On December 13, John Cena will step into a WWE ring for the last time. His opponent hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it’s going to be either LA Knight or Gunther.
No other matches have been confirmed for the show as of yet, but there’s a good chance it’ll feature wrestlers from NXT against other top stars from WWE based on what John Cena said to Bill Simmons in a recent interview.
John Cena Says He Asked Triple H To Feature NXT Stars On Saturday Night Main Event
Speaking with Bill Simmons, John Cena revealed that he made one request to Triple H for his final show. He asked The Game to feature wrestlers like CM Punk, Charlotte Flair, and other top wrestlers in WWE, as well as younger talents from NXT.
Cena wants to give back to the business. He knows everyone will be tuning him for the show, and wants to put the spotlight on the future stars of the business.
“In trying to create the atmosphere for the last match, folks in creative were like, ‘Hey, we want to do like this tribute thing.’ I never booked myself, but I called Triple H, and I said, ‘I have an idea, you’ll know how to do this because I don’t know how to write television. But I think if we do a tribute show, one of two things are gonna happen: it’s either gonna be too much or too little, which means it’s not gonna be good.
Why don’t we take Saturday Night’s Main Event… Everyone knows it’s John Cena’s last match. The video packages you wanna trickle in there throughout the night, no problem. Then we go to the match, have the match, that’s the night.
But beforehand, on a night I know people are gonna be tuning in, we’re gonna have sold out [show], it’s going to be a ticket you want to have in your hand, and the last piece of relevant energy I can get an audience member to tune in to… Show the future of your business, have top name WWE Superstars, CM Punk, Charlotte Flair, you put it together how you want, have them have non-canon exhibition matches with the future of the business.
Bring kids up from NXT, get them in a building with real noise, real energy. Let them get under the bright lights. Maybe, just maybe, like ‘I wanna be here’. And they get to wrestle people with experience, wisdom, and in non-cano exhibition matches with nothing on the line. It’s a chance to hear the music of your favourite superstars against someone you have no idea, and he said that a great idea.
They’re gonna do it. I have no clue what the plan is, but I know that’s how I wanna go out. I want the people who are tuning in for me to be like, ‘Yeah, but you see that other kid? I’m watching next Monday cuz he’s awesome or she’s awesome.'”
Fans can check out the full interview below:
In the same interview, John Cena also talked about his love for Vince McMahon and explained why his 2025 heel turn failed terribly.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Bill Simmons and provide an H/T to LastWordOnSports.com.
Header photo – U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Sean Tobin – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on John Cena and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out WWE programming on Netflix (Raw), USA Network (SmackDown), The CW (NXT), and Peacock (archives and premium live event streaming). You can follow WWE on social media and relive top moments on YouTube.
