Last night, John Cena officially ended his historic WWE career with a loss to Gunther. After decades of telling everyone never to give up, the greatest of all time did just that after getting repeatedly ensnared in a sleeper hold. The fans in attendance and many on social media were not happy campers about the not-so-fairytale ending. In between several standing ovations for Cena himself, WWE fans loudly booed head booker Triple H over the creative decision, but the 17 time World Champion was always going to end his career that way.
The wrestling business is about creating momentum. You can build it through great promos or cool intros, but the fastest way to do it is by literally taking it from other people. Winning a match in wrestling is a signal to the audience that you are ascending. It’s a vote of confidence from the decision-makers that you are going to be a bigger part of the story, fighting more important opponents and getting more screentime. It tells everyone watching that they should pay attention to you.
In a much sadder way, that same match tells the opposite story for whoever is lying on their back. A loss is a signal to the audience that you are descending. It’s an ominous warning that you’re moving down the card and may not have quite as grand of a story to tell next week. It’s a reduction of you that augments someone else.
John Cena earned the right to go out however he wanted. He carried the business through a difficult time and consistently put in the work to make himself great and elevate his fellow performers. There are so many stories about Cena helping the ring crew, Cena watching other people’s matches to give them pointers and Cena granting more Make A Wish wishes than anyone else in history. In a business known for behind the scenes drama and rampant egos, he was never, ever even rumored to be a problem.
He earned the right to go out however he wanted, but a guy like that is always going to go out on his back. Hustle. Loyalty. Respect. Given a chance to create momentum for someone else, in this case Gunther, Cena was always going to give back and create momentum for him. He was always going to put the business above himself.
In an interview for Killer’s Game with Chris Van Vliet, former WWE star turned actor Dave Bautista gushed when talking about his own last match. Co-star Sofia Boutella was shocked to find out he lost and was confused why he would be so happy about going out that way. He smiled and told her, “You gotta go out on your back.” John Cena is that guy too, and he was always going to go out on his back.
There’s been a recent trend in professional wrestling to give guys one final curtain call and celebratory victory. Stone Cold Steve Austin beat Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. Ric Flair has won numerous retirement matches over the years. Shawn Michaels won one final match in Saudi Arabia. Every one of those guys, however, lost the match that mattered when they had a chance to give someone else momentum. Austin lost to The Rock at WrestleMania 19. Flair lost to Michaels at WrestleMania 24, and Michaels lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26.
We can all argue about John Cena’s retirement run as a whole. There were some fantastic moments (his pipebomb promo, his match with AJ Styles, his SummerSlam match with Cody, that heel promo where he made the kid in Belgium cry etc), and there were some moments that could have gone better (whatever was supposed to happen with The Rock and Travis Scott, the Mania match with Cody). Wrestling fans love to argue, and they’ll be arguing about that for decades to come.
This final match, however, WWE got this right. John Cena got this right. The guy who elevated the business and preached Hustle, Loyalty and Respect gave all the momentum he had left to Gunther, arguably the best worker in the entire business. It was the way he was always destined to go out. Every time Gunther screams during a promo for the next decade that he forced John Cena to tap out in his last match, it'll carry that momentum forward. It'll be a reminder of how big Cena once was and how much he still matters.
Happy retirement, John. Thank you so much for all the memories, and thanks for putting the business above yourself one final time.
