In the main event of this past weekend’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event special, “The Ring General” GUNTHER defeated 17-time World Champion John Cena via submission, as Cena tapped out to GUNTHER’s sleeper hold.
The match marked Cena’s official retirement from in-ring competition. However, fans in attendance at the Capital One Arena were unhappy with the outcome, and boos rained down on WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque both after the match and during the post-show.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the backlash from fans and who was ultimately responsible for the match’s conclusion in the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. They suggested that Cena likely came up with the idea of going out on his back in his final in-ring match.
While Triple H could have overruled Cena’s decision and told him he would win, Cena chose to lose, and Triple H ultimately approved the decision.
Fightful Select reported that Triple H was smiling in Gorilla position as the match concluded, as the crowd’s reaction to GUNTHER was something the company had specifically desired.
