December 13, 2025 will be a day that WWE fans will struggle to forget, as John Cena bid farewell his historic pro wrestling career.
Ahead of the Saturday Night’s Main Event special, wrestling media, the wider sports and news media, and social media were all flooded with tributes and memes showing their appreciation to the 17-time World Champion. Although fans knew this was the last time, many were not ready to see him compete one final time.
To say that Cena is the biggest star of the 21st century and has left a lasting impression on multiple generations is not hyperbolic. From the 10-year-old kids sat in the arena and on their sofas at home, to this 33-year-old reporter who has Cena’s debut as one of his earliest pro wrestling memories, Cena’s last match was a big deal to many and easily the most talked about wrestling topic in 2025 from an in-ring standpoint. But when it was all over, did the last match live up to what those who had followed the 23-year career had hoped for?
John Cena Farewell Match Divides Opinion
Even though there were mixed emotions heading into the match with Gunther, all signs pointed to the company ensuring that the fans would be given a night to remember, and worth the substantial ticket price to witness the occasion in person. With no set run time that could cut off the show, which Goldberg unfortunately became the victim of with his retirement match, WWE had free reign to put everything into saying goodbye to one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling history.
Cena got the massive ovation from the fans, the big introduction and numerous legends in attendance, and played the biggest hits to the delight of the fans, which Gunther also sold exceptionally well for as the perfect villain to Cena’s heroic style that can at times venture to the silly side. However, the final few minutes saw the mood shift in the Capital One Arena, as it became clear that Gunther’s prediction was about to become true.
Heading into the match, Gunther promised to make Cena submit. Many saw this as a tall task for The Ring General, given that Cena has lived by the “Never Give Up” mantra for more than 2 decades, has never lost an “I Quit” match, and you could count on one hand the number of times that Cena has tapped out [it was 4 prior to this match]. With this in mind, when Gunther had the sleeper locked in, many assumed that Super Cena would power out and pick up one final big win, or if he had to lose then it would be via passing out. However, with a weak smile on his face, Cena came to the realisation that he had nothing left to give and that it was time to say goodbye, weakly tapping out to end the match and his career.
When the bell rang, the fans in Washington were in absolute shock. Heavily booing the finish and chanting “bullsh*t”, the reaction got worse when Triple H made his way to ringside. For the rest of the show, fans booed Triple H at every opportunity, placing the blame firmly on him for apparently ruining their night, which continued onto the post show.
On a personal level, I expected Cena to lose the match given the tradition of the business and how Cena has made it clear that he wants to keep the business moving and not hog the spotlight. However, as the 17-time champion has the potential for much more entertaining matches, which has made up for some of his in-ring work in the past, it’s understandable that the hardcore and casual fans hoped for something different to remember Big Match John’s final big match.
My wife, who watched the match with me and is very much a casual fan, had this to say about Cena and what occurred during his final match:
“I’ve never been one to say John Cena was a great wrestler. The Five Knuckle Shuffle is a terrible move, and I still laugh when it clearly misses, or you can hear Cena calling spots mid-match. But none of that ever really mattered, because my god, was he entertaining. Cena understood the business better than most. He knew how to command a crowd, how to be a character, how to make moments feel big. Going into his final match, I never expected him to win, but losing to Gunther just felt like a flat ‘I’m done’ ending. It didn’t feel emotional and it didn’t feel like the send-off a career like his deserved. Once again, it’s that familiar Triple H pattern… everything is built up to feel massive, historic even, and then when the moment finally arrives. It just doesn’t land.”
Unfortunately for those who expected something else, and found the finish to be incredibly underwhelming, this is what had to happen for a number of reasons. Firstly, Gunther is in his prime and Cena is 48 with more than 25 years of wear and tear on his body. Having already retired Goldberg and now having a win over the biggest star of the past 20 years, this gives The Ring General a massive opportunity to be presented as an even bigger heel than before, as he was the one to make the man who never gives up, give up. Whether WWE chooses to capitalise on this or not is another matter, as the company has been very hit and miss with following up on big moments when the time is right, such as Bron Breakker’s delayed opportunity after attacking Seth Rollins.
Secondly, this was Cena’s last match. Cena has seldom submitted as he has always had another fight down the road. However, with this being the end, this was the right time for Cena to finish his story, albeit with the hero not getting his fairytale ending.
The John Cena Farewell Tour: A Rocky Road [But With More Rock Needed]
Although the final match left many with mixed feelings regarding how successful Cena’s 2025 has been, the same can be said for his retirement year as a whole. With Cena announcing the year-long task 6 months in advance, many wished for something special, expected a record-breaking 17th World Title reign, and hoped that he would see out the year injury-free. While Cena was the runner-up in the Royal Rumble to Jey Uso, who has also had a very turbulent year, the first key event in the John Cena farewell tour happened at Elimination Chamber when the biggest babyface in WWE shocked the world by turning heel and siding with The Rock. With the world stunned and hoping for a heel run similar to Roman Reigns’ time as The Tribal Chief, the wheels fell off at WrestleMania.
