With just two days until “The Last Time,” it looks like John Cena will rise up against Gunther.
We’ve talked about how a lot of people, myself included, might book the final match differently, but the ultimate analysis is that Triple H, Bruce Prichard and others are going to go to John and ask he What he Want to do it.
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It does seem like John wants to follow a time-honored tradition.
He once again cast Brock Lesnar as The Monster at SummerSlam, then cast Dirty Dominik Mysterio as the Master Cheater at Survivor Series – and now, I predict, he’ll cast Gunther as the “Ring General” this Saturday.
I’m almost certain this will happen. The only question was whether John asked to be left alone in the ring for his final farewell, left his pump in the middle of the ring, or whether the plan was to clear out the locker room and have his family and friends celebrate with him.
Like everyone else in the wrestling world, I just hope John is happy with his final hour as an active professional wrestler.
Giving the last Cena opponent spot to LA Knight, who lost to Gunther in the finals of the Last Is Now tournament, is really interesting to me. The internet wrestling community has “knew” for months that Gunther would be John’s final enemy, so a last-minute swerve would be cool.
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Then again, LA Cavaliers is extremely popular and fans are desperate for him to win a big game (more on that later). The crowd supporting Knight will be divided this Saturday as Cena will need all the support he can get that night.
My friend – well, actually my family member – Josh Alexander has put together a great promo in preparation for his big match with Swerve Strickland, which will take place during the second half of AEW Winter this Saturday in Cardiff, Wales.
He was without Don Callis, a terrible dresser but the best voice in wrestling, and Josh did a great job.
Josh is one of the best wrestlers in the world and has been since his record-breaking TNA Championship run. I will keep saying this and when people inevitably text me, I will continue to receive receipts, “Wow, you were spot on Josh.”
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Josh himself tells this story, but he was a fat kid with no friends who lived far from school and spent his evenings and weekends alone, but discovered TNA wrestling through a magazine his mom bought him.
He started watching TNA and he loved it. He worked up the courage to go to the local wrestling school…and made a discovery. He hit his back. It’s as good as anyone who’s had a few months of training. He tried more moves and he learned them all very quickly – very quickly.
Wrestling became the reason he stayed in shape. Wrestling became his life. He loves the game as much as anyone in the crowd. I saw these talented guys from a million miles away and now AEW fans see it too.
Back to the Los Angeles Cavaliers… to borrow a popular phrase, his time is now.
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Knight got a hint of the Superman treatment Monday night. He lost to Logan Paul, but Paul received help from Braun Blake, Bronson Reed, and the mysterious masked man of WWE. He then went backstage for more, and both Paul and Reed did their best to put him down.
“He’s still getting up,” Paul told Reed, just loud enough to be caught on camera.
This tells us exactly what WWE wants us to think and feel.
Knight fans have long been annoyed that their “superstar” didn’t get the biggest chance, but now I think WWE is leaning into that feeling on purpose. If you’re angry about Knight constantly “eating pinfalls” (I hate that phrase), then you’re experiencing a storyline that WWE wants you to experience.
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Big things are coming for Knight.
Don’t worry, my fellow LA Cavaliers faithful, brighter days are ahead.
(WWE via Getty Images)
You know that old saying? Either die young or live to be a villain? John Cena, the character and the man who played him, did the opposite. He’s been around for 26 years, which is enough to make him a national hero.
Obviously, he was never really a villain (even this year’s villains weren’t enough to make him one), but he was the squeaky-clean hero that a lot of hardcore fans loved to boo in the early to mid-2000s. Kids loved him and parents loved him, but die-hard fans who still craved the Attitude Era — like men aged 18 to 35 at the time — really liked to boo him.
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For a long time, people talked about dumping him because of these reactions. In internet lore, WWE didn’t pull the trigger because John was selling too much merchandise and it didn’t want to kill the golden goose.
I’m sure that was a factor in our decision. Also, WWE did a good job of parsing whether this was a handful of “too cool for school” types having fun going against the grain, or a legitimate movement in which the majority of the audience rejected John.
