Original subtitles

[suspenseful music playing]

[Cole] The last time will indeed be now.

[CM Punk] Cena is retiring.

We know there's a finality. We know there is an end date to this.

So where do I fit into this?

I’m a creative, and I like collaborating,

and I love John, and I love working with John.

Yep. It's very good.

[CM Punk] Him and I…

[Cena] Oh!

…from my perspective, are wrestling soulmates.

[Cole] Uh, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever,

former World Champion CM Punk

meets the WWE Champion, John Cena.

[crowd cheering, counting]

[Cole] Cena wins!

[bell ringing]

[CM Punk] Anytime you get me and him on the screen together, it's… it's magic.

[CM Punk grunts]

- [Cole] GTS connecting! - [crowd] One, two…

[Cole] Oh my God!

- [cheering, whistling] - [bell ringing]

[CM Punk] Guy's got a historic career.

You hear hustle, loyalty, respect to Thuganomics, you think John Cena.

"The Doctor of Thuganomics."

["Basic Thuganomics" by John Cena playing] ♪Word life, this is basic thuganomics ♪

♪ This is ba… basic thuganomics… ♪

[announcer] Hip hop is mainstream, no… whether… if people like it or not.

"The Doctor of Thuganomics" was what Cena had to pull out to get noticed.

He didn't have that "It" thing when he first got here.

"The Doctor of Thuganomics" was just a character

that was born out of this freestyle rapping.

♪ Word life This is basic thuganomics ♪

[Koskey] "The Doctor of Thuganomics" was kind of the early onset

of kind of really where John Cena broke out in the world of WWE.

I usually do, like, three, four rhymes, five tops.

You're half man and half beast

Is that supposed to impress me?

Man, my fist'll swell your face

You'll be the white Dizzy Gillespie

[crowd] Ohh!

We're on this retirement tour, and just the word "Punkonomics" popped in my head.

And I just thought, "Me doing you to you."

If you ask a classically trained actor, like, "What is your job?"

the job is to hold a mirror up to the audience.

So this was myself holding a mirror up to John.

[Cole] John Cena looking in a mirror from, like, 20 years ago.

I get Punk, dressed up, in gimmick,

doing my shtick.

Yo, check it. This is Basic Punkonomics.

He gave himself way too many lines.

Remember when he used to rap?

Yeah, you deserve all the criticism

You're like a Temu Macklemore

But with Mackle-less rhythm

[crowd] Ohh!

[Cena] You gotta memorize, memorize.

Going out there, I was like, "Man, he looks great."

"I think he's gonna forget some of this stuff."

He crushed.

Yo, when it comes to best in the world

I'm your vessel

Because millions chant my name

And at you, they chant

"You can't wrestle"

[crowd] Ohh!

[Cena] And in the middle of his crushing,

I got a genuine message from Phil.

[crowd chanting] CM Punk! CM Punk!

I'm gonna miss you.

[crowd chanting] CM Punk! CM Punk!

[Cena] Never a more real thing said.

Which was, like, awesome.

- [crowd] CM Punk! CM Punk! - I'm gonna miss you.

[CM Punk] In that moment, I had to do that to kind of center him

and bring him into the moment.

[pensive music playing]

Because it was emotional for me,

and I felt it needed to be emotional for him too.

Before you go, John…

[Cena] Right in the middle of his moment,

he gave me a very real and authentic moment,

and it was very special.

[music fades]

[intriguing music playing]

[crowd cheering, applauding]

In this

amazing world of what we do,

when one domino falls,

unfortunately, it knocks over most of the other ones.

[Cole] Rollins now, from the top rope.

Rollins… Oh my goodness!

[Rollins] My shoulder's probably broke.

[Hunter] Seth's shoulder's… blown out.

Has to have surgery.

So any plans you had

now go out the window.

[indistinct]

I don't think I can do my fucking pose.

[chuckles]

[producer] Is it that bad?

It's that bad. I definitely can't do it fast.

If I do it like that, I can do it.

If I, like…

if I come up… come up here and then extend…

- [producer] There you go. - [chuckles] It's fucking brutal, dude.

For now, it's just… it's a lot of doom and gloom.

Looking at the trajectory of what it was gonna look like going into next year,

and raising the stock of Bron and Bronson,

and heading into WrestleMania with the World Heavyweight Championship,

and it just felt like, you know, this was gonna be a really good year.

