Ariel Helwani is not a fan of how WWE handled John Cena’s final match and how the final year of his career was booked.
Helwani expressed frustration that he would hear from people who say Cena had to lose on his way out, citing it as a time-honored tradition in wrestling. According to Helwani, that way of thinking comes from a bygone era.
Dedicating a significant amount of time to the topic, Helwani said:
“The fan boys will be like ‘No, this is what you have to do, this is what John wanted, this is exactly what he wanted, he wanted to give back to the business.’ And to that I say BS. I say hogwash to that. I say that’s nonsense because that is an ideology from a business that no longer exists. That’s 1970s, 1980s wrestling.”
“That’s not WWE Unreal territory, that’s not the era that we’re living in now.”
“Who wanted to see John Cena lose time and again in the last few months? Got his ass whooped by Brock Lesnar, lost to Dominik Mysterio, loses to Gunther. And not only does he lose in his retirement match, the guy who told us for 20+ years never to give up, not only does he lose, he loses via submission.”
“No, I reject this. This is not what those people wanted. This is not what anyone who was a fan of his wanted.”
Helwani suggested a better ending would have seen Cena win the match, followed by a post-match attack from Gunther leading several of Cena’s allies, including Cody Rhodes, to make the save.
“The match should have never been Cena vs. Gunther to begin with, and the result should have never been Cena losing, and it sure as hell never should have been him tapping.”
The Ariel Helwani Show X account posted a clip of Helwani’s comments along with the following caption:
“No one wanted to see John Cena go out like that. And to suggest it’s a time-honored tradition for him to ‘do the job’ is such a thing of the past. We live in a different era. Cena deserved better. The farewell tour had so much potential. In the end, it feels like fans were left wanting more. I think it was a mistake.”
The full episode of The Ariel Helwani Show from Monday, December 15 is available below.
No one wanted to see John Cena go out like that. And to suggest it’s a time-honored tradition for him to “do the job” is such a thing of the past. We live in a different era.
Cena deserved better. The farewell tour had so much potential. In the end, it feels like fans were left… pic.twitter.com/9W7k9yH7Eq
“Love watching movies when the superhero gets destroyed in the final scene and then dies. Even better is when my favorite sports team not only gets beat but gives up with a smile on their face. Makes me feel good about spending time/money on the night. Creative is subjective.”
Jarrett also responded to a post from Conrad Thompson, who appeared to praise the finish of the match. Thompson wrote, “I like it. Feels like when Taker’s Mania streak ended. Same feeling for me. What say you: did you like it?” Jarrett responded to the post by writing, “Lol.”
Jarrett was also critical of WWE recently during an interview with Adventure Gamers, where he said WWE under TKO “only cares about Wall Street” while Vince McMahon cared more about wrestling fans.
Jarrett said:
“There has been a paradigm shift in the way they do things. Ari Emanuel is at the very top of TKO and he answers to Wall Street, Vince McMahon, obviously the founder, but also he was the final decision maker in that organization. Believe it or not people, contrary to some people’s beliefs, he answered to the wrestling audience, Ari answers to Wall Street.”
Love watching movies when the superhero gets destroyed in the final scene and then dies.
Even better is when my favorite sports team not only gets beat but gives up with a smile on their face.
Makes me feel good about spending time/money on the night. 🤦♂️ Creative is subjective.
The Bryan & Vinny Show returns with TONS to talk about including a full recap of Saturday Night’s Main Event with John Cena’s Final Match, a pretty fun edition of Collision once again highlighted by Continental Classic matches, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Lilian Garcia is reflecting on John Cena’s final match.
On social media, the long-time WWE ring announcer said announcing Cena’s last match on Saturday was an honor, thanking him for his contributions.
“What an honor @JohnCena to not only have announced your final match last night but your matches throughout your career! You truly are the GOAT. Thank you for the memories & your dedication,” Garcia wrote.
