John Cena believes his retirement match against Gunther “far exceeded whatever was in my heart and soul”

John Cena believes his match against Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event last weekend far exceeded his expectations. “I envisioned something beautiful,” Cena said to Cody Rhodes on the Dec. 18 edition of his “What do you wanna talk about?” podcast. “Saturday far exceeded whatever was in my heart and soul, so I know I’m out there one last time. They had to move the side ramps in to put more seats. It almost was like a fire hazard to go down the ramp. You cannot fit anymore — I know it’s an old wrestler’s story, but I’m setting the stage for why I was so filled with joy. You can’t fit anymore people in there.

“Going up to this event, I made sure everyone I talked to, all of the podcasts I did, I’m like, ‘Hey, I know you may not think I’m going to retire — I am. I’m comfortable with that. Please just get the closure you need.’ So, now I’m out there. They hate the guy I’m working with. They universally cheer me. That is f—ing rare and for the last five minutes, everything I preach about story and drama and having a conversation with the audience. The ones I love are in the front row. I know my colleagues are watching on the monitor back there. We’re just in a sleeper hold, man. We’re just in a sleeper hold. But we’re having that conversation with the audience.”

The finish of the match saw Cena struggle for a long time in Gunther’s rear naked choke. Cena eventually ended up smiling before tapping out to give Gunther the submission victory, which drew the ire of the fans in attendance. They ended up booing WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque when he came to the ring after the match and again when he appeared in front of the crowd on the Saturday Night’s Main Event post-show.

Cena told Rhodes that the finish of the match was like somone living for a long time dying peacefully. “So, as I essentially take my last breath, I have struggled, said Cena. “If you think of somebody — the natural causes scenario or however we picture loss in our life. All of us have been through it. They struggle, they struggle, they struggle, they hang on just long enough to make sure to say goodbye to everybody that’s been meaningful in their lives and that whole day was so many unbelievably vulnerable, meaningful conversations.

“And then you realize, I’ve connected with everybody I love. Physically, I feel great. I think it’s time to take that last breath and that’s that. I hate to keep going back morbidly to obituaries, but this person died peacefully and knowing that like, man, we are in a good place. We’re going to be great going forward. The bottom of the T-shirt says, ‘I gave everything, thank you for everything’ and that one moment, that was that, going peacefully.”

Cena had not tapped out in a WWE ring for over 20 years before tapping out to Gunther at SNME last weekend. In addition to resuming his acting career full-time moving forward, Cena announced on Dec. 9 prior to his retirement match that he had signed a new five year deal to be an ambassador for WWE. He retires from WWE as a record setting 17 time world champion.