Sixteen-time world champion wrestler John Cena announced his retirement Saturday at WWE’s Money in the Bank at ScotiaBank Arena in Toronto, which Cena said was the “perfect” place to make the announcement.

In recent years, Cena has shown off a towel that said “Never give up.” 

This time, it said, “The last time is now,” a reference to his entrance song, “The Time Is Now.”

Cena also wore a shirt that said “The Last Time Is Now Tour” and “John Cena Farewell.”

Cena said he would compete at next year’s Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, which will be his final events. Chants of “Thank you Cena” roared through the crowd afterward.

“Thank you for letting me play in the house you built for so many years,” Cena told the crowd.

Now a Hollywood superstar, Cena made his WWE debut in 2002 and quickly became a fan favorite. His first dominant shtick was as a trash-talking rapper when he was nicknamed the “Doctor of Thuganomics.”

Two of his most famous matches were at back-to-back WrestleMania events in 2011 and 2012, both of which came against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Cena lost the first but won the second.

John Cena returns to WWE for the WWE Universal Championship during Money in the Bank at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, July 18, 2021. (Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports)

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Cena has been a part-timer the last five years. His most recent return, before Saturday, came on night two of WrestleMania XL when Cody Rhodes dethroned Roman Reigns as the undisputed WWE champion.

He won his first of 16 world championships at WrestleMania XXI in 2005 at the age of 28.

Outside the ring and film, he is known for having granted the most wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, granting close to 700.

Because of his in-ring success and popularity that was unmatched throughout the 2010s, he’s widely regarded as one of the greatest WWE performers of all time and is often placed on hypothetical WWE “Mount Rushmore” lists.

John Cena enters the ring at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn Aug. 23, 2015. (JP Yim/Getty Images)

Cena has headlined WrestleMania five times, and since next year’s in Las Vegas will be his farewell, it’s fair to assume he will headline a sixth.

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First-half goals from Rose Lavelle and Delanie Sheehan lifted NJ/NY Gotham FC to a 2-1 win over Angel City in front of an announced crowd of 16,542 at BMO Stadium on Saturday.

Claire Emslie scored Angel City’s only goal on a penalty kick in the 69th minute. It was the team’s first goal in three games and 254 minutes.

The crowd was the smallest of the season and the second-smallest in Angel City history. The team came into the weekend leading the league in average home attendance at 19,865.

With the loss, the team’s third straight, Angel City (4-9-3) skidded into the NWSL’s seven-week Olympic break having won only once in nine games dating to early May, falling to 11th in the league standings, three points out of the eighth and final playoff berth.

Lavelle, who was dangerous for most of the 60 minutes she played, tested Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic twice — once with each foot — in the third minute before scoring for Gotham (9-3-4) 13 minutes later.

The play started with a long pass ricocheting off Angel City’s Rocky Rodríguez. Sheehan controlled the loose ball and sent it back the other way, starting a five-pass sequence that ended with Crystal Dunn feeding Lavelle in the middle box. From there she had an easy finish for her fifth goal of the season.

Sheehan, a Hermann Trophy semifinalist at UCLA, doubled the lead just before halftime, scoring into an empty goal after Ella Stevens drew Haracic to the top of the six-yard box, then sent a low, left-footed pass to a wide-open Sheehan for her first of the season.

That was one of seven shots on target for Gotham in a first half the reigning NWSL champions dominated.

Angel City, which didn’t put its first shot on goal until the opening seconds of the second half, played much better after the intermission with Emslie giving the team late life with her team-leading sixth goal of the season after Gisele Thompson was taken down in the box by Gotham’s Mandy Freeman.

Thompson left the game after drawing the foul.

Haracic finished with seven saves, matching her season high.

There’s still some time until the start of the Olympics, but tensions are already running high.

France and Germany faced each other at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, for an international friendly that apparently became anything but.

With just over two minutes left in the second quarter and the French leading the Germans, 41-23, Dennis Schröder, who also plays for the Brooklyn Nets, drove toward the basket and was fouled by Evan Fournier, a free agent who played for the Knicks and Pistons last season.

Schröder took exception to the foul and quickly approached Fournier with some words. Fournier, though, almost immediately fought back by placing his hands around Schröder’s throat.

The two were separated quickly, and Fournier was ejected for his actions.

Evan Fournier of the French National Basketball Team celebrates with fans after a win in an international friendly match against Turkey July 3, 2024, at Kindarena in Rouen, France. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Both teams are in Group B for the Olympics along with Japan and the soon-to-be-named winner of an Olympic qualifying tournament. They will face each other Aug. 2.

Germany also has Franz and Moritz Wagner of the Orlando Magic and the LA Clippers’ Daniel Theis. Franz just signed a $229 million deal with the Magic. France is loaded with reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama and Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

France’s Evan Fournier (10) shoots over U.S. forward Kevin Durant (7) during a preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.  (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Olympic basketball begins July 27, and the men’s gold medal game is scheduled for Aug. 10.

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