John Cena revealed that his final match against GUNTHER included a hidden tribute to his earliest days in wrestling.
Speaking on No-Contest Wrestling, Cena explained that he intentionally grew his hair out to resemble his “Prototype” persona from Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) and Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), long before he became the face of WWE.
“There’s so many easter eggs that people don’t know about, to the point of, like, even in the match against Gunther, I tried to grow my hair out, like the prototype from UPW, like an OVW… I couldn’t dye it because I was working in between stuff, but I could grow, fade it and grow it long so I can have, like, that, come back,” Cena explained.
Cena noted that the subtle aesthetic callback largely went unnoticed during the broadcast of Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025, but that was intentional. The look was more personal than performative.
“Nobody caught that, but nobody’s supposed to. I was just doing it for like, man, if you get it, get it. Yeah, I wanted the year to be, like, a cycle of life, someone facing their mortality,” Cena stated.
The 17-time world champion officially retired following the loss to GUNTHER, leaving his sneakers and wristbands in the middle of the ring as a symbolic farewell. Since stepping away from active competition, Cena has continued expanding his Hollywood career, with multiple upcoming projects for Netflix and Apple TV.
For Cena, the final chapter wasn’t just about ending a career — it was about coming full circle to where it all began.
