John Cena’s legendary pro wrestling career is officially over.
The WWE star tapped out in a sleeper hold in his final match against Gunther at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” in front of an announced crowd of 19,232 at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Cena fought his way out of Gunther’s signature hold multiple times — even having one final Attitude Adjustment finisher in him before the “Ring General” slapped it on him for a sixth time. An exhausted Cena finally tapped his hand to submit to his final opponent.
Cena, 48, had been submitted only four times prior in his 23-year WWE career, the last time being in 2004 by Kurt Angle.
Part of Michael Cole’s final call was: “Tonight, professional wrestling destroyed sports entertainment.”
The locker room emptied after the match and Cody Rhodes and CM Punk gave Cena their world titles to hold one last time as “The Last Real World Champion.”
The crowd in D.C. was not happy with the finish.
The fans unloaded chants of “bulls–t” and then “You f–ked up!” as Triple H came out.
He was booed as he hugged Cena.
Cena, who still got plenty of cheers, took final bows to the crowd and left his sneakers and wrist bands in the ring when it was all over.
He took one more bow in the entrance way and had one final message to the WWE fans.
“It’s been a pleasure serving you all these years, thank you,” Cena said.
Gunther, a two-time World Heavyweight champion, also defeated Bill Goldberg in his retirement match this summer and vowed to make Cena tap out in his final match.
He is likely in line for a big push by the company after ending Cena’s career. Gunther has never been the Undisputed WWE champion.
The “Ring General” told The Post in an interview earlier this week that it’s this type of opportunity against Cena that can help him break through to the next tier in the company and become one of its faces.
“It’s natural. I think I could,” he said. “In ring I know I’m there, if not better. I think the rest will naturally follow.”
The loss puts a bow on one of the greatest wrestling careers ever, and Cena’s year-long retirement tour that included 36 appearances, 15 matches and plenty of highlights.
Cena turned heel for the first time in 20 years in a stunning moment at Elimination Chamber, defeated Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE championship for his record 17th world title at WrestleMania, passed the torch to Rhodes at SummerSlam and became a grand slam champion by defeating Dominik Mysterio in his hometown of Boston.
We got to see Cena turn his rivalry with Randy Orton and Punk on their ear as a heel, even if fans will consider the short run a failure.
The Peacemaker star has been the face and the guy on top of WWE for more than 20 years.
His motto of “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect” resonated with generations of fans.
Cena lived it outside the ring by granting the most Make-A-Wishes ever at more than 600.
Legends such as Trish Stratus, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Haku, Michelle McCool, Eve Torres, Rob Van Dan Mark Henry were on hand. So were Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
Cena has vowed that, unlike other wrestlers in the past, he will not come out of retirement or seek out one more.
The jorts, the colored shirts and hats are retired with him as he moves into an ambassador role with WWE.
The last time has come and gone for Cena, but his career, which puts him in the conversation with the greatest to ever do it, is everlasting.
Saturday Night’s Main Event results
- NXT champion Obi Femi and Cody Rhodes’ match ended in a disappointing disqualification after Drew McIntyre came out of the crowd to attack the Undisputed WWE champion. Femi dominated a lot of the match, but was not rewarded with a win.
- Sol Ruca defeated Bayley in a superb match. Roca hit her Sol Snatcher finisher but had to drag Bayley, who was sliding to the outside, back into the ring. Bayley countered the pin with a roll-up, but Roca did it right back to get the win.
- A.J. Style and Dragon Lee defeated Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans in a fast-paced, high-flying adrenaline rush of a match. Styles appeared to legitimately slip on the rope going for a Phenomenal Forearm. Slater jumped on him for a pin to save the moment. Styles kicked out and eventually countered Evans flying from the top rope into a Styles Clash for the win.
- The Miz made a suprise appearence complaining about not getting a match with Cena during his retirement tour. He was confronted by R-Truth (Ron Cena). WWE then paid off Miz stealing somone’s spot in the Last Time is Now Tournament. It was Joe Hendry, who teamed up with Truth to beat up Miz
