Saturday Night’s Main Event: John Cena’s Final Match marks the end of The Last Time Is Now Tour. It is also the 42nd episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, and by John Cena’s request, he wants to highlight young stars from NXT and TNA going up against main roster veterans. How will this special episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event end?
Singles Match
Bayley vs Sol Ruca
Allen: “3 Entrance Songs in 1” Bayley has been floating along for most of the year as the WWE have been waffling on what to do with her. Sol Ruca has always been impressive to me when she’s on NXT, even though I feel her Sol Snatch finisher while looking cool feels like it hurts her more than her opponents. I have a feeling Bayley wouldn’t mind putting over Sol. My Pick is for Sol Ruca.
Greg: I don’t know how Bayley and Sol will mesh in the ring but I expect this to end up with Bayley staring up at the lights. Winner, Sol Ruca.
BigFreaky: Bayley has been all over the place lately. Is the new blood gonna give Bayley some trouble? Going with Sol Ruca on this one.
Justin: Hearing about the things Bayley has been doing outside of TV appearances for the next generation of Women’s wrestling, I have little doubt that she wants to use this show in particular to put over Sol Ruca.
Tag Team Match for the World Tag Team Championship
AJ Styles & Dragon Lee (c) vs Je’von Evans & Leon Slater
Allen: This one will be the MOTN. AJ LEE as a tag team has been pretty cool to watch. However, my eyes are always glued to the screen when Je’von and Slater are on, they are so impressive. I especially like Slater’s finishing move, the 450 Swanton. If they want to help TNA get their new deal with their new TV home, AMC, off to a cool start I would love to see them do something interesting and have Je’von Evans and Leon Slater take the tag titles to TNA. Have a reason for AJ Styles to return to TNA for some shows to help keep the momentum they have going into 2026. My pick, Je’von Evans and Leon Slater.
Greg: So Saturday night’s all right for some flippy shit. If these guys get to actually go this could be some pure insanity. Regardless, I expect this to be a showcase of athleticism that may make it difficult to follow. I’m going for AJ LEE to take the win.
BigFreaky: Dragon Lee needs to lay off whatever he is on. This photo is insanity! Je’Von and Leon will have lots of time to shine, with 2 consummate veterans. This match will be a showcase of their talents for sure. They will get very close to winning I believe, but won’t quite be able to pull it off. Not yet young grasshoppers, your time will come. AJ LEE will sneak out that victory, and everyone will sparkle like diamonds.
Justin: From all accounts, Je’von Evans and Leon Slater have absolutely amazing careers ahead of them. With TNA heading to AMC, with AJ Styles heading toward his retirement, I see no better way to kick those things off right then with a win from Je’von and Leon. This could also set up something between AJ Styles and Leon Slater for that X Division championship. Slater wins the tag title from AJ. AJ gets the X Division title from Leon which can kick off his retirement run. WWE belts and main roster talent on that first AMC show. Everyone wins.
Champion vs Champion Singles Match
Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champion) vs Oba Femi (NXT Champion)
Allen: Love Oba Femi, he should be on the main roster yesterday. His presentation and his matches have been solid. Powerhouse in the ring. As much as I thought we would have seen Ricky Saints vs Cody Rhodes, I feel like this makes for a more interesting matchup. However for the winner, I doubt they will have the QB of the WWE lose right now. It also depends on what they will do with Drew McIntyre in the next few weeks. My pick will be Cody Rhodes.
Greg: Is this just an exhibition match or is the winner taking all or just for Guile’s Street Fighter belt? If it’s just a straight up one on one with no belts on the line I would like Oba Femi to get an upset victory over Cody (with or without help from Drew). Even if that isn’t the case and Cody goes over, I think this will be a good showcase for the more casual WWE audience to get accustomed to a person they will probably be seeing a lot more of on the main roster eventually.
BigFreaky: Ain’t no way you can’t pick the Undisputed WWE Champion. This should be a big introduction to a wider audience for Oba. I think a particular Scottish Psychopath is gonna show up and get a DQ on Oba. So Cody Rhodes will win, but not in a fair/clean way.
Justin: I know the obvious pick here (and probably the safer choice) is the WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Let them have a good match, and show off the future main eventer. But would you really want the new NXT Champion to lose that quickly after getting the belt? With the spirit of this show in mind, I’m going to choose Oba Femi. First of all, we’re all anticipating some kind of shenanigans from Drew McIntyre. This would be a way to have the ‘shocking’ visual of Oba Femi pinning Cody. Then, you can have a rematch between the two at another big show where Cody can get his win back. Cody comes out the winner at the end, but ultimately, they are 1 and 1. Feels like a bit of a better way to set up Oba Femi.
Singles Match (John Cena’s Retirement Match)
John Cena vs “The Ring General” Gunther
Allen: Gunther has had the best matches in the tournament, I don’t see this being any different. But now Gunther says that he will make Cena give up. Not sure if I see Cena submitting especially since his motto is “Never Give Up”. Does Gunther even need the win? Do we really need Cena to “put over” Gunther on his way out?I feel like we may get one more “Feel Good” moment from WWE and have John Cena go out the victor. My pick is John Cena.
Greg: I am going with Cena doing the time honored tradition of losing his final match before hanging up his jorts and air pump sneakers for good. I don’t see any benefit to him winning other than not making the kids and their parents cry. With how Gunther has been booked, WWE has painted themselves into a corner since he doesn’t need a win and won’t get hurt from a loss. So whatever the result, he’s gonna come out of this match unscathed.
Still, I think tradition wins over feels and Cena will do the honours just because it is the way. The winner is Gunther.
