John Cena believes Gunther’s story is far from finished despite some criticism surrounding his WWE booking in recent months.
Gunther ended Cena’s in-ring career at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025, forcing him to submit in his retirement match. “The Ring General” later added AJ Styles to his list of victims, retiring the veteran while further establishing his “Career Killer” reputation.
However, some fans have questioned WWE’s follow-up with Gunther since those major victories. While he has remained in the Undisputed WWE Championship picture, Gunther has not held championship gold since last year.
During a new interview (see video below), Cena was asked about Gunther’s trajectory and pointed out that opportunities in WWE don’t always arrive in a straight line. Cena used his own career as an example, noting that he headlined consecutive WrestleManias against The Rock before going another 13 years without closing out the event.
When it comes to Gunther, Cena believes there will naturally be times when the Austrian star is asked to elevate others rather than participate in another career-defining match.
“His story is not done,” Cena said about Gunther. “I think he’s in that position right now where he’s making moves based on the equity of Gunther. And sometimes you don’t get a dance partner that’s equal or greater to you.”
Cena pointed to Gunther’s matches with himself and Styles as examples of opportunities that simply cannot happen every time he steps into the ring.
“Sometimes you don’t get a 25-year veteran like AJ Styles to make him retire. Or sometimes you don’t get to retire John Cena,” he continued. “Sometimes you gotta lift up younger talent. Sometimes you gotta hold the show by yourself.”
Cena also addressed frustration among wrestlers when they feel they aren’t receiving the opportunities they want. While acknowledging that frustration is natural, Cena said simply having the opportunity to perform gives talent a chance to demonstrate what they can do.
“I guess I’m trying to use your time as a journalist to send a message to all the budding talent,” Cena said. “Because I hear, not just in the press but hear from people genuinely, sometimes there’s overwhelming waves of frustration.”
Cena added, “That is natural, but as long as you get to go out and perform, you’ve got a chance.”
Cena said his hope is for wrestlers to ultimately reach their full potential. Helping younger talent accomplish that is also part of the motivation behind the John Cena Classic, a concept Cena developed that is expected to take place before the end of 2026.
The tournament is among the projects Cena has been involved with as he transitions into his post-retirement role as a WWE ambassador.
Also during the interview, John Cena opened up with a detailed reaction to fans who say his WWE heel turn failed.
