaker the following week after the Doctor of Thuganomics decked Angle with his chain. Their No Mercy match was then set up in a rap battle, during which Angle promised to make Cena tap, saying: 

"My name is Kurt Angle and what the heck. I won a gold medal with a golden freakin' neck. You better step off because we ain’t friends, I'm moving on up like the Jeffersons….I'll be straight up. I won't take your crap. You mess with me and I will make you tap. Word life."

Kurt Angle proved to be a man of his word as Cena took the Olympic gold medallist to the limit in their 18-minute match, which was probably the best bout of the pay-per-view.

Angle managed to make the future 17-time world champion tap after countering an FU with a victory roll into the ankle lock. After Angle dragged Cena away from the ropes and went prone to trap the young star in the submission, Cena slapped the mat to signal his defeat. 

No Mercy 2003 would be John Cena's final pay-per-view as a heel until his historic turn at Elimination Chamber 2025, as he turned babyface in November 2003, turning down Team Brock Lesnar and joining with Team Kurt Angle ahead of Survivor Series.

3. Chris Benoit - December 4, 2003 episode of SmackDown

The two survivors of Team Kurt Angle at Survivor Series 2003 came to blows just weeks after the pay-per-view over a shot at Brock Lesnar’s WWE Championship. 

The match on the December 4, 2003 episode of SmackDown was set up following a 20-man number one contender’s battle royal one week earlier, which ended with Cena and Benoit’s feet hitting the ground at the same time.

Cena was still the Doctor of Thuganomics following his babyface turn. He just criticised the heels while rapping on his way to the ring, and the fans loved it. 

The fans were behind both Cena and Benoit during the match and late in the encounter, Cena managed to reach the ropes on a sharpshooter before he followed up with a second FU. Before Cena could make the cover, though, The Big Show ran to the ring and Cena decked him with his injured right hand. 

The distraction allowed Chris Benoit to quickly apply the crippler crossface for the victory, with Cena tapping out mere moments after the submission was locked in. 

Benoit would fail to defeat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title later in the night in a great match.

Cena, meanwhile, remained in a feud with Team Brock Lesnar and in and around the WWE Title picture heading into 2004, which led to his next tap out and his final slap of the mat for 21 years. 

4. Kurt Angle - No Way Out 2004

The show famous for Eddie Guerrero’s WWE Title win against Brock Lesnar also determined who would challenge for SmackDown’s top belt at WrestleMania XX as John Cena faced off against Kurt Angle and The Big Show in a Triple Threat in the semi-main event of the pay-per-view. 

Cena entered the match against two former world champions, with his only accolade at this point being a PHD in thuganomics, and this was very much the story of the match as Big Show and Angle took turns working over the younger Cena.

The then-26-year-old headed into the match with a storyline injured knee, and the injury only worsened when The Big Show caught Cena with a chop block. Kurt Angle then managed to lay out Big Show with an Angle Slam to the outside, and the Wrestling Machine followed up with another chop block to Cena, before Angle went prone once he applied the Ankle Lock to force a Cena tap out seconds later.

While Cena lost at No Way Out, he would go on to defeat The Big Show for the United States Championship at WrestleMania XX to win his first title in WWE.

5. Gunther - December 13, 2025 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event

After that fateful tap out at No Way Out 2004, John Cena rose to superstardom in WWE on a mantra of Never Give Up, becoming a 17-time world champion in title reigns between 2005 and 2025.

As a top babyface, Cena made sure to never tap out inside the WWE ring, choosing to rather pass out, but even that rarely happened as Big Match John would instead often just vanquish all heels, and some babyfaces, in his path. 

Cena didn’t even tap out during his critically panned heel run from Elimination Chamber to SummerSlam 2025, but the storyline of Cena running on fumes during his retirement run had been firmly established, and Gunther promised to make Cena give up in his final bow in the week leading up to Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, 2025.

Gunther looked to do that for most of the match, but he stepped up another gear after Cena kicked out of a splash, spending much of the final five minutes of the contest with the 17-time world champion in a chokehold.

Cena managed to briefly escape and connect with an attitude adjustment, but Gunther simply kicked out at two and immediately transitioned into another choke.

Cena would prevent himself from fading away, raising his arm before it fell for a third time, and he tried to become Super Cena, only for Gunther to stop Big Match John from standing up with elbows to the neck. 

Cena lasted another 18 seconds once the chokehold was reapplied until a wry smile suddenly came across the 48-year-old’s face and he tapped out to end his career, stunning fans inside Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. 

That stunned silence quickly turned to thanks for Cena, until WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H and the WWE roster headed to the ring, with Paul Levesque serenaded with boos and chants of “You f****d up” from the fans who had paid so much money to be there. The cheers for Cena then returned, before the boos came back once again for Triple H. 

After a video package honouring Cena's career, everyone seemed to realise that was it. An emotional Cena removed his sneakers and sweatbands, but left on the jorts, before he started heading to the back.

The 48-year-old then soaked up the adulation of the audience one more time at the entrance ramp and thanked them before walking off into the night.