Former World Heavyweight Champion Gunther recently spoke candidly about what it meant to retire John Cena at Saturday Night's Main Event — and why being emotionally detached from Cena's legacy actually made him the perfect man for the moment.
Appearing on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes, the Ring General described the Cena match as the defining moment of his career to date.
It was the biggest thing I've done in my career — the first time I was ever part of something with that magnitude where I could really feel like it affects everybody.
More Intense Than WrestleMania
Gunther was notably candid about the fact that he didn't grow up emotionally invested in Cena the way many of his peers did. A self-described "nerd for Japanese wrestling and Indian wrestling," Gunther was largely an outside observer to the Cena era — and he said that made all the difference backstage on the night.
That day, strangely, it almost felt more intense than WrestleMania backstage. Everybody was very worked up. But I catch myself in those moments because I wasn't a big WWE guy growing up. I was reading results and stuff like that. So I catch myself in the middle of this — the emotional stone that I am — but for my own benefit, it was great to be the guy that can pull the rug on everybody.
The contrast with host Cody Rhodes was stark. Rhodes, who has a deeply personal history with Cena stretching back to his childhood, was visibly emotional discussing the retirement. Gunther acknowledged that dynamic, noting the two men experienced the same night in entirely different ways.
Cody noted during the conversation that he had barely interacted with Cena before the match itself — the two had only exchanged a hello or two beforehand. That distance, counterintuitively, may have freed Gunther to focus purely on the performance in the ring.
Gunther also reflected on the weight of competing on a show that truly moved the needle, pointing out a distinction that's easy to overlook: not every match sells tickets. This one did.
Something that's lost on a bit of the newer generation is not every match sells tickets. And that match — that event — actually sold tickets. The flights for Saturday Night's Main Event for all of us who were there were paid for by you and him. That was the money match.
Gunther has since issued an open challenge to anyone in WWE unhappy with how he handled Cena's retirement, declaring he is "very easy to find." Cena himself has spoken positively about the match's ending in the time since.
