Gunther: Retiring John Cena was ‘the most meaningful win’ of my career
Retiring John Cena is the most meaningful victory Gunther has ever gotten in professional wrestling.
Last weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Gunther defeated Cena in the final match of Cena’s legendary career. A retirement tour that began all the way back in January ended with Cena giving up as Gunther had him locked in a sleeper.
Gunther spoke to TMZ Inside the Ring’s podcast after the match and called the win something he will be able to brag about for the rest of his career. It was a significant moment for Gunther on a show that was very important to WWE. Gunther said the vibe backstage almost felt more important than a WrestleMania.
“It was definitely the biggest or the most meaningful win, maybe, of my career or the win with the biggest reaction afterwards. That I can definitely say,” The Ring General said. “It’s hard to compare to anything else because John Cena has been such a legendary figure in WWE [and] the wrestling world in general. It’s really hard to compare. Like the whole day, I could tell people were really tense and very serious about everything. It almost felt like more important than WrestleMania to a lot of people backstage, if I can compare it to that. I mean, I knew what I was going to do anyway. So the clock was ticking. It almost felt like a time bomb to explode at the end of the day. And, yeah, well, it did. Thankfully to my advantage.”
The finish of Gunther vs. Cena was a controversial one with fans hoping that Cena would go out with a victory. Speaking in character, Gunther delivered a message to those upset with the result.
“Stop crying. Life goes on,” he said.
2025 was a year where Gunther defeated both Goldberg and Cena in their retirement matches. When asked what’s next for him, Gunther told Inside the Ring that fans will need to tune into Raw next Monday to see.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.