John Cena Sr. doesn’t think Gunther should be son’s final WWE opponent
John Cena Sr. isn’t a fan of Gunther potentially being his son’s final WWE opponent.
For months now, Gunther has been considered the most likely option to face John Cena in his final match. That could become official on SmackDown this Friday when Gunther takes on LA Knight in the Last Time is Now tournament finals. The winner advances to face Cena in his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C. on December 13.
Cena Sr. recently appeared on the All Axxess Podcast and addressed who he thinks his son’s final opponent should be. He isn’t a fan of the Gunther idea, with Cena Sr. saying his ideal choice would be Kurt Angle if Angle were still physically able to compete. His other choices would be Adam Copeland, Edge, or JBL.
“Well, it certainly wouldn’t be Gunther, that’s for sure,” Cena Sr. said. “I don’t think that that’s a wise move. I don’t think the fans would enjoy that move. Myself personally, Gunther does not need the rub. By the way, I’m not a fan of [the idea that] on the way out, you’ve got to push somebody over the top, you’re supposed to pass quote-unquote ‘the torch.’ I don’t know where that’s written anywhere in professional wrestling. If we have to use that as an analogy, then he’s already done that with Cody Rhodes. He beat him for the title, he gave the title back, they embraced as you saw, Cody was teary eyed, the torch was passed.
“So my thought is — is there anybody that needs the rub? I think he’s given the rub along the way, especially with Dominik Mysterio… Who else do I think he should face? I really wish that Kurt Angle was able to get back in the ring, because that would be an outstanding last match for Cena and Angle. And I say this all the time, I really truly believe that [Baron] Corbin should not have been Angle’s opponent for his retirement match — it should have been Cena.
“Who would I like to see John face? Obviously I just kind of emphasized that. I would say Kurt Angle number one. I would say Adam Copeland number two. I would say Chris Jericho number three. And a wildcard on my part, I’d love to see John Cena face JBL. Those would be my four choices.”
Neither Copeland nor Jericho could actually compete for WWE at the moment due to both being with AEW. There are rumors that Jericho could return to WWE soon, but his AEW contract is not up until the end of 2025.
While some fans would like to see Cena wrestle an emerging WWE star like Bron Breakker, Cena Sr. said young prospects like that are already being built up and have big things coming their way. He doesn’t think they need the rub of being Cena’s last opponent.
Cena won the Intercontinental Championship from Dominik on Raw last month but dropped the title back to Dominik at Survivor Series this past weekend. Now that Survivor Series is over, the December 13 Saturday Night’s Main Event is the only date remaining on Cena’s retirement tour. The show is taking place at Capital One Arena and will stream live on Peacock.
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.