Prior to Saturday, Garcia said she was nervous about being part of Cena’s final farewell, but excited at the same time.
“Am I nervous about this? Of course, you get nervous,” she told TV Insider at the time. “I always say nerves are a good thing because it means you care. Nerves and excitement actually create the same energy. It’s about turning those nerves into excitement. I’m very excited. I’m going to do everything I can to put everything into that announcement. Just really solidify the fact that he is the ‘Greatest of All Time.’ He is an icon. I’ve been amazed at everything he has been able to accomplish and his legacy.”
Cena wrestled Gunther in his last-ever wrestling match, coming up short after submitting to The Ring General’s sleeper hold. After the match, the entire WWE locker room came out and applauded Cena as a video played highlighting his career. After it was over, he made his exit, pausing at the stage to make one final salute to the audience before heading to the back.
Garcia also performed the United States National Anthem before the start of Saturday’s show in Washington, D.C..
–We’ve got a giant new issue of the Observer out today covering the Cena and Santo retirements as well as all the big events from the past week. *John Cena and El Hijo del Santo’s retirement shows and how they are so different *A look back at both’s careers and places in history *Where Santo went wrong *Key people who saved John Cena’s career *Why he never turned heel years ago *Marketing of Cena as The GOAT *How Cena ranks with the biggest draws in wrestling history *Update on WBD’s potential sales to Netflix or Paramount, what the deals entail and how this all affects AEW *Dwayne Johnson and his Golden Globe nomination *Odds for upcoming pro wrestling bouts *1,000,000th fan attends CMLL pro wrestling at Arena Mexico alone. Why this has never happened before, and the absolutely staggering part of the story that nobody talks about *UFC 323 coverage of the last UFC show on PPV for at least seven years *A look at NXT Deadline *A look at ROH Final Battle * a look at TNA Final Resolution *A look at the career of Steve “Mr. Electricity” Regal, death of territories, the shocking win over the Road Warriors and holding world titles in the AWA and NWA in the 80s. *The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over this past week *A look at major promotions joining together for different shows in 2026 *A look at last week’s big shows at Arena Mexico, both a hell of a Friday and a big Tuesday with Bad Bunny under a Mistico mask in the front row *Key CMLL talent banged up *All Japan tag team tournament ends with a former rugby star from New Zealand and former member of the Harlem Globetrotters against each other. *NOAH’s big start of the year show *New wrestler starting at NOAH including the brother of a UFC fighter *New Japan tag team tournament final standings and results *Big awards being announced this week *Actress who played Hall of Fame pro wrestler on a Netflix series wins major award for her performance *Where did the original star ratings in Mexico rating matcheds come from *Hulk Hogan album being re-released *Notes on AEW Worlds End *Andrade makes claims about what happened with AEW and WWE *Advance ticket sales for all the AEW and WWE upcoming shows *Lots more on Trump UFC event at the White House *UFC schedule *More on the Ali Act and attempting to change and subvert it *Dana White talks Francis Ngannou now that he wants to return *The most interest in buying tickets to a pro wrestling or UFC show in history took place this past week *Lots more on the two lawsuits going against Vince McMahon and WWE *The WWE TV schedule for this coming week *Big PPV main event match that fell through from earlier this year
— We have both of our weekend shows up on the site right now. We talked extensively about the John Cena retirement show as well as AEW Collision, Smackdown, Arena Mexico and more on last night’s show and did our week in review show where at the end we talked about the biggest real mystery in pro wrestling, the real life version who who got Vince McMahon.
— They did show McMahon on television in a brief clip in a Cena video and the crowd in Washington, DC cheered. No surprise.
— Regarding the finish of the match, we talked in detail about it last night. There was a lot of booing and “You f***ed up” chants and Paul Levesque after the match and in the post-show as well as a chant of “AEW” at one point. This is one of those things, ike the Cody Rhodes loss to Roman Reigns the first time, or the Steve Austin heel turn, where it’s better to evaluate in nine months based on where Gunther is. For the day it wasn’t what the fans would have wanted. It was what Cena and the company wanted because of their idea that it’s about making someone on the way out. This fan base is rarely negative about decisions, but they were last night.
