John Cena’s WWE retirement match takes place this weekend (Dec. 13) at Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME). Given that the rest of the card is set to feature NXT minor leaguers in exhibition matches against
WWE stars, it’s reasonable to assume Cena’s match will be the one that ends the night in the main event spot.
Assumptions can be wrong, of course, and today’s rumor mill included a claim from F4WOnline’s Bryan Alvarez that WWE is actually planning for Cena vs. GUNTHER to be the opening match of SNME. My immediate reaction upon seeing the rumor is it’s a very bad idea to start the night with Cena’s match because very few people will stay tuned in to watch those WWE vs. NXT exhibition matches if they come after Cena’s retirement match.
My second thought went back to Cena’s interview last week on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where Cena talked about NXT stars being showcased after his last match, but then implied that he’s sticking around until the end of the night because he’s very likely the main event. I walked away from that interviewing pretty sure Cena said he was in the main event of SNME, but with at least a little bit of uncertainty still lingering in the back of my mind.
At any rate, Andrew Baydala chimed in on the topic today, strongly asserting that WWE isn’t planning to open SNME with Cena’s retirement match. However, plans can always change.
Baydala later echoed my argument from above about why it doesn’t make much sense to open the show with Cena’s final WWE match.
“On the Cena opening #SNME front- I’m not saying it can’t happen but, think about this for this perspective.
TONS of casual eyeballs will be on that show and you are going to have him start and have those eyeballs turn away after?
Cena closes keep the audience waiting and the others showcase their talents to a new audience, and say potentially say ‘WOW, WHO IS THAT’.”
So there you have it, folks. John Cena’s final career match isn’t the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event, unless it actually is, but plans change all the time in WWE, and at this point I’m not even sure if GUNTHER really is his final opponent. I don’t think it gets much clearer than that.
Do you think John Cena’s WWE retirement match will be the show-closing bout at SNME? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders.
