Ariel Helwani on John Cena vs. Gunther result: ‘Cena deserved better’
Ariel Helwani is not a fan of how WWE handled John Cena’s final match and how the final year of his career was booked.
Helwani expressed frustration that he would hear from people who say Cena had to lose on his way out, citing it as a time-honored tradition in wrestling. According to Helwani, that way of thinking comes from a bygone era.
Dedicating a significant amount of time to the topic, Helwani said:
“The fan boys will be like ‘No, this is what you have to do, this is what John wanted, this is exactly what he wanted, he wanted to give back to the business.’ And to that I say BS. I say hogwash to that. I say that’s nonsense because that is an ideology from a business that no longer exists. That’s 1970s, 1980s wrestling.”
“That’s not WWE Unreal territory, that’s not the era that we’re living in now.”
“Who wanted to see John Cena lose time and again in the last few months? Got his ass whooped by Brock Lesnar, lost to Dominik Mysterio, loses to Gunther. And not only does he lose in his retirement match, the guy who told us for 20+ years never to give up, not only does he lose, he loses via submission.”
“No, I reject this. This is not what those people wanted. This is not what anyone who was a fan of his wanted.”
Helwani suggested a better ending would have seen Cena win the match, followed by a post-match attack from Gunther leading several of Cena’s allies, including Cody Rhodes, to make the save.
“The match should have never been Cena vs. Gunther to begin with, and the result should have never been Cena losing, and it sure as hell never should have been him tapping.”
The Ariel Helwani Show X account posted a clip of Helwani’s comments along with the following caption:
“No one wanted to see John Cena go out like that. And to suggest it’s a time-honored tradition for him to ‘do the job’ is such a thing of the past. We live in a different era. Cena deserved better. The farewell tour had so much potential. In the end, it feels like fans were left wanting more. I think it was a mistake.”
The full episode of The Ariel Helwani Show from Monday, December 15 is available below.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.