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After a quarter century of wrasslin’, John Cena is hanging up his jorts. Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII was Cena’s final match. And as is tradition with retiring wrestlers, he lost. Austrian wrestler Gunther got Cena in a sleeper hold, and The Prototype tapped out, ending a 24-minute match.
Cena debuted on SmackDown! in 2000 as The Prototype. He signed with WWE in 2001 and began wrestling under his real name. His early persona, the “Doctor of Thuganomics,” was a Heel who rapped. This led Cena to eventually release a full hip-hop album in in 2005.
Cena became one of the most famous pro wrestlers of all time. In January of this year, Cena announced that he would be retiring in December. He went on a world tour to say farewell to the fans and to all the squared circles he’s loved before. His retirement story arc involved a heel turn, winning the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania in April, then turning face again and ceding the title to Cody Rhodes.
After tapping out — something he was famously loathe to do — Cena left his wristbands and shoes in the ring, and gave one last salute on the entrance ramp. Now Cena can focus on being the connective tissue of James Gunn’s DCU.
