RADICAN’S TAKE: To tap or not to tap, that is the question when it comes to WWE fan reaction to Cena vs. Gunther finish at SNME

To tap or not to tap. That is the question. It has been a week filled with backlash by WWE fans against John Cena tapping out to Gunther last weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event. I get it. Cena fans should be upset he tapped out. After all, his slogan was “Never Give Up” in big bold font and bright colors on various t-shirts WWE has printed the last 20 plus years.

My thought when Cena tapped out was that it was the perfect poetic ending. I was taken a little by surprise by the backlash against Paul CCO “Triple H’ Levesque after the match. WWE fans are used to being given what they want for the sake of their entertainment. They’ve been conditioned to expect that when attending a WWE event for a long period of time. So, how did we get to so many fans knowing that the booker, Levesque, robbed them of the moment they expected with Cena they expected to end the show?

WWE has gotten more brazen lately even throwing logic out the window in an attempt to curry favor with live fans and generate buzz on various social media platforms by creating moments. “Did you see Cena turn heel and give Rock his soul to The Rock at Elimination Chamber?” “What do you mean Rock wasn’t at WrestleMania? Well, Cena won, so it was still a moment, bro.”

I understand why Cena fans are upset that “Mr. Never Give Up” gave up, but to me it was poetic. Cena did all he could during the match to beat Gunther. He has admitted in interviews and promos he is not what he once was. Cena smiled and then tapped out to Gunther after fighting his rear-naked choke for a long period of time and giving fans hope multiple times that he would escape the hold and win before tapping.

If Cena had passed out and not tapped out in Gunther’s rear-naked choke, the reaction probably would have been a little different. It was the tapping out that bothered fans angered by the finish of Cena vs. Gunther the most. However, I think Cena tapping out was the perfect end to his career. When he had no more to give and he flat out has said he isn’t what he once was, it turned out that Gunther had given him all he could take and the man that never gave up had no choice, but to give up.

In theory that’s great. The heat should all go to Gunther for making Cena tap. Hopefully WWE can scrub Gunther tapping to known submission artist Jey Uso from WrestleMania earlier this year to protect his mystique, but that was another “moment” created by WWE at the expense of any storytelling they might actually try to attempt like they did last weekend with Gunther forcing Cena to tap out.

The fans weren’t angry at Gunther after the match at SNME, but he did get good heat and was very good at showing arrogance during his appearance on Raw this past Monday. Instead, the fans were angry at Levesque when he came down to be part of the post-match activities with Cena and that is a big problem for WWE. WWE has pulled back the curtain so much that they’ve eroded the mystique of the business for their fanbase.

I don’t think this was a case of smart fans taking over the venue for Cena’s retirement match and booing Levesque. The issue is they’ve pulled the curtain back too much with their post-show panels and press conferences as well as their various reality shows they’ve aired with the latest being WWE Unreal on Netflix. WWE fans know too much these days, hence the booing of the booker Triple H when they didn’t like Cena tapping out to Gunther. I can almost picture a young child saying to his mom or dad at an event, “Why did Mr. H rob us of our moment with John Cena?”

I think everything is going to be fine long-term for Gunther. Cena tapping was the right choice. It puts a ton of heat on Gunther moving forward and gives him something he can brag about as a face or heel his entire career since he made Cena tap without cheating. Gunther was missing something that would make him a top tier act in WWE.

Gunther carried himself more confidently and with more arrogance than I’ve seen in the past. Perhaps this win over Cena is the key to unlocking what was missing from his act to be a centerpiece top tier act. The bottom line is Cena did the right thing for business before exiting the company. Is that going to make his fans mad? Yes, it is.

It was the perfect finish, but it got an imperfect reaction because WWE has unwittingly conditioned their fans to now blame the booker for something they don’t like on the show instead of the heat shifting to the character that caused the anger, which in this case was Gunther. Gunther should have gotten those booed aimed at Levesque when he came down to the ring after the match. Hopefully, WWE can fix that moving forward.

Sean Radican has been Pro Wrestling Torch for over 22 years. He has covered the independents, ROH, and NJPW in-depth over the years in addition to also watching all the major promotions in the U.S. You can contact him at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. You can follow him on X @SR_Torch and on Bluesky @SeanRadican.