Appearing on 'The Pat McAfee Show,' John Cena addressed rumors that his final match will open 'Saturday Night's Main Event.' Screen grab: ‘The Pat McAfee Show’
By Ben Axelrod on

John Cena will wrestle in the final match of his career on Saturday.

And as you likely suspected, his showdown against Gunther will serve as the show’s main event.

But despite it seeming like common sense that the last match of the living legend’s career would close Saturday Night’s Main Event on Peacock, reports throughout the week had indicated that might not be the case. In Friday’s edition of his Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer said that it was still unclear whether the highly anticipated match would open or close the show, with the longtime pro wrestling journalist indicating that Cena preferred the former.

“Whether Cena’s match goes first or last was still not finalized as of midweek. Cena had asked to go first, which makes no sense,” Meltzer wrote. “The belief internally for the past week plus was that he was going first. But on Raw, when Joe Tessitore was running down the night, he talked about how the post-game show will start immediately after the main event, which is Cena vs. Gunther, implying it goes on last.”

With the 17-time WWE champion appearing on Friday’s episode of his eponymous show, Pat McAfee opted to do some journalism of his own. And when asked about the reports that his match could open Saturday’s show, Cena didn’t just deny them, but compared them to a well-known conspiracy.

“That is Pizzagate, homie,” Cena said, referring to the viral 2016 conspiracy theory that alleged a pedophile ring at a Washington D.C. pizza shop. “I was on Jimmy Kimmel and I said I’m ending the show. I said, ‘I normally go to bed early but I’m going to have to stay up late for this one.’ I guess people didn’t read between the tea leaves on this one; like, we’re last.”

After McAfee responded with sarcastic shock at the idea of John Cena’s final match serving as the main event, the Master of Thuganomics seemingly addressed Meltzer’s reporting.

“I don’t how the rumor started. I think some folks with credibility like to kick a hornet’s nest every once in a while and get people chattering,” he said. “And I understand, we’re in the age of information so it’s gonna to keep my attention. ‘You’re not last?’ Sure, that’ll keep my attention for a few hot clicks. I don’t even know how that started. It’s difficult to conceptualize that. Again, I don’t make the menu. And gosh, if I show up tomorrow and they want me to go on first, well that’s what I’m going to do. But we are last as of this point.”

Of course, plans in pro wrestling can always change, so it’s always possible the match was at least considered to open the show at one point. If that was the case, common sense has seemingly prevailed, as Cena will close his career in the main event spot he spent so much of it occupying.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

View all posts by Ben Axelrod