ONE LAST TIME: FINN BALOR ON JOHN CENA'S GENIUS, HEEL TURN, AND GUNTHER MATCH
John Cena's 23-year WWE run ends Saturday vs. Gunther. We look back at his controversial heel turn, 17 titles, and his painful split with Nikki Bella.
It was June 22, 2002—just another SmackDown episode, or so everyone in WWE thought. But that night changed things, becoming a show that people would remember.
A 25-year-old John Cena stepped into the ring and challenged Kurt Angle, one of the biggest names in the company. He muttered the words 'ruthless aggression.'
Sure, it was planned. But the fact that WWE trusted a rookie from Massachusetts in such a spot showed how much faith they had in him. And it paid off big time.
This Saturday, Cena will say goodbye to WWE for good. His 23-year career has included pretty much everything: tons of titles, a broken relationship with a fellow wrestler, and a final year that got mixed reactions.
It feels unreal to see John leaving, Finn Balor, a former WWE world champion and Cena's opponent, told Daily Mail Sport. Fun fact: the last piece of WWE stuff that I bought as a fan was a John Cena shirt.
John talks to everyone. People might think his character is for kids, but I was an adult when I bought that shirt. I was already in the wrestling business, performing in Japan. He connects with everyone—kids, adults, boys, girls, young and old. He’ll be remembered as one of the greatest.
John Cena's WWE career ends this Saturday with his final match.
His time with the company has had its ups and downs, like his controversial run as a heel in his last year.
But here's the thing about John Cena: he's always won over fans from all walks of life.
That's partly why his farewell year was so interesting. In March, he turned heel—the bad guy—for the first time, joining forces with The Rock to win a record-breaking 17th world title against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania.
To many, it felt off, maybe a bit rushed. The Rock disappeared, and the story kind of fizzled, especially after rapper Travis Scott, who was part of their trio, vanished from TV.
"I enjoyed it because I like it when people try new things," Balor said, sharing his view from inside WWE. It was made for that moment when the screens went from dark to bright. Maybe some didn't like it while it was happening, but when we got the John Cena we love back, it was great. I think it was brave and well done, and I'd like to see more of that in wrestling.
And so Superman, as Cena is sometimes called, turned good again. On August 1, he said his time as a bad guy sucked, and he'd go back to being the star everyone loved.
Some more than others, it seemed. In 2012, Cena started dating Nikki Bella, one-half of the Bella Twins (with her sister Brie). Nikki is now in the WWE Hall of Fame, and she and Cena became a power couple.
They dated for years and got engaged at WrestleMania in 2017, but broke up less than a year later, right before their wedding.
"We had an amazing relationship, but we wanted different lives," Bella said on Maria Menounos' Better Together podcast in 2020. We tried to make it work.
Cena used to be engaged to Nikki Bella, but he's now married to Shay Shariatzadeh.
Bella said they broke up because they disagreed about having children.
Finn Balor shared what Cena is like behind the scenes with Daily Mail Sport.
Even when he was willing to have kids, I could tell he didn't really want to. And that's what pushed me away.
If I force someone to be a father, what if he regrets it later, and then we have this child and this life? I didn't want that.
So Cena went back to wrestling and acting. After being a bodybuilder in the late '90s, he realised wrestling was where he wanted to be.
That's right. After college, Cena became a bodybuilder, competing in local events and working in gyms until his wrestling career took off.
He got praise for his wrestling skills. Not always, though. Fans sometimes criticised him, booing him while "John Cena sucks" echoed during his walk-on song, My Time is Now.
But he climbed the ranks, winning titles and having memorable rivalries with guys like Edge, CM Punk, and Randy Orton, and soon became a household name.
His attitude and character helped, too. He's always willing to help, and he's always there for the fans. He even holds the Guinness World Record for granting the most wishes—650—through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
When I joined WWE, John was at his best, Balor said. He was the top guy, the leader. As a new talent from Japan, he could have seen me as a threat. Instead, he saw me as someone who could help him grow the business.
Cena, who used to be a bodybuilder, has been wrestling part-time to take on acting roles in Hollywood.
Gunther, also a former world champion, will be Cena's final opponent this Saturday.
Cena will end his 23-year career on his own terms at Saturday Night's Main Event.
He always advised in and out of the ring. I thought all top WWE superstars were like that. But 11 years later, I realised not everyone is like that. That was just John being John. I was naive to think everyone would be like John Cena because there's only one John Cena.
He's earned the respect and recognition he has because of how he's acted throughout his career, and I'm grateful for that. I'll try to learn from him and use his example as guidance for how I should act.
In 2006, he was in The Marine, but he changed things up in the mid-2010s by wrestling part-time to pursue acting. Since then, he's been in movies like Daddy's Home, F9, The Suicide Squad, and Barbie, with more to come.
His wrestling and acting have helped him build a net worth of around £60 million, which will likely grow as he seems to be going into Hollywood full-time after wrestling.
Outside the ring and acting, he's now married to Shay Shariatzadeh, his second wife, whom he married in 2020. He seems settled, happy, and ready for his next chapter.
