WWE Saturday Night's Main Event: John Cena's Final Match Review

Linus O'Howell
52 minutes ago
3 min read

Cody Rhodes VS Oba Femi

The future very much is now as a special edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event kicked off with Cody Rhodes and Oba Femi facing off in a Champions VS Champions match! Neither the WWE nor NXT Championship was on the line in this one, but that didn’t stop this match from feeling like a big deal! Cody Rhodes has been positioned as “Mr. WWE” the past couple of years, whilst Oba Femi has been a megastar in NXT since the moment he debuted just 2 years ago! We firmly expected Drew McIntyre to get involved in some way, simply to protect Cody in some way! However, what we didn’t see coming was Drew literally getting in the ring and attacking Rhodes, causing a lazy DQ finish! Femi and Rhodes managed to get their revenge, dropping McIntyre to stand tall together, but honestly, what was this?! This was a prime example of WWE not wanting either guy to lose, so they instead came up with a stupid finish! This was a major disappointment!

Grade: C-

Bayley VS Sol Ruca

A legend in the wrestling game took on a future great as Bayley went one-on-one with Sol Ruca in another “exhibition match”! This match didn’t quite reach the 10-minute mark, but I did like it! Bayley is an absolute star; she doesn’t receive her flowers anywhere near as much as she should, whilst Sol Ruca is going to be a mainstay in WWE for years to come; her rise in NXT has been awesome to watch! Both Lyra Valkyria and Zaria were at ringside for this one, but they didn’t pull off any interference shenanigans (thankfully)! Eventually, after nailing Bayley with a Sol Snatcher, Ruca was able to roll up The Role Model to score a pretty huge win, and this honestly made sense given Bayley’s efforts to grow the future (in a similar vein to John Cena)!

Grade: B-

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee VS Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans

This match was firmly for the NXT/TNA lovers as Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans teamed up to perform in front of the biggest crowd against the World Tag Team Champions, AJ Styles and Dragon Lee! This match was a complete blur; it didn’t even reach the 7-minute mark, and it was an absolutely fabulous time! I talk all the time about how Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans are not just the future of the industry; they’re very much the now, and I will forever stand by that when they put on performances like this! It also helps that AJ Styles is one of the greatest of all time, an icon in the world of Professional Wrestling, whilst Dragon Lee is very underrated! Unfortunately, AJ did slip whilst attempting to go for the Phenomenal Forearm, but honestly, I was so impressed with how Leon Slater reacted to it that I don’t think it hurt the match at all! Styles was able to recover to drop Slater with a Styles Clash to get the win, and this really was just a fun time! Speaking of a fun time, Joe Hendry then showed up and just beat up The Miz, because why not!

Grade: B+

John Cena VS Gunther

After many emotional videos and career highlights, the last time really was now as John Cena ended his 23-year in-ring career against Gunther in the Main Event of Saturday Night’s Main Event! I thought everything about this was superbly executed, from the entrances to all of the video packages that were put together; this really felt like a farewell of the highest order! Whilst there have rightly been questions as to why Gunther was in this match, given there are many up-and-coming talents that would’ve benefited from it more, but in-ring-wise, The Ring General is almost unmatched! Gunther destroyed John throughout this match, with Cena having to dig down deep to have any chance of taking on his much larger opponent! Cena continued to fight back, hitting multiple AA’s (including one from the top rope) for close near-falls, before Gunther locked in a sleeper hold for a good 3 or 4 minutes! The reason he locked it in so long was because John continued to fight on, sticking to his “never give up” mantra, before Cena was finally forced to tap out as Gunther recorded another massive victory in his superb career! I know a lot of people have gotten pretty angry over the fact that John Cena lost his retirement match, but I honestly think it does make sense, and the way that this was all done was genuinely superb! I thought this was a fantastic end to the career of Wrestling’s GOAT, and Cena leaving with everyone clapping him on was a really nice touch. Thank You Cena!