I do think most will consider from a story standpoint that the Cena farewell overall was not well done because of the heel turn with no idea what to do next and the turn back having no storyline at all past we made a mistake and we have to undo it. Here, it wasn’t what the audience wanted but that doesn’t make it wrong. It doesn’t make it right. It would not be what I would have done in this specific situation but long-term we’ll see.
The Reigns-Rhodes thing happened when the audience was at its peak and right now big shows are very strong but there are the obvious signs of a slight cool off anyway and really if you take Cena out of the last month it would have been even worse. Cena is gone but now it’s coming up on the hottest time of the year with the build to the Rumble and Mania.
— Neither Vince McMahon nor Donald Trump was at the show. They wanted Trump. He attended the Army vs. Navy football game not far away and could have made it to both but his decision was not to come. Linda McMahon was at the event. Jesse Ventura was only put on the pre-show.
— El Hijo del Santo retired last night as well. Or at least that’s what he claimed. In the main event of Los Palacio de los Deportes, Santo & LA Park & Ultimo Dragon beat Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Hijo de Fishman & El Texano Jr. when Santo used the la caballo (the famous finisher of both himself, his father and Gori Guerrero, what’s now called the camel clutch) on Fishman. Earlier in the show his son, Santo Jr., beat Angel Blanco Jr with the stipulations that if Blanco won, El Hijo del Santo would have to unmask before the main event. Instead, Blanco Jr. got his head shaved.
— Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa beat Yota Tsuji & Gabe Kidd in the finals of the New Japan World Tag League tournament in Kumamoto, Japan in what I was told was an excellent match. Toru Yano & Yoh & Master Wato kept the Never six-man titles over Evil & Ren Narita & Sanada in two bouts. The first was a no contest and then they did a restart. The full Tokyo Dome is likely to be announced this week. There will be a United Empire vs. War Dogs match on the show with Henare returning. Most likely Yuto-Ice & Oskar will defend the IWGP tag titles against Sabre Jr. & Oiwa.
— Yesterday’s match in Cardiff was not the first IWGP heavyweight champion vs. CMLL heavyweight champion match. It was the second. The first was August 31, 2012 between Hioshi Tanahashi and El Terrible. They were both in the Universal tournament of champions at Arena Mexico and Terrible beat Tanahashi.
— Raw tomorrow night from Hershey, PA, will have CM Punk on the show after he’s finished shooting his Netflix movie, Logan Paul vs. Rey Mysterio, Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivy Nile for the IC title. They will be taping Smackdown for the 19th at about 6:30 p.m., go live with Raw, and whatever isn’t finished by 7:55 p.m. will be taped after Raw for Friday’s Smackdown. We’re going to be looking for reports tomorrow of the Smackdown stuff and anything not on the live show to [email protected].
— Mistico beat Soberano Jr. cleanly with La Mistica in what was very clearly the start of a story to retain the CMLL light heavyweight title before a sellout of 16,000 at Arema Mexico on Friday That’s five sellouts in seven weeks. Arena Coliseo also sold out last night, Mistico then flew to New York and sold out a show at Tulum Night Club in Brooklyn teaming with KeMonito to beat Difunto & KeMalito.
— For Google searches for last night, WWE had 200,000 for Gunther for No. 20, 20,000 for Oba Femi for No. 98, while UFC’s show yesterday did 85,000.
— The updated three hour block schedule for Wednesday’s AEW show in Manchester, UK:
Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero with $1 million at stake
Dynamite Diamond battle royal
FTR vs. Juice Robinson & Austin Gunn for AEW tag titles
Pac vs. Kyle Fletcher in C2
Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong in C2
Orange Cassidy vs. Mascara Dorada in C2
AEW World title contract signing: Samoa Joe, Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland
Mercedes Mone, Athena, Marina Shafir & Megan Bayne vs. Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron & Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa
— Andrade beat Xavant Friday night to win the WWC Universal title in his first match since getting fired by WWE. WWE has okayed Andrade to work in WWC while maintaining he still had a one year long non-compete that has nine months left.