This Saturday, after a tournament to decide who it would be, Gunther gets to be Cena's last opponent. He's also a former world champion and is highly regarded in WWE.
"I won't be at the show," Balor added. We were supposed to be there, but since JD [McDonagh, Balor's tag team partner] is injured, I'll be at home with a cup of tea, watching like I would have 30 years ago as a Cena fan, cheering him on.
I'm looking forward to John versus Gunther. It's going to be an amazing match—a clash of styles and chapters of my life.
And when it's all said and done, after 23 years, the wrestling world will say goodbye to John Cena for good.
John Cena’s final match takes place on Saturday, December 13, at Saturday Night’s Main Event, which you can watch for free on WWE’s YouTube channel. Finn Balor will be back in Europe this January during the ‘Road to Royal Rumble’ tour. Get your tickets now from Ticketmaster.
OBA FEMI AMBUSH CONFIRMS BROCK LESNAR MATCH AND SHIFTS ROLLINS’ WRESTLEMANIA PLANS
Seth Rollins teased a WrestleMania 42 match with Bron Breakker after Oba Femi replaced him as Brock Lesnar's opponent.
This week’s RAW didn’t just hint at a big WrestleMania match it quietly spelt it out.
Seth Rollins came out swinging. He went right for Paul Heyman, dropping the jokes and theatrics for once. Seth accused Heyman of picking the wrong side and promised to run him out of WWE. Heyman didn’t flinch. He just did what he always does: sent out Brock Lesnar. For a second, it looked like Rollins vs. Lesnar was heating up for WrestleMania 42.
Then Oba Femi stormed in and flipped the script.
Femi ambushed Brock, and before you could blink, WWE announced Lesnar vs. Femi for Las Vegas. That move did more than set up a fresh headline bout it took Brock out of Seth’s way. Now, the biggest question on RAW is, who's Seth facing at WrestleMania?
Only one guy still fits.
Rollins made his intentions clear. Anyone in Heyman’s camp is officially his enemy. Roman Reigns? He’s tangled up with CM Punk. Lesnar? Now booked with Femi. That doesn’t leave many options.
It leaves Bron Breakker.
Breakker hasn’t been around after hernia surgery, but the story with Rollins isn’t over. He was the one who turned on Seth and kicked him out of The Vision. That betrayal still stings. When WWE plants a seed like that, they usually bring it full circle.
Some earlier reports said Breakker’s injury might keep him out of WrestleMania, but RAW’s booking says otherwise. If the plan was always Rollins vs. Lesnar, WWE wouldn't have switched gears so fast to Lesnar vs. Femi. That change feels deliberate. It clears space for something bigger.
Rollins even name-dropped Breakker during his promo, mentioned the injury, but kept him in the story. That line mattered WWE hasn’t forgotten about him.
Breakker’s official medical update is still up in the air. Behind the scenes, people are confident. Rollins will be ready for WrestleMania, and hopefully Breakker can make it too. If he’s not cleared, Logan Paul is waiting in the wings as Plan B.
HOW PAUL HEYMAN MANAGES FOUR TOP TIER TALENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY ON WWE RAW
Paul Heyman’s massive backstage influence is revealed as Bron Breakker undergoes emergency surgery before WrestleMania 42.
Word is spreading about just how much pull Paul Heyman really has backstage in WWE.
Sure, everybody sees him on RAW standing next to Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and Austin Theory. But behind the curtain, Heyman’s hand is all over things you’d never guess he touched.
Sean Ross Sapp cleared up the whole “Is Heyman involved with creative?” thing during a Fightful Select Q&A. And the answer? Yes, absolutely. Heyman jumps in with ideas, especially for the talent he’s managing on TV.
You’ll usually find him shaping personalities, tweaking promos, and making sure those stories hit harder. He’s got a reputation for mentoring talent he believes in, too. He doesn’t just offer generic advice; he genuinely invests in these people. At one point, he even joked that WWE sometimes holds back on pushing someone if he’s too publicly supportive. That pretty much says a lot about how much clout he’s got.
Currently, all the drama surrounding Heyman’s on-screen group has fans even more glued to what he’s up to. Remember Seth Rollins? He was leading The Vision until his injury last year left him out of the picture.
Then, at Elimination Chamber, Rollins ripped the mask off and went after Heyman’s crew, zeroing in on Logan Paul. Next thing you know, Rollins is attacking Heyman on RAW, making this rivalry even wilder and turning up the heat.
While all of that unfolded, Heyman spoke out about Bron Breakker’s recent setback. He didn’t sugarcoat anything when he called into Busted Open Radio to talk about Breakker’s hernia surgery. Breakker hurt himself so badly that he needed emergency surgery, and this was right when he was on the verge of a big WrestleMania moment. Did Heyman treat it like a tragedy, though? Not really.
He spun it as fuel for the fire, saying the frustration from being stuck on the sidelines could actually help Breakker come back even stronger. In his eyes, every day away just makes that hunger to return even bigger. With WrestleMania 42 coming up fast in Las Vegas, the real question is whether Breakker will heal up in time to make an impact.
