GUNTHER has officially broken his silence following his historic victory over John Cena in what marked the final match of the WWE icon’s legendary career.
John Cena’s 26-year run in professional wrestling came to an end this past weekend at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, where he stepped into the ring one last time against the two-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The bout concluded with a stunning visual, as Cena tapped out to GUNTHER’s sleeper hold, closing the book on one of the most influential careers in wrestling history.
For the first time since the match, GUNTHER addressed the moment publicly during an appearance on TMZ’s Inside The Ring podcast. Asked what it meant to be the man who retired John Cena, GUNTHER didn’t shy away from the magnitude of the moment.
“It feels very good. You just mentioned 20 years, funny enough, in November, I had my 20-year anniversary as a wrestler so I can claim I prepared all those 20 years to make John Cena tap out so, fits into each other.”
GUNTHER also reflected on the immediate aftermath of the match, including the intense reaction from fans as he made his way out of the venue.
Rather than avoiding the hostility, he said he leaned into it.
“Oh yeah, I wanted to embrace it a little bit. I mean, could have hidden more or something but, felt good walking through the anger of the people,”
He laughed before offering a blunt message to fans still upset that Cena, whose career was defined by the mantra “Never Give Up”, was forced to submit.
“Stop crying … life goes on.”
When asked to put the win into perspective, GUNTHER admitted that defeating Cena may stand above everything else he has accomplished in the ring.
“It was definitely the biggest or the most meaningful win, maybe, of my career, or the win with the biggest reaction afterwards. That I can definitely say. I think, yeah, it’s hard to compare to anything else because John Cena is such a legendary figure not only in WWE, but the wrestling world in general. It’s really hard to compare.”
Looking back on the day itself, GUNTHER described a backstage atmosphere unlike anything he had experienced before.
“The whole day I could tell people were really tense and very serious about everything. It almost felt more important than WrestleMania to a lot of people backstage, if I can compare it to that and yeah, I knew what I was gonna do anyway so, the clock was ticking. It almost felt like a time bomb to explode at the end of the day, and yeah, well, it did, and yeah, thankfully to my advantage.”
That confidence carried over to WWE television, as GUNTHER appeared on the December 15 episode of WWE Raw and addressed the crowd directly, boasting that he “made John Cena tap out like a b*tch.”
As previously reported, Brock Lesnar is rumored to be the next legend in line for GUNTHER, continuing a growing list that already includes John Cena and Bill Goldberg, both of whom lost to “The Ring General” in their final WWE matches.
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