John Cena’s farewell weekend is getting some unique treatment behind the scenes.
A new update from Bryan Alvarez indicates that WWE is clearing the runway for Cena’s retirement match against Gunther at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, and giving the 17-time world champion exactly as much time as he wants.
Alvarez told subscribers on X that the show has no set runtime, which means officials aren’t placing any restrictions on the pacing of the event.
“At this point, there is no set runtime for Saturday Night’s Main Event, so everyone will get all the time they need,” Alvarez wrote. “Cena vs. Gunther is currently scheduled to open the show and Cena will get as much time as he wants.”
The match opening the event caught some additional attention earlier in the week.
Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com addressed the decision in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, pointing out that because the show streams exclusively on Peacock in the United States, and not on NBC, WWE isn’t constrained by a strict 10 p.m. Eastern cutoff like they were for Goldberg’s final match back in July, which infamously cut off in the middle of his post-match retirement speech.
Meltzer explained the upside and the downside of that flexibility.
“The plus is they will have full time for the match to go as long as it should and to not rush the post-match,” he wrote. “The bad is that tons of people will tune out after the Cena stuff is over. Also, not being on actual television there is no hard ‘out’ at 10 p.m. as they can go as long as they want.”
In addition to Cena vs. Gunther, WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on 12/13 will also feature Sol Ruca vs. Bayley, Cody Rhodes vs. Oba Femi, as well as AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com on 12/13 for live WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event results coverage.
- RECENT RELATED NEWS: Spoilers For WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, Update On WWE’s Plans For A Big Team To Reunite
