WWE.com and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly shares his thoughts on what could happen during John Cena’s Final Match at Saturday Night’s Main Event at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (8 e/5p) on Peacock in the United States and YouTube internationally.
SETTING THE STAGE
Believe it or not, John Cena’s 36 dates and 18 matches of the 12-month Farewell Tour are down to one date and one final match. That means one more time we see the jorts, one more time we see the salute, one more time he takes that iconic run down the aisle with Stew in trail as he opposes Gunther, arguably the most dominant Superstar over the past five years, in the final match of his illustrious 23-year career. Cena’s yearlong tour saw him go 10-6-1. We saw arguably the most shocking “bad guy” turn of all time, a surprising return to grace, him becoming a 17-time World Champion, and competing against old-school guys and up-and-comers. Not everyone in Cena’s position has the opportunity to go out with a final match, let alone have a 12-month event to paint the final picture. Then again, not everyone is The Greatest of All Time.
WHAT I HOPE HAPPENS
What I hope for most has nothing to do with in-ring action and the outcome of the match. It would bring a tremendous amount of entertainment value if the match included surprise appearances from Cena’s past. This could be difficult logistically, but even backstage segments would be exciting. After all, you can’t truly write the “Book of Cena” without mentioning Kurt Angle and the birth of The Ruthless Aggression Era. A callback to his OVW days with Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and Batista would be amazing. I have no idea how you can pull off something like that in this kind of setting, but that’s something that I hope happens.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED
Maybe every step didn’t go as planned, but that’s just part of the fun and the year-long final bow that has played out just as you would think that Cena wanted. Cena is going out on his terms, and you can’t debate that. He gave Dominik Mysterio three entertaining matches, put together a stretch of matches against Cody Rhodes (twice), CM Punk, Randy Orton, Logan Paul, and AJ Styles that were some of his best in his career and all at age 48. Look at the SNME undercard that features NXT Champion Oba Femi, NXT up-and-comer Sol Ruca, 21-year-olds from NXT and TNA in Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater, and who Cena recently said is “the best that ever did it,” Styles. If that’s not going out by giving back, I don’t know what is.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN
Cena will make Gunther that guy… that guy that is Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Lesnar and Punk now. Gunther rolled through The Last Time Is Now Tournament, ironically, beating up-and-comers Evans, Carmelo Hayes and Solo Sikoa to earn the right to end the career of a legend. Gunther beat Goldberg in his final match in July, and that can’t be overlooked. Gunther is the perfect final match for Cena. They’ve never competed in the same match, and The Ring General has been on the cusp of being the face of the company for a while.
WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN
Who doesn’t want to see Cena break out all his signature moves on Gunther and come away with the 1-2-3 victory to go out on top and put a cap on this historic event with a feel-good ending? It’s a result that’s not going to hinder Gunther’s march to being the face of the company. It may enhance it just by being associated with the final in-ring performance by The GOAT. Have his parents and brothers embrace him in the ring. Why not have the locker room descend to the ring and carry him off on their shoulders like straight out of a movie?
WHAT WOULD BE SHOCKING
But… what it this wasn’t, in fact, Cena’s last match. All this press he’s been doing, hammering home that this is it for him, it’s just a ploy to make the reveal as shocking as his turn to the dark side 10 months ago. What if it comes full circle from WWE Elimination Chamber? The Rock returns and informs Cena that he wants his soul now, and as his Final Boss, this will be settled at WrestleMania 42 – a rubber match at WrestleMania that is 13 years in the making. Could you imagine?