And to, uh, kind of see that go up in smoke is, like, uh…

I feel very disappointed.

And I feel like,

you know, people will be disappointed in me.

I'm disappointed in myself.

I'm not getting any younger, so it's a lot of negativity.

[chuckles] It's hard for me to find anything positive about this.

[pensive music playing]

When I look at my timeline,

I've certainly got a lot more past than future.

And so… it's slipping away a little bit.

And, uh…

and that's, that's a bit terrifying.

Unfortunate, and I'm fucking crushed for you,

but it is what it is.

- It's the business. We've both been there. - Yeah. Yeah.

[Rollins chuckles]

We also have to figure out, "what do we do with The Vision now?"

So you may recall that The Vision originally started

when Paul Heyman joins with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania.

Two nights later, after that, Bron Breakker joins The Vision,

followed shortly thereafter, maybe about a month or so,

by Bronson Reed.

The intent of the group was to leverage Seth's star power, Heyman's star power,

to both elevate and sort of protect,

as they're green,

Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed.

When Seth Rollins gets injured,

the dynamic changes because now Seth has to take time off to recover.

There is no Seth Rollins in The Vision anymore.

So, how do we explain that absence? How do we explain the injury?

How do we get past that?

Well, thinking at the time is,

we have Breakker and Bronson Reed turn on Seth Rollins

and assume control of The Vision,

because if we leave that on Seth,

there sort of is no Vision.

So let them take control of the reins themselves

and see where that takes us.

Everybody where we're at, hands up. I'll have the title.

- I'm not gonna lift you up. - Don't lift the arm. Leave it.

"Ah, fuck yeah!"

I'll fucking start to drift forward.

"Fuck you," maybe one more thing to Punk

but I might just look. I mean, yeah, when that happens…

- You just drift behind. - [Heyman] Yep.

Wait, wait, waiting.

Nonchalant, nonchalant.

I'll fucking turn,

and then boom! Eat my lunch.

And I know I don't need to tell you this. Do not… do not fuck with that Spear.

Hit me hard as a motherfucker.

Just like you would normally. It's gotta look…

This is a moment they're gonna replay for years.

- Yup. - [Heyman] This pays the bills.

- [Rollins] Do as you would anybody else. - This pays the fucking bills.

Just eat me.

- As much of a running start as you can. - {Heyman] ISpeed. Hit him like ISpeed.

And fucking… I'll have the title, so when I do it, I'll have the title here.

I'll come, and then when you…

- [Heyman] You have to. - Go flying, just like you do on the floor.

Just, like, send it, boom. I'll send the title.

I'll flat-back for you, and I'll do it sound. Don't fade it.

- Not just your money that depends on it. - [Rollins] I'll be fine.

It's everybody's money that depends on it.

[Rollins] It's the last bump I'm taking for six months, so make it a good one.

- Let's go. - [clapping]

[Heyman] Get this shit. [grunts]

I'm sorry in advance.

Nah dude, I've been there, bro.

Seth is… Seth's a pro.

He'll handle business even if he's banged up.

It's the job. He knows it.

He's the man for a reason.

[crowd cheering]

- [Rollins] Perth, Australia! - [crowd cheering loudly]

[Rollins] I'm gonna spit some straight facts at you.

I've never needed anybody.

I don't need Bronson Reed.

I don't need Bron Breakker.

I don't need Paul Heyman.

I won the World Heavyweight Championship on my own!

[crowd chanting] Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!

[Breakker] As long as Seth was healthy, that was gonna be the deal.

Seth being the leader, me being the enforcer, the killer.

[chuckles sadly]

The idea was good. [laughs]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Cole] Wait a minute! Oh my God!

Breakker just Speared Rollins!

What the hell is going on?

[crowd] Ohh! [cheering]

Oh my God.

[crowd chanting] Holy shit! Holy shit!

[Breakker] I think it's gonna be something people remember for a while.

Just tried to absolutely destroy him.

He took it like a man.

[Cole] Ladies and gentlemen,

Rollins called Breakker the undisputed future of the industry.

Well, folks, the future is now.

A coup of epic proportions tonight!

You can't look at it as… a disaster.

You have to look at it as an opportunity. Opportunity to recreate something.

And if done right, maybe it's even better than what you had before.

[Rollins] Now I know how fucking Speed felt.

