NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
WWE fans are still in mourning after John Cena, who preached “Never Give Up”, gave up in his last match.
Cena, 48, went up against Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event earlier this month for his final time in the ring after a farewell tour that began when he announced his retirement from the ring in the summer of 2024.
Cena moved out and WWE’s chief content officer was booed as he came out to congratulate Cena on a legendary career. He was also hit with chants of “you f—ed up”, referring to his apparent decision to make Cena lose.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
John Cena and Seth Rollins face off at Night Of Champions at Kingdom Arena on June 28, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Joe Maher/WWE via Getty Images)
However, WWE Superstar Seth Rollins hinted that Cena had no problem with the supposed decision, especially considering that legends usually lose their final match to pass the torch.
“If John Cena had just won the match, you wouldn’t ask any questions about it. We’re not even having the conversation. Nobody would say the name Gunther. None of this would happen. At the end of the day, it’s always about what’s next, and John understood that better than anybody,” Rollins told Pakinomist Digital in a recent interview. “He understood that it’s never about what you’re doing in the moment, it’s about what comes next. And you have to prepare for the future.
“The business rolls on. The shows keep coming. The audience changes. The machine kicks in. So my sense is that I saw John smile before he struck out, and I think he knew exactly what he was doing.”
Much of Cena’s farewell tour was seen live on Netflix, as WWE and the streaming service reached a deal to air “Monday Night Raw” beginning in January — the Netflix debut also happened to be Hulk Hogan’s final WWE appearance.
Seth Rollins enters the arena during “Monday Night Raw” at the RAC Arena on October 13, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE’S JE’VON EVANS SPEAKS PURSUING PRO WRESTLING PASSION, IGNORING CRITICS AND HONORING JOHN CENA
But it was another way for Netflix to capitalize on sports and entertainment, as it has done with boxing, the NFL and, starting next year, Major League Baseball.
Rollins, a Chicago Bears fan, will be behind the mic for Christmas Day’s Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings game on Netflix.
“I’m going to be dressed up and looking nice and saying Merry Christmas to the world on Netflix while talking about football and I’m going to try to go home and spend the evening with my girls,” Rollins said.
Rollins has appeared on “Good Morning Football” and even hosted “The Rich Eisen Show” as part of his “Ruse of the Century.”
“I have a significant amount of broadcast background,” Rollins joked. “It’s been a great year for me to be able to sit down and talk football with some people who really know a thing or two about football. So I’m looking forward to taking my skills to the big stage on Netflix on Christmas Day and hopefully I can keep up with the boys and girls who know more than I do.”
With Cena’s wild years going from face to heel back to face, it seemed like if anyone was going to win their final match in WWE, it would be Cena, considering his farewell tour called him the “last real champion.”
But if Cena wouldn’t do it, Rollins can’t imagine anyone will.
John Cena makes his debut during Crown Jewel at the RAC Arena on October 11, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
“What you may never get again is this Derek Jeter, Kobe Bryant-type retirement. I think that’s the thing, is when it’s done, there’s no one else who’s going to do it, and John was the perfect person to say, because he’s John, ‘I’m going to retire at the end of next year, I’m going to do a full calendar and then it’s done,’ and then it’s done.” And he’s never coming back,” Rollins said.
“You know, you see all these guys, they go through these retirements and then they come back and have 16 different unretirement fights and rehab fights, whatever. He’s not going to do that. John, I promise you’re never going to fight another fight in his career, and I think you’re not going to see another top talent do what John has done. I don’t know that John wants to know that kind of guy. It’s like, ‘I wanted to go to all these places that I’ve been for more than 20 years and give the fans another opportunity to interact with me and see me perform.’ So I don’t know that we’ll ever get that again. And it was a very special year. It will be very sad to see what WWE looks like without John Cena for the foreseeable future.”
