John Cena took to social media on Saturday to address the opponent for the final match of his career at the Dec. 13 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
In a post on X, Cena described Gunther as “an opponent who I respect and who has earned the right to issue this final challenge!”
Last month, Cena announced that his last opponent would be determined by a 16-man tourney called the Last Time Is Now tournament.
The tournament featured Raw, SmackDown and NXT Superstars, as well as some wrestlers from outside of WWE, and they were randomly drawn into matchups that were contested on Raw and SmackDown.
Gunther and LA Knight made their way to the finals with Gunther beating Je’Von Evans, Carmelo Hayes and Solo Sikoa, and Knight getting the better of Zack Ryder, The Miz and Jey Uso.
On Friday night’s episode of SmackDown, Gunther and Knight clashed in a classic match, which Gunther won by submission when Knight tapped out while locked in a vicious cravat.
As SmackDown went off the air, Gunther yelled into the camera that he was going to make Cena tap out in his retirement match.
Cena and Gunther have never faced off in a one-on-one match, and The Ring General perhaps represents one of the toughest challenges of Cena’s career.
Gunther is the longest-reigning intercontinental champion in WWE history, as well as a former world heavyweight champion. He also beat WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg in his retirement match earlier this year.
At the same time, Cena has held a record 17 world titles in WWE, and given all the winning he has done in his career, it would be fitting for him to go out on a victorious note.
Cena has lost matches to the likes of Cody Rhodes, Brock Lesnar and Dominik Mysterio during his retirement tour, though, so there is a chance he does the honors for Gunther on his way out of the wrestling business.
