Why the Ring General Should Be John Cena's Final Opponent
As John Cena prepares to head down South to Perth, Australia, to take on AJ Styles in the latest stop in his farewell tour, a new report has surfaced about who the 17-time World Champion’s final opponent would be. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the internal plan is for John Cena to face “The Ring General” Gunther in his final match. The match is set to take place on Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C., on December 13th on Peacock. For many fans, Cena’s farewell tour has not lived up to the expectations that they had hoped for. However, ending it against the two-time World Heavyweight Champion would seem like a satisfying conclusion because the two-time Royal Rumble winner gets to do what he set out to do at the start of the tour: giving it his all for the fans while also giving back to the business.
The last time fans had seen Gunther was at SummerSlam when he lost the World Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk. The Ring General is reportedly taking time off to deal with a nose injury, but is expected to be back on TV soon. Gunther can only be described as “one-of-one.” He is a big man who has the technical ability and in-ring saviness of wrestlers smaller than him. Gunther is a force to be reckoned with now and in the future, and will present a tough challenge for the Leader of the Cenation. However, how do we get to a final clash between Cena and Gunther? Well, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a tournament is going to be announced soon to see who will get the honor of being the five-time United States Champion’s final opponent. By winning this tournament, Gunther will head into the nation’s capital looking to give the WWE legend one more loss in the loss column in his final night as an in-ring competitor.
This will not be the first time this year that the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion has “retired” a WWE legend. He defeated Goldberg in his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in July of this year. Taking down two WWE legends will be a great notch on Gunther’s resume and sets him up to have a big 2026 heading into WrestleMania season. As the curtain closes on John Cena’s career, he has stated that he wants to leave the business better than he found it, and one way to do that is to put over the stars of today, who will carry the torch tomorrow. The Ring General has established himself as one of the premier stars who will help take the WWE into the future, and getting another big win over one of the company’s biggest stars of all time will only reinforce that.