— Leila Gray of AEW won a Fitness contest last night for the WBBF. She competed with a torn ACL suffered in the TBS title loss to Mercedes Mone last Saturday. She is undergoing surgery and will be out of action for some time.
— The Blade (Jesse Guilmette) did his first match in almost two years in Buffalo, NY this past weekend. It was on a show put together by his longtime partner Andy “The Butcher” Williams.
— Templario & Titan vs. Volador Jr. & Barbaro Cavernario headlines Arena Mexico tonight.
— Steve Asplund, who debuted on last night’s UFC show, once weighed 525 pounds.
— Kent Herron, a reader of the Observer dating back to the 80s who used to regularly write letters in the 80s as Klon or Klon Herron, and attended many PPV get-togethers among readers in the 80s and 90s, passed away yesterday at the age of 70. I was very sorry to hear this. He was still regularly sending me messages.
His close friend Ron Lemieux wrote: “I lost a great friend today. Kent Herron, known to old school wrestling fans as Klon, passed away at the age of 70. As I said he wasn’t just a wrestling friend but a true friend. When we first moved to Florida he and his wife Elaine hosted us for Thanksgiving and he only knew me from corresponding with him from CT. He had a heart as big as he was. So many great memories attending shows throughout the state of Florida with our crew. Condolences to his wife Elaine, daughter Melissa and rest of their family. Rest easy big man! I’ll miss ya!”
— A correction from Friday. Lance Gibson Jr., who lost at last night’s UFC show, was not the first second generation wrestler. Ryan Couture, son of Randy, had several UFC fights years ago.
The surefire headline act of next year’s WWE Hall of Fame wrestled for the final time on Saturday, losing in stunning fashion. Obviously, people were upset at the finish and wanted a happy ending for the guy that, no matter how many times he faced overwhelming odds, he would always overcome them and win. This time, it didn’t happen.
I don’t know if it was the right choice, but it was the choice WWE, and very likely Cena, wanted. It’s the time-honored tradition in pro wrestling that when you end your career, you get pinned on the way out, or in this case, submit. In Cena’s mind, I am sure he is thinking he did the right thing. For the character that never gave up, he had to in his final match.
With his retirement, WWE is losing their last true blue, mainstream level star. That isn’t to say Roman Reigns or Cody Rhodes aren’t popular, they are by today’s standards. But when Cena took off in the early 2000s, there was only broadcast and cable television, which captured tens of millions of people’s attention. Fast forward to 2025 and the entertainment industry is fragmented. Content creators I’ve never heard of draw millions of viewers and attain huge audiences, yet can still go by completely undetected by anyone not in their fanbase.
Cena is the last wrestler to reach a certain level of popularity that I don’t think can ever really be recreated, at least in this era of entertainment consumption. As the Cena retirement tour winded down, everyone I know kept talking to me about their memories of Cena and how his final matches were going to go. And it’s not that they are or were wrestling fans, they just know who Cena is. They grew up with kids at school who wore Cena’s t-shirts just like how kids wore Austin 3:16 and nWo shirts when I was growing up. That kind of mainstream popularity that they and I grew up with is gone, unlikely to ever return.
When I think of John Cena, I also think about how remarkable it was that despite half of the fans despising him, he never fought back or got upset, nor did WWE abandon him. Cena gained steam when he transitioned into main event status but something shifted once he became champion. Cena’s character underwent a metamorphosis into someone who always towed the company line. He became a good PR soilder who just loved to be there, doing lame PG comedy in front of a crowd who wasn’t buying it. I particularly remember the build to WrestleMania 22 where WWE desperately tried to get babyface Cena over against heel Triple H, only for half the audience to support the future CCO anyway.
