John Cena appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday to discuss his final match on Dec. 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event. When Kimmel asked the 48-year-old star about potential wrestling luminaries attending,
Cena tempered expectations for those tuning in.
“If you tune in to Saturday Night’s Main Event on Peacock on the 13th, you’ll see my final in-ring performance, but you’ll also get a look at the major WWE superstars facing future stars,” said Cena.
The 17-time world champion recalled getting his start in WWE as a “no-name” who caught a break by facing the legendary Kurt Angle on SmackDown in an open challenge in 2002. He’s hoping that a similar opportunity will be afforded to select stars from NXT, WWE’s developmental brand.
“That was the start of this crazy ride,” said Cena. “So, 23 years later, I kind of want to return the favor, and you’re going to see some technically ‘minor leaguers’ step up to the plate and see if they can make an impact.”
The audience applauded as Cena said it would be “cool” to devote most of next week’s show to the future of the business.
In the meantime, WWE has yet to produce a full card for the show. Tomorrow night on SmackDown, LA Knight and Gunther will meet in the finals of the “Last Time Is Now Tournament,” which will determine Cena’s final opponent. WWE will then have this Monday’s Raw and next week’s SmackDown to promote the match.
As for the rest of the card, WWE will have a narrow window to introduce NXT stars to fans who may not follow the developmental show. However, that could be by design. Just as many fans didn’t know who Cena was 23 years ago, keeping next week’s card under wraps may be an attempt to produce a similar moment that sparked Cena’s career.
Cena emphasized that his match on Dec. 13, which airs on Peacock, will be his final in-ring performance. He explained that he announced his retirement 15 months in advance as a way of giving fans plenty of notice to process his retirement and to thank them for their support over his two-decade career.
“Touring the world in this last year, it really has been beautiful,” said Cena. “Meeting audience members and them sharing their stories and connection, it’s been great. And I wanted to give people a heads up so people could process whatever closure they wanted for the 13th.”
