By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Viewers will have to wait a bit to see John Cena’s final match. Cena appeared on Friday’s Pat McAfee Show and revealed that his match against Gunther will close the show. “I’m not going first tomorrow,” Cena said. “We’re last. I don’t know how that rumor started. I think some folks with credibility like to kick the hornet’s nest once in a while and get people chattering… I don’t even know how that started. It’s difficult to conceptualize that. Again, I don’t make the menu. And if, gosh, if I show up tomorrow and they want me to go on first, that’s what I’m going to do. But we are last at this point.” Check out the clip of the interview below and/or watch the full interview on YouTube.com.
Powell’s POV: There was an online report a couple of weeks ago that Cena’s match was scheduled to open the show at the time. It’s unclear whether that was the case and plans changed, or if Cena vs. Gunther was always slated to close the show. The big question is whether they will show the entire post-match scene or cut away at the two-hour mark as they did for Goldberg’s show.
The difference is that SNME was on NBC and Peacock when Goldberg retired, whereas the show is now exclusively available on Peacock in the United States. One would think that they would have more flexibility to run long. For those curious, NBC will air reruns of The Wall game show and Dateline NBC. Clearly, the folks at NBCUniversal think getting people to stick with or sign up for Peacock is more important than NBC’s ratings tomorrow night.
“I’m not going first tomorrow 😂😂
We’re going last and I don’t know how that rumor started” ~ @JohnCena #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/PtXjN6dPNl
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 12, 2025
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
WWE fueled the rumors by having that countdown on Raw for his final match, with the countdown ending at the start of SNME (implying it would open the show)