To Cena’s credit, he handled the heckling incredibly well through the years. But I think it also (wrongly) taught WWE that ignoring the crowd works as long as you stick with it long enough. When people resented Roman Reigns the same way years later, WWE barreled on through only to learn that the lessons they thought they learned from Cena did not and could not be applied to Reigns, who after years of floundering as a babyface finally did turn heel, and only then did he reach the level of popularity WWE wanted.
John Cena was the ultimate company guy, maybe to an unnerving degree. Always said and did the right thing, was never controversial (well, almost never), never got in trouble, never got mad when something didn’t go right, and usually was able to deliver in key matches, even if he never was a technical marvel. He loved to call it in the ring after all, as people could clearly see in his final match as he was yelling spots to Gunther loudly at the hard cam.
His last match on Saturday represents the end of an era and a time in history that we can never really go back to. But that’s how time works, and Cena’s retirement is a bitter reminder of that.
It’s time for the Sunday Wrestling Observer Live with Andrew Zarian.
This week’s major news revolves around the retirement of John Cena whose final match took place at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Andrew gives a detailed show review and shares his reaction to the controversial decision to have him lose, debating whether it was the right choice given the immediate fan outrage that followed.
Also, he talks about the rest of the card and the decision to have a DQ finish between Cody Rhodes and Oba Femi — a crutch WWE relies on too much.
Plus, his review of AEW Collision, thoughts on who’s going to win the Continental Classic, and the pending return of a big star this week.
According to Triple H, Saturday Night’s Main Event broke multiple records.
In a post to social media on Sunday, Triple H announced that Saturday’s show at Washington’s Capital One Arena was the highest grossing WWE arena event ever and the highest-grossing event of all time for the venue.
“Thank you @CapitalOneArena! Tonight’s #SNME was not simply the highest grossing @WWE arena event ever, but highest grossing event ever at Capital One Arena.”
Capital One Arena in Washington, DC is also home to the NHL’s Washington Capitals, WNBA’s Washington Mystics, NBA’s Washington Wizards, and the NCAA Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball team.
According to a post by WrestleTix, 19,176 tickets were distributed to the event. Dave Meltzer noted in Friday’s edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the event was expected to bring in more than 4 million.
Meltzer wrote:
“We don’t have an estimate, although it’ll be well above $4 million. And the reality is they underpriced tickets, not overpriced, given the secondary market average ticket price sold as of two days before the show is $866.98, so they were getting double and triple face value.”
The lowest ticket price to get in as of Friday was over $300, but Wrestletix noted on Saturday that some new seats had been added for around $230.
John Cena Sr. says he thinks things could have been handled differently at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The father of John Cena spoke with Bill Apter following his son tapping out to Gunther in his last ever match.
Cena Sr. said during the interview:
“Bill, the only thing I can say is I saw a lot of people cry. Do I believe that’s the way it should have ended? I might have done it differently. I think it might have been better for everyone had it ended differently.“
“But you and I have been in the business for a while, and I guess the unwritten rule is when you’re going out, you’re going down. So I guess the only thing I can say is they did what they had to do, what’s best for business.”
Cena Sr. continued to say that he didn’t expect his son to tap out during the match, believing him passing out from Gunther’s hold was more likely. Apter added that he felt this was the likely finish as well.
“Did I expect a tap out? I’ll be real honest with you, Bill. I would have expected a pass out, with Gunther still being the winner.”
Cena Sr. later added:
“It’s kind of sad to see a lot of people cry. In the business, and I don’t know how you feel, but in the business, I would think you’d want to send him home happy.”
Apter then compared Cena’s loss to Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event to Bruno Sammartino losing the championship to Ivan Koloff in Madison Square Garden back in 1971.
