After over a year of anticipation and the entirety of 2025 giving fans around the world one final salute, John Cena is retiring from pro wrestling at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event from inside the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. this weekend.
John Cena hasn’t been a true fixture of the WWE in years, but he’s had such a long run with the company and was such a deep focus for so long, the company is going to feel a little different when he hangs it up after his final match against Gunther on Saturday night. This type of retirement is a first for a company that has seen many of it’s legend leave over the years.
The planned retirement isn’t very common at high levels in any sports due to the nature of sports, but it’s even less common in pro wrestling. Legends have angrily left WWE over the years, or moved themselves to a different company for a payday. Hell, even when the company trots out a premiere level retirement for a generational star like Ric Flair, it gets tainted because of disappointing and misguided returns the ring.
From The Takedown on SI
Look, the Cena retirement tour this year was far from perfect. The thing was far from even being good and bordered on catastrophic until this summer. WWE fixed things, and now are swimming in uncharted waters. It’s important they navigate them successfully.
How do they do that? Easy.
First, this Cena show can’t feel like two hours worth of Cena nostalgia. There was nostalgia involved in Cena’s final year inside of opponents he wrestled and callbacks he used in matches, but the overall tone has been more about the now rather than a look back. On his final night of competition, WWE need to focus their effort on maintaining that tone. If the show angles down the road of overt and obnoxious Cena praise, it’ll get old quick and by the time he wrestles his last match at the end of the night, the crowd may secretly be rolling their eyes.
Second, Cena needs an epic match. Expectations suck, but Cena has raised them from a match quality standpoint with the work he’s done in the ring since Summerslam. He’s got a perfect opponent to do that with in Gunther. Now, he just needs to do it. The 2025 John Cena retirement tour ending on a classic with the audience salivating for near falls and coming out of their shoes because of the drama is the only way this thing should end for Cena.
Speaking of Gunther, he needs to win this match. If Cena were wrestling an opponent like The Miz or even a bigger act like Randy Orton, you could put Cena over and send the crowd home happy. Because it’s Gunther, Cena needs to do business and then figure out the sending the audience home happy part after the fact. Gunther is going to be a key guy in WWE for the next five years at least. Retiring John Cena is something he can talk about forever and that’s the best legacy Cena can leave behind.
The WWE future on display
With all the attention on John Cena for this show — and rightfully so — it’s easy to forget that WWE is showcasing some upper tier developmental talent on the same night. Oba Femi vs. Cody Rhodes and Sol Ruca vs. Bayley are two important matches for the future of WWE.
Femi is a star in waiting and this is a tremendous opportunity to make an impact right out of the gate. I don’t think Cody does a job to him, but the goal has to be to try and make Femi even in a losing effort. If Femi does win, it has to be clean. A Femi win with a shenanigan finish like Drew McIntyre interfering is worthless.
As for Sol Ruca, the upside is massive. Ruca has all the makings of a top star in the WWE women’s division and she’ll get a chance to show why in her match against Bayley. Ruca makes a big splash and wins this. Look for her to head to the NXT Women’s Championship soon after.
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event airs live on Peacock on Saturday night. The full card and full prediction show from The Takedown on SI is below.
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 12/13/25 Full Match Card
John Cena vs. Gunther - John Cena’s Final Match
Cody Rhodes vs. Oba Femi
Bayley vs. Sol Ruca
AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater - WWE World Tag Team Championships
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 12/13/25 Preview
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