John Cena tapped out to Gunther in his final match, something he’s only done a few times in his entire career.
17-time WWE Champion John Cena tapped out to Gunther in his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. With that, The Ring General became the first superstar to make The GOAT submit in over two decades.
John Cena has tapped out on only five occasions throughout his iconic career. A wrestling fan account on X/Twitter has posted a video compilation of four out of five instances when Cena submitted in WWE.
The first person to make John Cena tap out was Chris Jericho on the July 18, 2002, episode of SmackDown. However, it came after a DQ finish to their match, as Cena tapped out when Jericho continued to lock him in the Walls of Jericho even after the referee called for the bell.
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle made Cena submit at No Mercy 2003, which was the first time Cena tapped and the result stood. Angle got a submission win again at No Way Out 2004, and Chris Benoit made Cena tap out on the December 4, 2003, episode of SmackDown.
The Last Real Champion went on strong for the next 21 years until Gunther forced him to tap out with a smile on his face in his retirement match.
Cody Rhodes Gave An Emotional Speech After John Cena’s Last Match
Following John Cena’s final match, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes spoke to Jackie Redmond during the Saturday Night’s Main Event Post-Show and gave an emotional speech, saying he was honored to be present for Cena’s retirement.
“It’s a great, great, great arena with great wrestling history, and I’m so sad it happened too, right? Triple H had called me and asked me if I would be part of Saturday Night’s Main Event. And always, wrestlers act like oh, that’s such a big ask. Are you kidding? To be part of John Cena is final show, to be able to bask in this glory and this house, there’s a number, I’m sure Triple H is reading it right now somewhere, the amount of sellouts, the amount of things John did, and I know that sounds really material, but John led with his heart, and John also led with his mind.
“He was a businessman, and he was trained by businessmen, and he trained us to be businessmen. So for to go out here, where you got 19,000 people, whatever it was, and not a soul leaves until he leaves. That’s a sign of not a good career, a great career, and we can only hope to have something like that. Really, hats off to the greatest of all time,” Cody Rhodes said about John Cena.
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