John Cena had some of his greatest rivals appear during the home stretch of his retirement tour and many celebrated him on his final night.
The record-breaking 17-time world champion waved goodbye to performing at Saturday Night’s Main Event when he tapped out for the first time in 20 years to Gunther.
After the bell, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes both came into the ring and presented Cena with their world title belts to show respect. Punk is undoubtedly one of, if not Cena’s greatest foe. Rhodes was a focal point of his retirement year.
Then you had Triple H and Shawn Michaels at ringside, two more men who now sit atop of the throne in WWE, but back when Cena started main eventing in the mid-2000s gave him memorable feuds.
But, where was Randy Orton? If CM Punk was Cena’s greatest rival, Orton, Edge or AJ Styles would probably complete the podium.
The Viper was not at SNME because he was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the grand opening of Mr Beast Land.
Given that WWE are partners with the Saudis it was seen as an ideal co-promotion opportunity.
Orton and his wife Kim appeared at the launch alongside several WWE stars, including Liv Morgan, Tiffany Stratton, Grayson Waller, and Omos. The opening was a part of ‘Riyadh season’ and they filmed activities around the park for social and video content.
It’s a shame, Orton embracing Cena would have been cool to see.
Orton and Cena were famously a part of perhaps the greatest graduation class in WWE development history alongside Brock Lesnar and Batista.
All four men debuted in 2002 after honing their craft in OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) and while Batista is retired from the business now and thriving in Hollywood – as Cena plans to – Orton and Lesnar both had feuds with Cena during his final year.
OVW is still going strong today with WWE Attitude Era star Al Snow the head trainer.
