John Cena, Oba Femi, Real Winners and Losers of WWE SNME Match Card
The story of John Cena is the story of a wrestling era, a generation of WWE connecting to a younger audience through the story of a hero who would never give up.
As Cena walked into the final night of his wrestling career, everyone was excited to celebrate the 25-year legacy of the top star.
At the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Saturday Night's Main Event promised to look back at his legacy.
It was also a night that would feature the present stars of Raw and SmackDown battling the future stars of NXT.
Who would emerge as the real winners and losers of Saturday night? Could WWE truly encapsulate Cena's career in just one last match against Gunther?
Loser: Oba Femi
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While Oba Femi did not win his match against Cody Rhodes, his true loss was far more about how the contest was portrayed than the result.
Throughout the bout, Cody Rhodes outmaneuvered The Ruler, who has rarely worked on the back foot quite like this.
His toughness was on display in his ability to kick out of multiple Cody Cutters, but neither man even teased hitting their finishers (Cross Rhodes or Fall From Grace).
Instead, it was hinted that a top-rope Cody Cutter may have been enough, only for Drew McIntyre to attack Rhodes and cause a disqualification instead.
In a match that was supposed to be about the present and future colliding in an opener that would set the tone for the night, WWE went with a DQ finish more about Rhodes vs. McIntyre with nothing on the line.
Even a clean loss to a super Cross Rhodes for Femi would have been more memorable and given the NXT star something to strive for in the future.
Especially with nothing on the line, this would have also been a great moment to give Femi the win, selling that he might go right after the world title upon his main roster debut.
The post-match chokeslam on McIntyre was a decent spot for The Ruler, taking out a big heel, but unless WWE plans to make this a new rivalry, it will be a meaningless exchange.
Winner: Sol Ruca
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This was a flashier singles effort from Sol Ruca than Femi got in the opener, and the NXT star actually picked up the win in her battle with Bayley.
While The Role Model is not at the same level as Cody Rhodes right now, this was a significantly more giving effort from her, making Ruca look like she could hang with just about anyone on the main roster.
It would have been nice to see more of the women's division highlighted on Saturday night than just Ruca (and Zaria in her corner), but she took advantage of her time.
In particular, assuming Ruca and Zaria stay on the same page, they could quickly get involved in the Women's Tag Team Championships scene.
She and Zaria have challenged for the gold before, but they were never serious threats. That will change soon.
Many new fans will remember Ruca's name from this night and will likely anticipate a rise up the card in WWE.
Winner: Je'Von Evans
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Few stars are more important to WWE's immediate future than Je'Von Evans. The high-flying savant is only 21 years old and already can compete with anyone.
While he has yet to win gold, every spotlight opportunity has set the stage for him to win big at every level in WWE.
Evans had the flashiest performance of the night and has made the most of each opportunity on main roster shows so far.
The young stars lost in the end, but they pushed the world tag team champions in a way that made the titleholders seem to survive rather than dominate.
Leon Slater was also impressive, but the TNA X-Division champion is not currently a member of the WWE roster.
If he did sign with the company, though, this match could be his vehicle to immediately debut on Raw or SmackDown and challenge for tag team gold.
In the meantime, if WWE and Styles are willing, this victory by The Phenomenal One could have earned him one last X-Division Championship opportunity.
As far as representing the future of WWE, Evans especially delivered in his biggest match to date.
Winner: Joe Hendry
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Joe Hendry was not originally scheduled for SNME, but he made his presence felt just before the main event.
He shut up The Miz, who was complaining about everyone disrespecting him, before picking up an unofficial three-count on the former WWE champion courtesy of R-Truth.
It was a nice spot for a man who only recently officially signed with WWE and took a tough loss in his WrestleMania debut against Randy Orton.
Obviously, that defeat was far from crippling for Hendry's career, but this was a stronger statement on his future.
In some ways, it even felt like Truth and Miz were passing their own torch to the Scot, who is certain to play a key supporting role for WWE.
Losers: Future Stars Who Missed This Card
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While SNME's clear focus was on celebrating John Cena, over an hour was devoted to another goal: celebrating WWE's future.
That primarily meant giving a spotlight to NXT stars, fighting veterans presently at the top of the company.
However, in the end, the only NXT stars featured on this card were Oba Femi, Sol Ruca, Je'Von Evans and Joe Hendry. Leon Slater represented TNA alone.
Conspicuously missing from this card were NXT women's champion Jacy Jayne, Women's North American champion Blake Monroe, North American champion Ethan Page and NXT tag team champions DarkState.
This is not to mention young talent like Tatum Paxley, Thea Hail, Kelani Jordan, Trick Williams, Myles Borne, Tony D'Angelo and more.
If that opportunity extended to young talent on the main roster, there were so many names missing, especially Bron Breakker, Dominik Mysterio and Roxanne Perez.
This was only a two-hour show, but if the goal was to truly celebrate the future, more could have been done to make the most of this time.
Perhaps WWE might consider putting a clearer focus on that future in the very near-future with a full premium live event showcase.
Winner: Gunther
6 of 8Winning The Last Time is Now Tournament and earning the right to face John Cena in his last match was about as big a victory as anyone could have had in 2025.
Win or lose against The GOAT, Gunther would have been considered a winner, but Cena did the unthinkable to put him over: He gave up.
The Ring General took everything in Cena's arsenal and still got back up, before he overwhelmed The GOAT and made him submit to the sleeper.
It was a clear statement by WWE Creative that it sees Gunther as the top villain in the company right now.
It will be important to solidify that with strong clear booking in 2026, which is what he has had for much of 2025.
If the booking next year backs this up, Gunther can become the true top heel in WWE again.
Winner: John Cena
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Some may argue John Cena did not get the perfect sendoff at the end of his final match by losing to Gunther, but it's highly likely this was exactly what he wanted.
It is a time-honored tradition for the veteran to go out on their back, which is exactly what The GOAT did.
He lost clean at the end of a highly competitive contest, tapping out to the man WWE likely sees as its top heel going forward.
After all that Cena went through in his career, this could hardly be considered a failure. In fact, it was a massive legacy boost for a man who has long dodged claims that he does not put over talent.
This was a night celebrating his legacy, and his final moment was to crown Gunther the man everyone will struggle to defeat going forward.
Even if his 2025 retirement tour did not always go perfectly, it is hard to imagine Cena leaving WWE with anything but a smile on his face.
Losers: Fans of John Cena
8 of 8Even if all booking tradition states John Cena needed to lose to Gunther, the crowd reaction afterward told a different story.
Fans wanted to believe The GOAT would never give up. That is a statement that will resonate forever with Cena fans.
Instead, after a rocky early stretch to his retirement year in 2025, the final booking choice was to give him a final loss on his record by submission.
Did Gunther need this? It is hard to say. He had already retired Goldberg and has two world titles to his name.
However, he also took a bad loss to Jey Uso at WrestleMania 41 that WWE did not back up, followed by another to CM Punk.
In both cases, the mystique of the indomitable Ring General was challenged, and this win brings some of it back.
None of that means much to Cena fans who would have loved to see him walk out victorious, though.
That is a gut punch WWE will have a tough time recovering from, no matter how emotional the final tribute video package was.
