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WWE fans are still mourning after John Cena, who preached “Never Give Up,” tapped out in his final match.
Cena, 48, faced Gunther on 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 tapped and WWE’s chief content officer was booed as he came out to congratulate Cena on a legendary career. He was also hit with “you screwed” chants, referencing his apparent decision to have Cena lose.
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John Cena and Seth Rollins face off during 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 alleged decision, especially considering that legends usually lose their last match to pass the torch.
“If John Cena had won the match, you wouldn’t be asking any questions about it. We wouldn’t even be having the conversation. No one would say Gunther’s name. None of this would be happening. At the end of the day, it’s always about what’s next, and John understood that better than anyone,” Rollins told Pak Gazette 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 goes on. The shows keep coming. The audience changes. The machine works. So my feeling is that I saw John smile before he finished, 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” starting last January; The Netflix debut also turned out to be Hulk Hogan’s last appearance in WWE.
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)
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But it was yet another way for Netflix to tap into sports and entertainment, as it did with boxing, the NFL and, starting next year, Major League Baseball.
Rollins, a Chicago Bears fan, will be behind the microphone for the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings game on Christmas Day on Netflix.
“I’ll be dressed up and look good and say Merry Christmas to the world on Netflix while talking about football, and I’ll try to come home and spend the night with my daughters,” Rollins said.
Rollins appeared on “Good Morning Football” and even hosted “The Rich Eisen Show” as part of his “Ruse of the Century.”
“I have a lot of experience in broadcasting,” Rollins joked. “It’s been a great year for me to be able to sit down and talk football with some people who actually 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 me.”
With Cena’s wild year going toe-to-toe, it seemed like if anyone were to win his last match in WWE, it would be Cena, considering his farewell tour dubbed him the “last real champion.”
But if Cena wouldn’t do it, Rollins can’t imagine anyone would.
John Cena makes his entrance during Crown Jewel at the RAC Arena on October 11, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
“What you might not get again is this Derek Jeter, Kobe Bryant-type retirement. I think that’s the thing, once it’s done, no one else will, and John was the perfect person to say, because he’s John, ‘I’ll retire at the end of next year, make a full schedule, and then I’ll be done, and that’s it.’ And he’ll never come back,” Rollins said.
“You know, you see all these guys, they go through these retirements, and then they come back and have 16 different retirement matches and retirement matches, whatever. He’s not going to do that. John, I promise you, you’ll never wrestle another match in your career, and I don’t think you’ll ever get to see another great talent do what John has done. I don’t know if any talent would want to do it. You know, John is the type of guy who says, ‘I wanted to go to all these places I’ve “And so I don’t know if we’ll ever have that again. And it was a very special year. It’s going to be very sad to see what WWE will be like without John Cena for the foreseeable future.”