Apter said, “It brought me back to way, way, way back when Bruno Sammartino lost his title to Ivan Koloff in front of 22,000 people at Madison Square Garden, and there was barely a dry eye in the house. I haven’t seen that until tonight. Your son was so beloved.”
Cena Sr.’s interview with Bill Apter is available below:
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including all the news and fallout from Saturday Night’s Main Event and John Cena’s final match, full coverage of that show, Smackdown and Collision, line-ups for a bunch of big shows this weekend, ratings and Arena Mexico, Santo’s retirement, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Ricky Youngblood passes away 4:15: John Cena loses last match 17:30: WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event recap 36:25: Lineups for the week, El Hijo del Santo retires, Arena Mexico notes 45:44: Ratings 49:15: WWE SmackDown notes 56:32: AEW Collision recap 1:05:03: NJPW World Tag League final spoilers
Gunther defeated John Cena at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, earning praise from veteran star The Miz, who labeled the Austrian star “the future” of the company following Cena’s final match.
In the final match of the night at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., fans witnessed Gunther trap Cena in a rear-naked choke, forcing him to finally give up. With the decisive victory tonight, Gunther solidified his top rank in the promotion. Soon after, at the Saturday Night’s Main Event post-show, former WWE Champion The Miz heaped praise on the Austrian wrestler and called him the future.
“Gunther is the future,” The Miz noted. “You look at Gunther, he is the future, whether you like it or not. He is the future of this business.”
“People are like, ‘Oh, he’s in his upper 30s,’ this guy is in his prime. I have wrestled him, I have been in the ring with Gunther, I know how lethal, how damaging he can be.”
He further continued on how Cena did the ‘right thing’ by tapping out to Gunther.
“Think about John Cena’s career, just for one second. Who did he always go up against? The biggest, baddest heel. The guy that is getting booed out of the building is whom ‘Super Cena’ went up against, and normally, he would beat them. And then they would be like, ‘Oh, John Cena beats everybody! I can’t stand him.’ And now, now what happens? John Cena did the right thing; he tapped out and gave up to Gunther!”
CM Punk has opened up about his own retirement plans moments after John Cena’s final WWE match.
On December 13th, 2025, at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C., Gunther defeated Cena to put an end to his career. Soon after, at the post-show, CM Punk was asked by Big E about his own retirement plans. Big E stated that Punk had previously mentioned his own career being near the end rather than the beginning, and asked if he wanted a similar event like Cena’s finish.
“When I make allusions to the end of whatever my career is going to look like, it’s not because I feel like I’m there,” Punk added. “It’s because I look back at the entirety of my career and there is a lot more road behind me than there is in front of me.”
“Trust me, I am the champion for a reason, and I’m here to stay, and nobody’s going to change that. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Further speaking at the post-show, Punk also commented on Cena’s retirement and admired his legacy.
“John [Cena] has always taken what the task was and made it better and knocked it out of the park, and that’s admirable. To watch him go into the sunset with such class and dignity is such a rare thing.”
CM Punk comments on working with John Cena during his retirement tour
At the same post-show, CM Punk also opened up in detail about how ‘fun’ it was working with Cena during his retirement run.
“It was a ton of fun. You can make what you want from John Cena selling his soul, saying it wasn’t the right idea. He obviously made amends and apologized to the fans; he’s a Jedi again.”
Cena and Punk faced each other at Night of Champions 2025, where the 17-time World Champion successfully retained his title.
Triple H is defending the finish that angered fans at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
In John Cena’s final match, he ended up doing something that he rarely did in his career, tap out to Gunther’s rear naked choke. The angry crowd took out their frustration at Triple H as he made his way to be interviewed during the Saturday Night’s Main Event post-show.
“I’m actually mildly disappointed. I thought it would be so much louder,” he quipped. AEW chants also broke out during his interview.
Despite the negative reaction, Triple H went on to defend the controversial finish, saying ultimately it was something he thought would be best for business.
