"“Never Give up”, was Cena’s phrase. Poetic, that on Cena’s last match, he gave up."
WASHINGTON D.C. – December 13, 2025, the WWE universe went quiet. Stunned and shocked, yet extremely poetic. After completing 35 dates, John Cena was down to his last and final match. The winner of the Last Time is Now Tournament, Gunther, was set to go against the greatest of all time.
Vibes were high going into Cena’s last match, but in the back of everyone’s mind it was hard to look past that it was truly Cena’s last match. How would it be booked? Will Triple H do enough to make this perfect? Will Gunther retire Cena, just as he did with Goldberg? Or will Cena go out in Big Match John fashion and end his illustrious career with a win?
After sending Gunther through the commentators’ table, hitting numerous AAs on Gunther, and showing off his strength with a top-rope AA, Cena was trying to pull out all the hits in his last match. Giving everything we got, even trying to submit Gunther with his STFU and eventually turned the tables on Gunther hitting him with the sleeper.
In the end, the constant sleeper on Cena tore him down. Gunther was relentless, and after minutes of trying to get out of the sleeper, John Cena accepted his inevitable fate. Cena gave up. A slight smile and smirk into the camera, and then all of our hearts stopped. The man who hasn’t tapped in twenty years, tapped out in his final match. “Never Give up”, was Cena’s phrase. Poetic, that on Cena’s last match, he gave up. Paving the way for Gunther to become one of WWE’s biggest heels of all time.
Many fans were outraged at the outcome, “How can John lose his final match?” “Why would John submit to Gunther?” “Where was the Rock? Where was Edge?” Yes, agreed. Was it perfect? No. But what it was is exactly what Cena wanted… closure.
Had Cena won it would open the door for him to possibly come back again, or at least instill that hope. With Cena losing, and tapping out it provides that closure that he essentially gave up and his time is past him. There is no doubt in my mind that this was Cena’s decision to go out the way he did. Do I believe he thinks it was perfect? No, but then again it had to happen. He didn’t want to leave any doors open, him giving up and tapping was the tell that John Cena really had his last in ring match. A match where he got Gunther over as a menacing heel.
John Cena’s Accolades:
17x World Champion
5x US Champion (longest cumulative reign in belt history)
4x WWE Tag Team Champion
2x World Tag Team Champion
2x Royal Rumble Winner (2008, 2013)
Money in the Bank Winner (2012)
Triple Crown Champion
Grand Slam Champion
Main-Eventer for WrestleMania 5 Times (22, 23, 27, 28, 29)
WWE Slammy Awards (Multiple for Superstar of the year, Match of the Year, Moment of the Year, and Best Male Superstar)
Most Make-A-Wish grants in history (650+ wishes granted)
We all witnessed the greatest in-ring performer of all time have the best 23 run of all time. No one has ever amounted to the greatness of John Cena, on and off the camera. We will never see someone cultivate a sport in such a way. The John Cena era of WWE is now complete, as is our childhood.
A piece of John Cena will always be with the WWE. John symbolically left his mark with the WWE, kissing the mat goodbye and leaving his shoes and sweatbands behind. The G.O.A.T. lives on. In unison, thank you Cena.
Key Stat
17x World Champion
