John Cena's Unforgettable Career Ends With Perfect Retirement Match vs. Gunther

Faced with deciding how best to wave goodbye to a Superstar who defined an entire era of pro wrestling, WWE and John Cena delivered the perfect retirement match in the marquee bout of Saturday Night's Main Event.

Against an unstoppable force in former world heavyweight champion Gunther, Cena tapped into the Superman-like qualities he had demonstrated throughout his two decades as a top WWE Superstar. He hulked up, fought back, emptied what was left in his arsenal, and like any great gunslinger past his prime, he went down in dramatic fashion.

With the crowd at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. passionately rooting for one last great Cena comeback, he battled his way out of Gunther's trademark sleeper on several occasions before finally succumbing to it.

While the submission loss will be debated in the days and weeks after the show, it aligns with what Cena repeatedly expressed was important to him: Giving the next generation of Superstars that spotlight.

We saw it throughout the back half of his career, then again since August, when he put over Cody Rhodes in the main event of SummerSlam, worked three of his remaining dates with Dominik Mysterio and then squared off with Gunther in Saturday's career-closing contest.

Saturday night, on a show featuring the talent of the future showcasing their abilities against today's WWE Superstars, Cena's loss was the continuation of a commitment he made to leave the company better than he found it.

With Gunther still an unstoppable force and able to brag about defeating two generational megastars this year, he has done that.

The bigger question, at least moving forward, is whether Triple H and his creative team can capitalize on the incredible match and moment Cena provided with The Ring General's win.

If not, this was all for naught, and every fan who loudly booed the WWE chief content officer as he made his way to the ring to thank Cena for his efforts over the years will be vindicated.

For now, the match is exactly what it needed to be: One last ride for a grizzled veteran, who left on his own terms, and did it the right way by adding to the credibility of a guy tasked with carrying the ball forward.