“John has said the right thing his entire career, that is about leaving this place better than you found it. There’s no way for people to understand that in the moment,” he said. “But you do what is right for the business, you do what is right for this industry, John has done that his entire career, and I’m going to do that my entire career. I will do what I believe is right for this business, which it is what it is. I understand that’s tough for people to understand.”
“If you want to talk behind the scenes, he will put over somebody on the way out,” he later continued. “He will leave this better than he found it. He will go into the ring and make somebody on his way out. That’s what John has always done. I know people will criticize this and people will look at it and talk about this moment right here. I’ve got big shoulders, I’m good with it.
After Cena’s loss, the entire roster came out including Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who were met with boos. Cody Rhodes and CM Punk presented Cena with their titles as a video played highlighting his career. After leaving his sneakers and wrist bands in the ring, Cena left the ring and headed to the stage, where he saluted fans one last time before making his exit.
CM Punk praised working with John Cena during his retirement tour, calling the experience “a ton of fun” while reflecting on their recent rivalry following Cena’s final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Speaking at the event’s post-show, Punk discussed sharing the ring with Cena once again and highlighted how much he enjoyed the role reversal between the two longtime rivals.
“It was a ton of fun. You can make what you want from John Cena selling his soul, saying it wasn’t the right idea,” Punk stated. “He obviously made amends and apologized to the fans; he’s a Jedi again.
“I just have a blast every time I get to work with John, and being reversed roles was something we both had a lot of fun with.”
Punk and Cena share a close off-screen relationship but are remembered for one of the most fierce on-screen rivalries in modern WWE history. Their decades-long storyline culminated earlier this year at Night of Champions, where a heel Cena defeated a babyface Punk.
Earlier this year, in 2025, Cena broke the record by winning his 17th World Championship at WrestleMania 41. Before that, he turned ‘heel’ at Elimination Chamber after aligning with The Rock. Although a few months later, he turned back into his babyface character.
At his final match tonight, Cena finally gave up and tapped out to Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Cody Rhodes praised John Cena’s career and legacy in an emotional post-show interview following Cena’s final match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Immediately after Cena walked out to a roaring crowd after his final match, WWE switched footage to its post-show video on YouTube, which featured an emotional Cody Rhodes standing ringside and soaking in the moment. As Jackie Redmond approached Rhodes, he reflected on Cena’s career and reacted to the retirement tonight.
Teary-eyed and controlling his emotions, Rhodes opened up on what Cena’s career and legacy meant to him.
“It’s really hard to describe, in the sense of all the positives he brought to our industry and leaving it better than we found it,” Rhodes continued. “Wrestling is, there’s a way it ends. He did everything right by the book, and it’s still like, when it’s that good, you don’t want it to end. I know that’s vague, but he did everything by the book and taught so many people. He set such a high standard, such a high bar.”
“I’m not trying to get emotional on his night, but more than anything, take a moment and think about those sneakers, and the pump-ups before that, and the man that filled those, and what he was able to do through good and bad times.”
Rhodes further stated, “Tonight, everyone was just chanting ‘Let’s Go Cena’ — not a ‘Cena s**ks’ chant in the house. It’s everything. I’m so happy that it happened. It’s a great, great arena with wrestling history, and I’m so glad it happened there.”
Cody Rhodes reflects on John Cena’s role as a mentor to him
In the same ringside interview with Redmond, Rhodes opened up about Cena’s role to him as a mentor in the industry.
“John [Cena] led with his mind. He’s a businessman, and he was trained by businessmen, and he trained us to be businessmen. So to go out here where you’ve got 19,000 people and not a soul leaves until he leaves — that’s a sign he had a great career, and we can only hope to have something like that. Hats off to the greatest of all time.”
Also in the interview, Rhodes revealed how he had immediately accepted Triple H’s invitation to be part of the event. In the opening match of the night, Rhodes faced off against NXT Champion Oba Femi, which ended in a no-contest after Drew McIntyre interrupted.
