Gunther vs. John Cena Set for Historic Retirement Match After 'Last Time Is Now' Win

Gunther defeated LA Knight in the finals of the Last Time Is Now tournament on Friday night's episode of WWE SmackDown, meaning Gunther will face John Cena in the final match of Cena's career at the Dec. 13 Saturday Night's Main Event.

Gunther chopped LA Knight down with elbows to the neck before making him tap out with the cravate, a move that looks like Cena's submission, STF.

He sent a message to Cena with that decision. After the win, Gunther stared directly into the camera and told Cena he hoped he was "paying attention."

"You will finally and definitely give up," Gunther said. "You're gonna tap out!"

Last month, Cena announced the Last Time Is Now tournament, which was a 16-man tourney involving Superstars from Raw, SmackDown, NXT and even some from outside of WWE.

The randomly drawn tournament played out on Raw and SmackDown over the course of about a month, and it came down to Gunther and Knight on Friday.

Gunther had not been seen on WWE programming since dropping the World Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk at SummerSlam back in August, but he returned over two months later as an entrant in the tournament.

In the first round, The Ring General took down NXT's Je'Von Evans before getting the better of Carmelo Hayes in the quarterfinals and Solo Sikoa in the semifinals.

As for Knight, his opening-round win came over Zack Ryder, who was a surprise inclusion in the tournament, five years after last competing on SmackDown or Raw.

Knight was supposed to face Sheamus in the quarters, but when a shoulder injury knocked him out of the tournament, he was replaced by The Miz, and Knight was victorious once again.

In the semifinals, Knight pulled off something of an upset, catching Jey Uso in a crucifix pinning combination to punch his ticket to the tournament final.

Since neither Gunther nor Knight had ever faced Cena in a singles match, both were considered intriguing options to be Cena's final opponent entering Friday's match.

However, by virtue of his victory, Gunther earned the right to be part of Cena's last bout, just months after beating Goldberg in his retirement match.