New Delhi [India], December 14 (ANI): Wrestling legends The Undertaker, Triple H and current WWE champion Cody Rhodes posted heartwarming tributes, words of encouragement and thanks for wrestling icon John Cena ahead of his final professional wrestling match against Gunther on early Sunday morning.
A record-breaking 17-time world champion Cena will end an illustrious professional wrestling career of over two decades when he takes on Gunther at the ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event’ in Washington DC.
Having already won the World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship in his three-year run in WWE’s main roster and retiring another wrestling titan Goldberg this year, Gunther has a chance to register his name in history books to defeat Cena in his final match. The Austrian wrestler booked his clash with Cena by defeating LA Knight in the finals of the ‘Last Time is Now’ tournament, which took place to determine Cena’s final opponent.
Undertaker, one of Cena’s first high-profile opponents, took a trip down the memory lane, recalling the moment when he congratulated a young Cena after a valiant showing against Kurt Angle on his WWE main-roster debut back in 2002 on ‘Smackdown’ in a losing cause. He hailed the 48-year-old for living by his trademark motto of “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect” since last 23 years.
Undertaker wrote on X, “Nice job” Those were the words I said to you 23 years ago when you debuted. Now, on the day of your final match, I say again…nice job.”
“Hustle, loyalty, and respect is more than just a catch phrase. For 23 years you have lived by those words. Your passion for our business and dedication to our fan base is unmatched.”
“To have shared the ring with you and have been a part of your journey has been an honor. As your in ring career winds down, be proud of the body of work and the memories you’ve created. Enjoy the last ride tonight my friend and one final time…nice job. @JohnCena,” he concluded.
https://x.com/i/status/1999902769856061782
WWE Hall of Famer Triple H, now the Chief Content Officer of WWE and a long-time rival, friend of Cena over the years, also took to X to write, “So many incredible in-ring moments over the last 20+ years…let’s make the final one tonight! #ThankYouCena.”
https://x.com/i/status/1999903565158944884
Notably, the 14-time world champion Triple H and Cena had the marquee match at ‘Wrestlemania 22’, in which Cena emerged victorious. This was one of his many matches with Cena, both as a single’s competitor or in tag-team matches.
Lastly, the current WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, who Cena defeated at ‘Wrestlemania 41’ to capture his record-breaking 17th world championship, also posted on X, “#ThankYouCena
@WWE @JohnCena”
https://x.com/i/status/1999900052870099195
Cena will put an end to a Hall of Fame worthy career including 17 world-title reigns, including 14 of them as WWE champion and three of them as the World Heavyweight Champion. Besides his decade-long dominance in the main event scene, Cena has also gathered considerable success in mid-card scene, having won the WWE United States title five times and the WWE Intercontinental Championship once.
He also has two reigns each as WWE Tag Team Champion (one each with The Miz and David Otunga) and World Tag Team Champion (one each with Shawn Michaels and Batista).
Having won both major championships at main-event, both mid-card titles and some tag-team gold over his career, Cena is in rare list of wrestlers to have completed a career Grand Slam in WWE. Completing a WWE Grand Slam requires a wrestler to capture either of the two major world titles, both mid-card titles and any tag-team belt as a criterion.
He is also a two-time Royal Rumble match winner, a one-time ‘Money in the Bank’ briefcase winner and has been involved in the main event clash at the marquee event ‘Wrestlemania’ multiple times.
After this match with Gunther, Cena’s run as an active in-ring competitor will finally be over after two decades. His retirement tour this year saw plenty of thrills and milestones.
Leading upto Wrestlemania 41, Cena, who had for majority of his career been a heroic figure in his wrestling career living by the words of “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” and “Never Give Up”, took a darker and dirtier route to capture the record-breaking 17th world title at WM41 in April, with interference from Grammy-nominated rapper Travis Scott.
In months to follow, Cena would go on to have match-ups with his older rivals Randy Orton, R-Truth and CM Punk before turning back to his fair, positive ways as a wrestler leading upto ‘Summerslam’ in August, where he dropped the title back to Cody in a passing-of-the-torch moment. Some intense, bouts against Logan Paul, Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Logan and Sami Zayn followed untill Cena defeated Dominik Mysterio on ‘RAW’ at his hometown of Boston in November to capture the Intercontinental title and completing a career grand slam. He lost the title back to Dominik at ‘Survivor Series: Wargames’ in November. (ANI)
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