WWE got it right. This is different from the drop in ratings and pay-per-view buys when Cena was on top.
It’s great to hear that Darby Allin is now back from the injury he sustained at “AEW Collision” on November 26th. The brave man suffered a lot of damage after his fight with Kevin Knight and was kept in the hospital for observation, but according to him, he is fine now and is just waiting for medical clearance.
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As someone who lived through the “go away and drink some beer to ease the pain” era, I’m always happy to see wrestling take injuries seriously in the modern era.
Wrestlers are tough guys. Even Darby admits he’s shaking himself off, which means he would fall and get hurt if it were up to him.
Darby has been replaced in the Golden League by Jake Perry, joining Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, PAC, Mike Bailey and Knight.
Last night’s AEW Winter is Coming special was one of the most watched episodes of wrestling television in 2026.
Congratulations to Athena for traveling through time three years The Ring of Honor Women’s Championship was won yesterday. She won the title at ROH Final Battle on December 10, 2022, and has defended the title over 30 times since, including exciting matches with Thunder Rosa, Willow Nightingale, Mina Shirakawa, and more.
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Athena was a pleasure to work with – she wrestled Gisele Shaw at one of my MLP shows – so her success is well deserved. She lived through an era when only TNA fully respected the women’s division, and she fought hard for whatever was left of the independent movement.
Now, she’s thriving and enjoying the fruits of all that she and a generation of female performers have put in.
In an age where role models are constantly being lost, and where it seems like almost everyone in public life is someone we don’t want our kids to look up to, John Cena is someone the wrestling industry should be very proud of.
He had been like this for a quarter of a century.
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There were no DUI arrests, no scandals, or even anything inappropriate in real life. He broke Hulk Hogan’s old record for most wishes, and trust me, if you have a heart, these are extremely tough emotionally and mentally. John had a big heart.
As for WWE, he has never abandoned them or blasted them in interviews or complained about his or anyone else’s position. He even learned Mandarin because he found that no one else in the company spoke the language and the company needed people who could.
Fans booing him out of the building? He never broke his character. Online comments mocking his wrestling skills? He kept working and getting better and better.
And he has already traveled through time. He is mainstream. Legit acting chops and roles, big movies, HBO originals, and at least on my TV, he seems to be doing voiceovers for every third commercial.
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Throughout, he was someone you looked up to with your children.
There will never be another like him.
Speaking of wrestlers and foreign languages, I can order food in five languages, know a few swear words in six, but maybe not fluently in anything, so when Kenny Omega started speaking in fluent Japanese, I was shocked.
When we met with New Japan Pro-Wrestling around November 2017, Kenny came along with Don Callis, Anthem (TNA parent company) executive Ed Nordholm and myself. Just a few weeks before Don and I were announced to run IMPACT (TNA) Wrestling, we wanted to tell them, “Hey, we want to reopen the partnership between TNA and New Japan.”
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Kenny not only started speaking fluent Japanese, but he spoke it so well that the people of New Japan laughed at his jokes. Anyone who speaks multiple languages will tell you that humor can be really hard to understand.
At one point, Kenny and the Japanese laughed for three minutes straight, and Don and I said, “Tell us what’s so funny,” and Kenny said, “Yeah, it doesn’t translate that well.”
Around that time, the idea of reverting IMPACT Wrestling to TNA’s old name was floated. Obviously, this ended up happening a few years later, but it’s funny to think back on someone suggesting Anthem Wrestling Entertainment.
Can you imagine how much fun fans will have watching AWE? Thankfully, we stuck with IMPACT and brought back the TNA abbreviation years later.
“The D’Amore Drop” is a weekly guest column on Uncrowned written by Canadian professional wrestling promoter, executive producer, trainer and former wrestler Scott D’Amore, best known for his long-time role as creative executive at TNA/IMPACT Wrestling. D’Amore is the current owner of Canada’s leading promotion maple leaf pro wrestling.
