During the battles for Championship gold during Saturday Night’s Main Event, WWE also addressed John Cena’s final match during his retirement tour. The match is set to take place at the final Saturday Night’s Main Event of the year in Washington, DC, on December 13th, and while we knew the date, we didn’t know who Cena would be facing in the final match before his WWE retirement. Tonight, WWE shed some light on that question, revealing how they will decide his final opponent and that his final opponent may not even be from WWE.
WWE played a video narrated by Cena during tonight’s card, and that’s when it was revealed that starting a week from Monday on Raw, WWE will hold a 16-man tournament. The field will be picked at random, and will include competitors from Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and most unexpectedly, companies from outside of WWE.
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As a result, Cena is not hand-picking his final opponent, and by the time December 13th gets here, his final opponent will be clear. Honestly, this feels like a true Cena-style move, with the tournament giving several up-and-coming superstars a chance to shine along the way. Plus, it makes an even bigger event out of Cena’s final match, which can be a focal point on every Raw, SmackDown, and NXT over the next month.
As for who’s involved, the not from this company aspect will likely consist of TNA and AAA, which is still incredibly cool and unexpected. One might assume names like Mr. Iguana and Joe Hendry to be a part of that tournament, and if we’re talking NXT, several names come to mind. Some early picks for the NXT side are Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, Jasper Troy, Myles Borne, and Lexis King, and while there will likely not be that many NXT stars involved, at least a name or two from that list could make it into the mix.
Before the announcement of the tournament, it was heavily rumored that Gunther would be Cena’s final opponent, and that could very well still end up being the case. If Gunther ends up in the tournament, many are going to put their money on him emerging as the victor, but it could be a great way to throw fans off as well. The other heavily talked about opponent was Edge, but that’s probably not happening, as he is under contract with AEW at the moment.
Now, there is the reach of the opponent being Chris Jericho, who has had rumors swirling that he’s departing AEW soon and headed back to WWE. There’s no word on if he could make that December date happen or if he’s even thinking of leaving AEW, but if he were to be the final opponent, that would be quite the spectacle as well.
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