Although the “last time” is still to come, John Cena’s final moments as a champion in WWE are in the rearview mirror following his loss to Dominik Mysterio at Survivor Series: WarGames.
Prior to Survivor Series I wrote:
Previously I said some time ago that if this rumoured match goes through, Cena should not leave Survivor Series with the title. That hasn’t changed. While I can get behind how they built to the match and am fine with Cena winning it earlier this month if it means dropping it back to Mysterio in a decisive match, Cena leaving the show with the championship helps no one and serves no purpose. I think Mysterio winning convincingly needs to be the objective, highlighting that Dom is the future, and calling back to one of Cena’s promos opposite Roman Reigns.
He previously paraphrased an old saying that states although he may not be as good as he once was, he can be as good as he was once, and only needs to be that good again for three seconds. The same is true here. He is not as gifted as Mysterio, but he turned back the clock and beat him. I think this will be a competitive match with Mysterio going over because I think it does more for the company than Cena carrying it a little longer and into his final match.
Mysterio reclaimed the championship following the return of Liv Morgan, who at first appeared upset with Dominik, only to punt Cena with a low blow moments later. The tease was enough to make you believe the ruse until reality set in with Morgan’s callback to when Cena punted Cody Rhodes earlier this year. It’s a perfect example of what goes around comes around, and in a way is karma coming back around on Cena.
With Cena’s career winding down, putting Mysterio over was the right thing for the company to do. The decision pays forward the stock that Cena has built up and had been invested into him early in his career. To that end his equity and value is reinvested into Mysterio as someone who is young, up-and-coming and has many years ahead of him in the company.
Cena never needed to win the first match, but I think we can acknowledge the value in him winning the championship both to his own career and Mysterio’s over the longer term. Immediately, it’s obvious Mysterio will be around for quite some time and barring injury will be a company staple. That is evident in how much WWE has invested in him and the stories/promotions he’s involved in. What’s additionally obvious is that Cena is a legend of the sport and to some degree has earned the right to call his shots, or as evenly so, be afforded the opportunity to pad his career with accolades as it winds down. Furthermore, the privilege to do that alongside young talent he deems worth giving his time to.
WWE had a unique opportunity to puff up Cena’s resume while also keeping Mysterio solid. A loss to Cena at this point when he’s had a strong year statistically and optically doesn’t hurt him. In conjunction with that, he’s still young and inexperienced and should lose, however he should learn from that and bounce back. Even if it’s the result of a Guerrero-esque ruse with Liv Morgan.
Originally I had argued that if the two were going to wrestle at Survivor Series that Cena should absolutely not go over, even if it meant not securing an IC title to complete his grand slam. In that scenario I argued that if Cena became champion and then turned around to potentially win his final match and retire as champion, it would be a disservice to the work Mysterio has put into his own career and reign, to the company, and to the title itself.
WWE would be in a position where it would have to either let him retire with it, vacate it and hold a tournament to crown a new champion, or have his final opponent beat him. The latter is the lesser of two evils, but I’ve also argued either scenario creates predictability that draws away from the spectacle of it being his final match. If we’re to be focused on “will he or won’t he retain and retire,” we’re not paying as close attention to the match and his opponent, which is a disservice to both Cena and whomever of the final four advances to Cena’s finale.
The way this was booked lets the company have its cake and eat it too. The path they followed honours Cena, his legacy and anoints him as a grand slam champion. In contrast, Mysterio is not hurt by the initial loss despite losing his championship and as we saw he bounced back, cheated and regained his title at Survivor Series.
With Mysterio now in Cena’s rearview, and vice versa, Mysterio can move on to other challenges. For Cena we’re now two weeks away from his final match which is void of the championship pressure and that allows it to breathe and exist on its own. The only element left unresolved is who among Jey Uso, LA Knight, Solo Sikoa and Gunther gets that opportunity to wrestle Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event. All four have had some measure of success this year, but there is no comparison between the build of the other three participants and the juggernaut that is Gunther.
Win or lose, Cena-Gunther is the match to make because it is a compelling encounter that sells itself because their combined stock is higher than most. There’s no need to add a championship to the mix, and I think if it’s any of the three left aside, the result is less attractive because you assume Cena will beat them. The fact is that narratively none of them are on Gunther’s level. He’s the choice where you’ll think you’re not quite sure how it will go once their match begins, but you know in those moments between the beginning and end that you’ll be getting your money’s worth.
The dynamic that Cena and Gunther share is another key reason I preferred they flip the title back to Mysterio — Cena and Gunther can carry a match on their merits without a championship, especially in a scenario where the title predictability charts the outcome. There’s no value for anyone or anything involved at that point. Should we end up with this match for Cena’s final outing, then the wait will be more than worth our time whether he bows out on top or gracefully underneath the fury of a thousand knife edge chops.
