John Cena retires as America’s favorite WWE wrestler – but do fans like him as much elsewhere?

John Cena recently announced that he is set to retire from WWE, citing the physical toll of in-ring performance. 2025 will see him undertake a farewell tour.

YouGov Profiles data suggests that the wrestler-turned-actor may leave big jorts to fill. Looking at a smattering of global markets, he’s either the WWE fans’ favorite – or near-favorite – athlete in all of them.

In the US, he’s the most popular by six percentage points (29%), beating Randy Orton (23%) and Roman Reigns (22%). It’s a similar story in the UAE (Cena: 30%; Orton 22%; Reigns 23%).

The data tells a slightly different story in other markets, but The Prototype is still paramount. In Singapore, for example, 23% of WWE fans say Cena is their favourite, with 18% saying the same of the Undertaker and Orton (14%) Reigns (13%) and Rey Mysterio (13%) rounding out the top five. The other APAC market in our study, Australia, has 22% of fans saying Cena is their favourite, with Orton (17%), Reigns (15%), Undertaker (15%) and Mysterio (14%) again completing the top five.

It is a closer-run race among British wrestling fans – 27% cite Cena, with Orton close behind on 24% - but Mr. P still comes out ahead. Orton does, however, draw level with Cena in France (21% each), with Undertaker (18%) and Reigns (16%) right behind.

In any case, the data shows that WWE will be losing a popular performer and a major draw in 2025. But, with Cena promising to remain part of the competition in some capacity – and with previous retirees like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Hulk Hogan all staging comebacks at various points – who knows what the future could hold?