Once again, I must plead relative ignorance and throw myself on the mercy of the court of public opinion that I am simply not enough of a fan of professional wrestling to know the full storyline and career trajectories of its more prominent personalities. But I do know that an awful lot of people do, and in the last year that number has grown considerably. Any content that can reel in the likes of Netflix and ESPN as new business partners and, more importantly, significantly grow both their own audience and those platforms’ breadth of subscribers gets my attention. When this year began, we mused and anticipated accordingly.
So as the year comes to an end I am at least aware enough to know that what went down last night in our national’s capital was indeed a big deal. Hey, even PEOPLE’s Sean Neumann thought it was worthy of dropping a story on it earlier this morning:
John Cena’s WWE career has officially come to an end. Cena, 48, lost his final professional wrestling match on Saturday, Dec. 13, to rising WWE star Gunther.
The most decorated pro wrestler in WWE history, Cena remained in the ring for an emotional moment after the match, as the crowd at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., serenaded him with cheers and chants. Before his departure, Cena turned to the audience to take in the moment one last time, bowing and saluting them. Cena ends his in-ring career as one of the biggest stars to ever come out of the pro wrestling business. A record-breaking 17-time WWE world champion in the ring, Cena later catapulted his career into the entertainment business, starring in blockbuster films such as Fast X, Argyle, and The Suicide Squad.
A nice, buttoned-up and nuanced reaction to a year-long victory tour that undoubtedly played a significant role in WWE’s growth spurt and necessary pivoting away from the stench of the ignominious end to the scandal-infused Vince McMahon era that kicked off the prior year. We knew at that time that was a pretty big deal, too–especially as it came at the very time those new media negotiations were beginning. I suspect Neumann knows that, too.
But what he did fail to capture was the prevailing mood of the fans themselves that were in attendance–something that unsurprisingly THE NEW YORK POST’s Joseph Staszewski did:
The WWE star tapped out in a sleeper hold in his final match against Gunther at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” in front of an announced crowd of 19,232 at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Cena fought his way out of Gunther’s signature hold multiple times — even having one final Attitude Adjustment finisher in him before the “Ring General” slapped it on him for a sixth time. An exhausted Cena finally tapped his hand to submit to his final opponent. The crowd in D.C. was not happy with the finish. The fans unloaded chants of “bulls–t” and then “You f–ked up!” as Triple H came out. He was booed as he hugged Cena.
So do forgive me if I’m just a bit disbelieving that, although Cena may be swearing on a virtual stack of bibles that he’s done, done, done, I’m just not able to suspend reality at the door as true fans seem to be able to every time they show up or tune in to something that we’ve all come to know is SCRIPTED entertainment, in spite of any veneer and support from the likes of ESPN that it’s actual sport.
SPORTSKEEDA’s Ali Akber Habib took note earlier this year that there are a handful of less prominent personalities who have, at least as of this writing, chosen to walk into the sunset “for good”. The names Batista, AJ Lee, The Undertaker and Triple H are likely more meaningful to many of you, and they have so far stayed away from the ring. But in 2023 TIMES NOW’s Rishav Narang had a far deeper and more prominent list of those who couldn’t resist the allure–or the script–that had them reacting in the same manner than Michael Corleone so famously did. Even I know who Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Stone Cold are. And I know they’re nowhere near as popular or as enduring as Cena.
And I most certainly know there’s ample precedence both past and present in more mainstream sports. Most famously, Michael Jordan came out of exile for a second career act that cemented his place as basketball’s GOAT, at least in the eyes of hardcore Chicago sports fans. And later today, we will see an almost unbelievable restart to an NFL career which CBS SPORTS’ Jordan Dajani conveyed to his readers yesterday:
Philip Rivers‘ return to the gridiron is being fast-tracked, as the Indianapolis Colts have activated the 44-year-old quarterback for their Week 15 road matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Rivers will start on Sunday, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports, after ending his five-year retirement on Tuesday by signing with the Colts practice squad. Now, he’s on the verge of once again being a starting quarterback.
If someone a mere four years younger than Cena (a grandfather, no less!) can return to an arena that actually doesn’t have a predetermined outcome, please try and man-splain to me how we shouldn’t at least be thinking there’s a more than decent chance that a GOAT-ish presence like Cena hasn’t already signed a very lucrative NDA for a second crack at Gunther?
Hey, Rocky Balboa got another chance at Apollo Creed. That was a pretty well-crafted and lucrative storyline, and its script wasn’t even as creative as the ones that are germinating from Triple H and company these days.
Yeah, I know I should respect Cena’s integrity and determination enough to not be so skeptical. I know darn well I wouldn’t have the guts to say anything of the sort to his face. But I might have enough huevos to speak that truth to Triple H and Nick Khan, the WME czar who now oversees both this and UFC. Judging by how much their media partners old and new are banking on this rare exception to the rule of thumb that everyone’s audience is declining and/or splintering, I can’t not believe that we actually haven’t seen the absolute last of John Cena in actual competition.
Please, feel free to weigh in. Set me straight if I’ve missed something. Whatever you do will ultimately cause me less pain in the long run.
Until next time…