John Cena may have commented on his final match after all

While processing the end of John Cena’s legendary WWE career, and especially the backlash to his grinning tapout loss to Gunther in his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event, I theorized that Cena probably wouldn’t comment on the finish or the controversy.

He hasn’t, not in any direct way. What he’s done is dropped a couple more images on his weird Instagram for us to interpret.

First up is Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish, who retired in 1997 as a role player for the Chicago Bulls after winning

three NBA titles with the Celts. Is Cena saying that’s what his last few years have been like, so it was time to go? That generally fits the narrative those of us who liked or were at least okay with Saturday’s finish attached to Cena’s smirk as he submitted to Gunther’s sleeper. It’s kind of a stretch, though.

This one might be too, but it provides a more obvious comparison in the knowing look Obi-Wan Kenobi (Tatooine kayfabe name, “Old Ben”) flashed before allowing Darth Vader to strike him down on the first Death Star in A New Hope. Kenobi tells Vader this will make him stronger than ever, and he continues to guide the Star Wars saga as a “force ghost” (I think… except for Andor, I haven’t kept up with that galaxy far, far away since it was the main front in the culture wars around the end of the Disney trilogy).

Is Cena saying he sacrificed himself to inspire the next generation to take up his fight? That he’ll remain around as a spiritual sensei figure to the next faces who run the place? As the homie Kyle Decker pointed out, if last night’s reaction to Der Ring General is any indication*, Cena may have accomplished one of the things Kenobi’s death did — firmly establishing a “big bad” for the story to focus on in his absence:

Do I have a case of Cena Derangement Syndrome? Am I reading too much into this? Let us know what you think, Cagesiders — where are you on Cena’s Final Match, more than 48 hours post-tap out?

_{* This is a good sign that the concern I expressed in my post yesterday — that the booker will get the heat for Cena’s loss and not Gunther — is for naught.}