Heading into WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, some wrestling fans were skeptical that it would actually mark the last match of John Cena’s in-ring career. In a simple, but powerful move, WWE has now seemingly put those doubts to rest.

On WWE’s website, Cena has officially been removed from the active roster and relocated to the alumni section, situated between former WWE commentator Joey Styles and former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. In a new update to his bio, WWE.com also added that “Cena retired from in-ring competition at the end of 2025, capping off one of the most remarkable careers in WWE history and leaving a legacy that is nearly impossible to match.”

Cena’s retirement match pitted him against GUNTHER in the main event of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. Fans watching live from Washington, D.C. and at home saw the 17-time world champion issue the final series of Five Knuckle Shuffles and Attitude Adjustments to “The Ring General,” but still, it wasn’t enough to overcome the onslaught of sleeper holds that followed. The last one resulted in Cena tapping out, leaving the WWE Universe stunned and somewhat outraged.

In the wake of his loss to GUNTHER, Cena left signature wrestling sneakers and arm bands in the ring as a symbol of his in-ring career coming to an end at the age of 48. Looking ahead, though, he will remain a part of the WWE family by serving as an ambassador for at least another five years.

When WWE purchased WCW in March of 2001, wrestling fans were at the edge of their seats pondering all of the star power that just might cross over and the dream matchups that might ensue. As we all now know, for a multitude of reasons (most of them contractual), very few of those came to fruition—at least right away—and instead, the first real presence of WCW (in any incarnation) on WWE television featured Booker T defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Buff Bagwell as the main event on an episode of “WWE Raw.” While the former persevered, eventually becoming a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, whose presence in the company is still felt today, the latter would never again be seen in WWE, in large part due to his performance in that one-and-only televised match.

Ending just shy of five minutes from bell to bell, thanks to interference from WWE stalwarts “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Kurt Angle, the match was widely regarded as an absolute drag, and often thought to be the catalyst for hotshotting the eventual “Invasion” angle, which also fell flat after such high initial expectations. Bagwell would suffer the consequence when, a week later, he was excused from “Raw” tapings and told that his services would no longer be needed by the company. With the Booker T match as the most visible evidence for cause, it was also said that Bagwell had an unsavory attitude in general, participated in a backstage altercation with Shane Helms, and possibly even faked an injury before “SmackDown” tapings the night after his poor showing on “Raw.”

Bagwell would continue his wrestling career across the independent circuit, as well as in a handful of matches for TNA as his most prominent showings between 2002 and 2006, most likely wrapping up his in-ring career for Memphis Wrestling in 2024, given the fact that he had to have his left leg amputated above the knee earlier this year after years of complications following a car accident in 2020.

John Cena isn’t just a record-setting 17-time world champion in WWE, he’s also one of the most popular stars who children in the Make-A-Wish program request to meet. Cena holds the Guinness World Record for granting wishes, with over 650 wishes granted through the program in 2022. He continued to meet with kids during his retirement run, including ahead of the 2025 Royal Rumble, as well as through his heel turn. During an interview with Tom Rinaldi, Cena explained that he doesn’t see the record as an accolade, because he believes everyone given the opportunity would do the same.

“I can’t conceptualize someone learning the concept of what Make-A-Wish is and not doing the things that I’ve had the opportunity to do,” he explained. “That’s why I don’t look at that as any sort of accolade or achievement… I think anybody here, if they learned what Make-A-Wish is, if there’s someone fighting some circumstances and the one thing they’d like to do is hang out with you… Man, if we can do that, 100% we’re going to do that.”

Cena said that even as subdued and melancholy as the moments can be, they’re still so beautiful to him. He said it’s just a reinforcement that we all have the same end, and that he learned years ago to wake up grateful every day, because he’s had a full life.

“What it’s taught me about mortality is loss is always tough for everybody, but man, the steepest hill there is when we feel someone’s taken from us too soon,” Cena said. “To be involved with a charity that allows people who fight every day until there are no mores days to have a chance to have some fun, those are usually always folks that are taken from us too soon.”

Last night, wrestling fans across the world came together to watch the final match of John Cena at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. In the hours following, however, they remain divided on the bout’s outcome, which saw Cena tap out to a sleeper hold from “The Ring General” GUNTHER.

In the eyes of TNA star and industry veteran Matt Hardy, Cena’s act of submitting is not a surprise as it aligns with a common standard for departing wrestlers. “A tap-out by a man who massively respects the time-honored traditions of pro wrestling. #ThankYouCena #SNME,” Hardy wrote on X, referring to the practice of retiring in-ring performers putting someone else over on their way out.

Regarding the sea of boos aimed at WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque during Cena’s post-match farewell ceremony in Washington, D.C., Hardy wrote, “It is what it is. The loud boo when HHH hugged John made me laugh. Knowing John, this was all his brainchild & his way of passing the torch & giving back. It was meant to elicit anger & give Gunther unprecedented credibility moving forward.”

Throughout his retirement tour, Cena has been vocal about his desire to give back to his fans and the WWE roster members that will continue on in his absence. The latter was especially apparent on Saturday Night’s Main Event itself, where three rising stars from “WWE NXT” and one from TNA Wrestling competed on the undercard. TNA-turned-WWE talent Joe Hendy also appeared, hitting a tandem Five Knuckle Shuffle with R-Truth. Meanwhile, GUNTHER, who retired Goldberg earlier in 2025, drew heat at several points throughout and after his match with Cena.