Despite the fact that Cena cheated to win the all-important 17th World Championship, the key factor in the heel turn, The Rock, was nowhere to be found. Shortly afterwards, The Final Boss appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and claimed that he didn’t need to be a part of the match, even though he was the one who made the call at Elimination Chamber. With no real explanation of why Cena joined The Rock, and a disappointing Travis Scott cameo being the only callback, fans called out WWE for putting on what was easily the most underwhelming Cena Mania match, and one of the worst Mania main events in its 41-year history. From there, Cena continued to play the bad guy with no clear motivation, and had a series of displeasing matches with former rivals, including Randy Orton and CM Punk, the latter taking place in Saudi Arabia. This was a storyline that desperately needed The Rock involved, even if he had no intention of coming back for one more match. With limks to Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, The Final Boss could have made this storyline an all-timer. Instead, the Hollywood star alienated fans and has not been seen again since.
With fans aware that Cena’s heel turn would not last all year, the Hollywood star did not have an elaborate reason for being the good guy again, only that he wanted the fans to remember him. On the go-home SmackDown before SummerSlam, Cena shed the bad guy persona in a matter of minutes. While the explanation was weak, it did set up some of the best matches on the tour, albeit with one massive exception.
After a 5-star match with Rhodes at SummerSlam and a victory over Logan Paul, who was a part of 5 of Cena’s 18 matches, Cena once again fell victim to a returning Brock Lesnar, whose return was controversial in its own right given the allegations back in 2024 as part of the Janel Grant lawsuit. Squashed by Lesnar and with no follow-up, fans once again felt displeased by Cena’s performance.
All that changed when WWE returned to Australia, as Cena faced AJ Styles one final time. In what was seen as a love letter to pro wrestling and with iconic finishers hit throughout, the match was a lot of fun, well-received by the fans, and made Cena look like he could still go another decade. If WWE just followed this template for most of the year, the farewell tour would have been looked upon much more favourably.
Getting one final title reign, Cena won the Intercontinental Championship from Dominik Mysterio in his hometown to join the Grand Slam club. Although Cena lost the title back to Mysterio at Survivor Series, this was one loss that made sense as a returning Liv Morgan and entertaining performance by Mysterio made for a logical title change. Then it was time for the Gunther match, which will be viewed as a letdown by the Cena lovers, but this was one that he had to lose. Cena is a sports entertainer, Gunther is a pro wrestler who outwrestled the entertainer. With Cena fans liking a certain style of match, a pro wrestling match was never going to hit the mark. Arguably, a different opponent should have been used in the end to make for a more crowd-pleasing affair, but this is exactly what should happen in a Gunther match. And no, it was never going to be Edge, despite what some fans thought.
Has the John Cena farewell tour been a success? Well, it depends on the metric. From a financial and viewership perspective, absolutely. Cena merch has sold by the truckload in every venue, and WrestleMania 41 broke all records set the previous year. Additionally, clips of Cena’s biggest moments were viewed millions of times over, and the world has been talking about the final match. In terms of storyline perspective, the heel turn was an all-time moment that could have been talked about for decades, but the poor follow-up left it as another one of WWE’s ideas that had so much more potential. The R-Truth arc could have also been a major factor, but much like the Cena heel turn, Truth’s serious side was quickly dropped with no clear reason. Fans may have been wishing for the turn for years, but this is one of the biggest be careful what you wish for moments in pro wrestling history.
There is a possibility that WWE may use the Cena template with other stars as part of their retirement tours, but it feels wiser to leave this as a one and done.
What’s Next For WWE?
Now that the John Cena farewell tour is over, the company are left in an interesting position. Despite the fact that the product has not been as compelling in 2025 compared to the previous year, the company has been able to rely on Cena as somewhat of a crutch to keep fans buying the expensive tickets as they know it’s the last time Cena will come to their city. However, with Cena now gone, a reluctance to push the next generation and rumours of Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns 3 headlining WrestleMania 42, are fans going to keep as invested? Make no mistake that WWE is not going anywhere and nothing will stop it from being the clear number one in the wrestling world. But with the potential of more and more fans tuning out and not showing up to events, money talks and may prompt the promotion to try something new.
There’s no doubt that Gunther will be in line for a massive match given he retired a current and guaranteed future Hall of Famer, but there is the worry that the big win over Cena in his last match could be forgotten all too soon.
To use an American Football analogy to close out, the star quarterback has bowed out for good, and the team filled with veterans may need to consider a reshuffle soon to make sure they can make it to the end zone in 2025, and not fumble the ball.
Featured image: WWE