BigFreaky: Normally you would expect a favor on the way out. Gunther doesn’t need any favors. Strap in ladies and gentlemen this will be a rollercoaster for sure. “Never Give Up will prevail”. Gunther will not tap again. He will pass out. Cena will give everything he has to pull out his final win. The Final Time is NOW.
Justin: It’s hard to go against the obvious move here. The man who makes everyone quit vs the man who never gives up. Considering everything John Cena has been saying in interviews leading up to this match and even the entire concept of this show, I have to pick Gunther winning this with John Cena looking up at the lights one last time. Yes, there are many fantasy booking scenarios that I think would be great. I would even love for them to swerve us and John Cena’s last match is actually at the next Wrestlemania. Or maybe even getting us some closure with that Rock angle, but that will never happen. So while I do think it’s going the obvious route with Cena losing, the true end of this show might be them announcing him as the headline of next year’s Hall of Fame.
Your Thoughts on John Cena
Allen: This Last Time Is Now Tour has been pretty up and down. In retrospect his heel turn probably should have never happened. He did have some pretty great matches with Cody and AJ Styles and him finally winning the Intercontinental title have been some pretty good “make goods” since the failed heel turn.
I do remember fondly when Cena was being pushed to the moon around 2005. He was beating all my favorites, Jericho, Angle, Shawn Michaels, Edge… I was not the biggest fan of his at the time. I remember being at live events with all the guys singing “John Cena Sucks” during his trumpets in his intro and always being a bit deflated when he would “Overcome All the Odds” in the end.
Looking back now, Cena always put on good matches, was always super over, it was always good to see him. Do I think this will be the Last Time? Wrestlers never seem to stay retired once they leave the ring, but if there is one person that can make it permanent, I think it would be John Cena. Thank you sir, hope you can enjoy your retirement.
Greg: Looking back at Cena’s career I have to say he’s done well for starting out as a bland, white meat bayface with no direction. The Dr. of Thuganomics really saved his ass and sent him on an unreal career trajectory. That was my favourite character of his and I was sad that he had to tone it down for the PG era, I got that he was the face of the company by that time and he needed to be as family friendly as possible.
Out of all the matches he has had, I think I liked the stuff he did with Kevin Owens and AJ Styles the most. Maybe because it’s recency bias or because I’m also old like BigFreaky and can’t remember much these days. But those matches showed that he had more in his moveset than 5 moves of doom and he could hang with those who came up through the indies.
Like many other top guys, he has carved himself a niche in Hollywood. While he may not have the range of Batista, Cena has done well enough with his various roles to show he has some versatility and can’t be pigeon-holded into a single archetype or be typecast.
Unlike past stars who had someone ready to replace them, I think Cena leaving will leave a temporary hole that will be difficult to fill as there aren’t as many hungry young lions I think the public is ready to accept as the next guy quite yet. There are a lot of old lions, but not young ones ready to complete the circle of life.
So like the others I thank John Cena for the years of sacrificing his body for the sake of entertaining pleabs like me.
BigFreaky: I was not around for the “Ruthless Aggression Era”. I had a lapse in watching pro wrestling from 2000ish to about 2009/10. So I missed all of that Cena iteration. I came back to wrestling when I guess he was in his “Fruity Pebble Era”. I’m an old school wrestling fan (and old), so I don’t get mad when the “good guy” wins. I never and still don’t have an issue with John being the ultimate white meat baby face. His mantra of “Never Give Up” and even “Rise Above Hate” actually has sometimes played a role in my life. Often the world seems so negative, and a little bit of hope is welcomed. Even if it comes from “The Fake” world of wrestling.
It’s also difficult to hate too much on someone who has granted the most wishes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. No matter what his persona is in the ring. No matter what his personal life. Even with the god awful heel turn this year. (Thanks Rock). It’s difficult to diminish the joy he’s brought to sick children.
I bought many of the full outfits Cena had over the years in all the colors of the rainbow. Shirt, hat, and even have to buy 2 packs of wristbands to match our Hero. It was a fun time for sure.
John hasn’t been around much the past few years, aside from this one of course. So his impact of leaving isn’t as devastating. But nonetheless, it will be a major milestone for Pro Wrestling as Cena leaves in ring action forever. I do think of all the people he will stay away. From at least full in ring competition. I’m sure the Saudi’s will have some money to do a Rumble Entry or an AA(FU) on someone, but I think this is really the end of John Cena matches.
Thank you John for all the fun.
Justin: I’m lucky enough to have seen John Cena wrestle live a couple times including a Wrestlemania. I’m also lucky enough to remember watching John Cena debut. I’m lucky enough to remember his rap gimmick. At the age I was, I thought his spinner US Championship belt was such a cool idea. I thought him wearing a chain around his neck was so cool. And yes, I never had a problem with the spinner WWE Championship belt (although I do agree it probably should’ve just been for him). I was a little confused when people started booing him going into Wrestlemania 22. But as I got older, I understood. Watching some of those shows and matches back, I understand the frustrations fans had. Did he make some bad decisions in and out of the ring? Definitely.
But hearing him speak in interviews now, hearing him reflect on the good and bad things, and understanding what he was mentally going through while being the face of the company gives me even more appreciation for his work throughout his career. I will always say this – I don’t think there are many people who could’ve handled everything the way John Cena handled it. And I don’t think there are many people who could’ve represented the company the way he did. The thing I took away most from watching John Cena was how to carry myself. Yes, that lesson looks different back then vs what it looks like now, but the core principles are the same. I aspire to be as well-spoken as he is. And while I’m not in a position to compete with the man who has granted the most wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, I hope to make a positive impact on as many people as I can just like he did.
Lastly, John Cena has actually spoken words of advice that I carry with me every day. “Control the controllable.”
For those words of wisdom, and everything else in the last 23 years – Thank you, John.
