The WWE made sure the final John Cena in-ring appearance in Boston was a special one for the hometown crowd.
Cena, who is a month from his final match, made his final TD Garden appearance on the Nov. 10 episode of “Monday Night Raw.” It was an emotional night for the West Newbury, Mass., native, and it was also a historic one for the all-time great.
“Raw” opened with Cena cutting a promo for the sold-out crowd, but he was quickly interrupted by Dominik Mysterio. That eventually led to a match for Mysterio’s Intercontinental Championship, a match that Cena ultimately won.
Improbably, it’s the first time in Cena’s 20-plus-year career that he has won the IC title, and the Monday night win made him a grand slam champion, as one of the few to have won every title belt the WWE has.
John Cena Earns Grand Slam Status With Win in Boston
Cena’s win on “Raw” saw him become the 19th WWE wrestler to capture the grand slam under the revised title format. That means he’s held either the world title or universal title, a tag team title and both the Intercontinental and U.S. Titles all at some point in his career.
For Cena, that’s, of course, in addition to holding the world title 17 times in his Hall of Fame career, too.
The surprise win on “Monday Night Raw” was even more impactful given Cena’s roots to the area. He grew up nearby, he attended Springfield College and has made sure to credit the New England area for his upbringing. That was reciprocated in a big way in his final stop at TD Garden with a rabid Boston crowd celebrating one of the final stops on his retirement tour.
“They got the bonus match, they got the title change, they got — this crowd was incredible,” POST Wrestling’s John Pollock remarked on the latest episode of his “Rewind-A-Raw” podcast. “These 40 minutes, they were losing their minds more than their credit card bill coming for these tickets next month.”
When Is John Cena’s Final Match?
For Cena, it was another noteworthy accomplishment on his lengthy retirement tour. He has just three dates left before calling it a career, appearing at the Nov. 17 “Monday Night Raw” at Madison Square Garden, “Survivor Series” at the end of November, and his final match will happen at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 13.
It’s unclear, at least officially, who Cena’s opponent for his final match will be. The WWE is currently holding a tournament to decide Cena’s final match, though it has been reported that the privilege will go to Gunther, the up-and-coming former world champion, who missed most of the fall with injuries.
It will be interesting to see how WWE handles Cena’s Intercontinental Title reign, too. He’ll presumably lose the belt at some point before that final match, although perhaps it will be on against whomever he faces Dec. 13. He could also defend it at “Survivor Series,” presumably in a rematch with Mysterio, but recent reports indicate Cena might be participating in the “War Games” main event alongside CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes.
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