[WATCH] John Cena's final SmackDown opponent pays tribute to him but loses to Gunther anyway

John Cena's final opponent on SmackDown faced his actual final opponent, Gunther, and lost. However, en route to the finish, he would pay tribute to the 17-time World Champion.

WWE hosted a special New Year's Live Event at Syracuse, New York, with a stacked card, including a main event between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre ahead of their three Stages of Hell match. As for Gunther, he faced one of the few men in WWE to ever beat him - Sami Zayn.

Sami Zayn, who was John Cena's final SmackDown opponent, paid tribute to him with his moveset, as well as the Attitude Adjustment, which isn't seen in this video. Unfortunately for the underdog from the underground, he lost to Gunther.

Why John Cena's final SmackDown appearance was a poetic one

John Cena appeared on SmackDown as an active in-ring performer one last time on September 5th, 2025, in the build-up to Wrestlepalooza. But it was more poetic than people realized, and that was because it was a full-circle moment.

Over 23 years before that, in the very same building, the AllState Arena, a young Cena would make his debut, confronting Kurt Angle and very nearly defeating him in a shocker. That moment remains iconic because to many, it was one of the starting points of the Ruthless Aggression Era.

23 years later, he would make his final SmackDown appearance in the very same building, and this time, he ran it back with Sami Zayn, who, ironically enough, got one foot on the main roster in 2015 in an open challenge match against Cena.

This time, the tables were turned with Sami holding the United States Championship, and they would go on to have a classic that was unfortunately ruined by the interference of Brock Lesnar. Still, it felt like a poetic way to end Cena's run on the blue brand.

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Edited by Rohit Nath