John Cena Sr. praises Gunther, Dominik Mysterio after son’s final WWE matches
John Cena Sr. has a “tremendous amount of respect” for Gunther and believes The Ring General did a great job in his son’s retirement match.
Ahead of the December 13 Saturday Night’s Main Event special, Cena Sr. made headlines by expressing that he did not want Gunther to be his son’s final opponent. He ideally would have liked to see someone like Kurt Angle, Adam Copeland, Chris Jericho, or JBL in that spot, but Cena Sr. ended up loving the match his son and Gunther had.
“That match was excellent,” the elder Cena told Undisputed. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Gunther. He and John wrestled a great match together. They had people on the edge of their seats that entire match.”
The finish saw Cena submit while Gunther had him locked in a sleeper. With Cena flashing a smile across his face, the moment was supposed to feel like him going out peacefully as he ended his time in the ring. Cena Sr. reacted to the controversial finish and told Undisputed he would have liked to have seen a different ending. He does not necessarily think his son had to lose the match.
“I’m not one of those guys who thinks you have to go down when you go out,” Cena Sr. said. “When you look at the faces of people at the end of that match, with grown men and women in tears, I think we could have achieved the same result with a different finish.”
Before the Gunther match, Cena worked a series of bouts against Dominik Mysterio that saw them trade the Intercontinental Championship back and forth. Cena Sr. told Undisputed that he’s a big believer in Dominik’s potential.
“Dom is spectacular,” Cena Sr. said. “People like him hold a lot of promise for the future of pro wrestling.”
Cena Sr. noted that his son is a man of his word, so he knows this is truly it and Cena will never wrestle again. Cena will still remain part of WWE, though, with him signing a five-year ambassador contract with the company.
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.