Gunther has ‘different expectations’ for John Cena than Goldberg WWE retirement match
Gunther is entering this weekend with higher expectations than the last time he retired a pro wrestling legend.
At WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, Gunther will serve as the opponent for John Cena’s final match. It’s an opportunity for Gunther to retire both Cena and Goldberg in the same calendar year. Though Gunther was pleased with how that July bout against Goldberg went, he expects to have a better in-ring match against Cena.
“Goldberg, I was very pleased with the outcome of that, I think,” Gunther told the New York Post. “Obviously, I had different expectations in that match than I have with the match on Saturday. I’m expecting, obviously, a little bit more out of that because John is such a way more skilled wrestler than Goldberg was. He was very limited in what he could do. So, very different scenarios I think.”
Gunther added that he believes he and Goldberg delivered the best match they could given the circumstances. Even in Goldberg’s prime, he didn’t have the biggest repertoire of moves and instead had two or three things he did really well.
Cena’s final opponent was determined by WWE’s Last Time is Now Tournament, which concluded last week with Gunther defeating LA Knight in the finals. There was not any time for Gunther and Cena to have a promo segment together before Saturday Night’s Main Event — and Gunther regrets that he was not able to go back and forth with Cena on the mic.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Gunther responded when the New York Post asked if he would have liked to have a promo exchange with Cena. “He’s, like, maybe the best on the mic to ever do it — or one of the best. People can argue whatever they want about those things, but he’s definitely in the top category. So it would have been good for experience-wise to get the chance. Didn’t work out, it’s fine. It is what it is. I’m more focused on the match anyway.”
Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. will be the venue for Saturday Night’s Main Event. The show streams live on Peacock starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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.