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John Cena tears up during emotional tribute highlighted by holding Cody Rhodes, CM Punk titles

Danby: Daniel Hager8 hours agoDanielHagerOn3

8,570 days after John Cena made his WWE debut on the June 27, 2002 episode of SmackDown, the 17-time World Champion’s career came to an end Saturday night at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington D.C.

Cena tapped out to two-time World Champion Gunther, for the first time since 2005 (against Kurt Angle), in the highly publicized last match of his legendary career.  Gunther earned the opportunity to face Cena in his final match after winning ‘The Last Time is Now Tournament’, downing NXT’s Je’Von Evans, Carmelo Hayes, Solo Sikoa, and LA Knight in the process.

Following the match, the entire WWE roster surrounded the ring to pay their respects to Cena. Along with the roster, legends such as WWE CCO Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Rob Van Dam, and the aforementioned Kurt Angle were present.

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk handed their respective titles to Cena, allowing him to parade the ring with gold on his shoulders for one last time. Cena has immense history with both performers, as he faced both of them over the course of his retirement run. He initially beat Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 and subsequently lost it back to him at SummerSlam. He also defended the title against CM Punk at Night of Champions.

“I chose to retire,” Cena told Tom Rinaldi in an interview that WWE published on Dec. 8. “I made a promise to the WWE that I would not stick around when my skills can’t match the product, and they can’t. I’m 48. My 40-yard time has gone like (down). I can’t match up with the product now, and that’s okay, because what I do isn’t who I am. The realization of that has helped me come to like, no, let these guys have it now because they’re really good. All I would be doing is a disservice to the consumer if I go any point beyond this.”

John Cena’s in-ring WWE career spanned 8,570 days

The West Newbury, MA native announced at the 2024 Money in the Bank event that 2025 would be his final year as an active competitor on the WWE roster. He revealed that he would appear at 36 different events across the 12-month calendar year, and Saturday night marked event No. 36.

It has been quite the final year for Cena, as he won his record 17th World Championship at WrestleMania 41 in April (by defeating Cody Rhodes) and completed the Grand Slam by defeating Dominik Mysterio to win the Intercontinental Championship on the Nov. 10 edition of Monday Night Raw. 

To complete the modern Grand Slam (which 18 wrestlers have done), you must win a world championship, the Intercontinental Championship, the United States Championship, and a Tag Team Championship.

The newfound movie star finishes his career as a 17-time World Champion, a five-time United States Champion, a four-time Tag Team Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, a two-time Royal Rumble winner, and a one-time Money in the Bank winner. Saturday night’s match against Gunther marked his 2,259th in the company.