You just nearly Speared my body off my fucking head,

not the other way around, you know?

- Thank you, guys. Thank you. - Yeah, thank you, buddy.

- Fucking A. - Yeah, I'm around.

- I'm gonna be at the show. I'm a resource. - I'll blow you up. As much as you want.

- Anytime, man. - Thank you, dude.

[Koskey] Coming off the events of Crown Jewel,

after Seth Rollins' shoulder injury, forced to vacate the World title,

the debate amongst our team was,

do we go with someone new, try something different with the title,

or is it better just because this was completely unexpected?

Do you just go with somebody who's more established?

[Ward] So, working forwards

to Saturday Night's Main Event in two weeks.

So I think we're kind of leaning Punk over at this point?

- For me right now, I'm leaning Punk over. - [Ward] Okay.

I think he gives us the most… the most options.

I think it was unanimously CM Punk in the end.

Without a doubt, Punk was ready to slide into that role.

My lean is Punk. You?

Punk is… Yeah.

- Punk. - Punk.

Punk leaves all options on the table.

That's… Every path we wanna take is still open to us with Punk as champion.

So the decision was made of, "Let's crown CM Punk."

I think it was three weeks later, at Saturday Night's Main Event,

put the World title on Punk. Let him carry it

until we can kind of breathe again after Seth's unexpected injury.

[CM Punk] Wanna see the shirt my wife got me for my birthday?

It's a good one, right?

It's a hard business. Injuries happen all the time.

Seth got hurt. He was the champion. He had to vacate. So here we are.

Tonight, CM Punk faces Jey Uso.

So, big show tonight.

- [crowd cheering] - [bell ringing]

[Cole] Big-time heavyweight battle for all the gold.

- [tense music playing] - [Cole] Jey Uso now, measuring CM Punk.

No! No!

[Cole] Jey Uso looking for a Spear through the barricade!

[Barrett] All of the oxygen just got sucked out of this arena!

[CM Punk] For a lot of people in that building,

that might be the last time they see CM Punk.

Yeah, we're going home here.

So to be able to have these moments that shake buildings

is paramount to me.

[Cole] Knee by Punk.

Jey collapses off the ropes.

- Back onto the shoulders of Punk. - Yeah!

Go To Sleep by Punk. Collapses into the cover.

CM Punk is the World Heavyweight Champion!

- [woman screaming] - [man whooping]

[CM Punk] The building shaking in Salt Lake City,

it goes to show you, man, the… the connection that I have with the crowd.

[Cole] There's no Seth Rollins to spoil the party.

After a decade of bitterness,

CM Punk has finally proven beyond a shadow of a doubt

that he is "The Best in the World"!

[Post Malone speaks indistinctly]

Hey, man, you've been my favorite since I was fucking little.

- May I? - Abso-fucking-lutely.

[crowd cheering loudly]

What's… what's protocol? Am I supposed to travel with this?

- [Rhodes] Don't have to these days, but… - Do I really?

It never hurts because if you get the call, like, "Hey, you gotta get…"

- [CM Punk] I don't know if there's room. - Hunter's gonna be a few of those.

"Hey, can you be here? Do you have the belt?"

"Of course I have the belt." But I don't think it's protocol anymore.

[intriguing music playing]

[CM Punk] Everything that ever had happened to me in my career…

Still, I always think I'm that kid that… I'm not supposed to be here, you know?

I have somehow connected with the fans so much

that it is my honor and my privilege to be able to run with the ball.

- Now it's time to earn my money. - [man] That's right.

This is where the money's at.

It's me in a Speedo.

Why the ice bath?

It just kind of resets my nervous system.

I'm calming down now.

You fight, and you work your ass off to get to this point,

and now the hard work begins.

Making sure I hold that title for a very, very long time,

'cause I understand that it's potentially the last time.

[music fades]

CM Punk becomes the World Heavyweight Champion

in place of Seth Rollins.

You also have bright-side opportunities that are coming up,

like Liv Morgan's return.

[Morgan] I just wanted, like, a contrast to the road life.

And so I found this property. I live on a couple of acres,

and I just was like, "I'm just gonna get some animals."

Their energy is so pure,

and I just sit outside, and I just watch them.

You guys wanna come out?

I don't like eggs. I don't like milk.

So they're just, like, pets. You know, it's more sanctuary than farm.

Play.

Oh shit! There's a lot of eggs!

Look. This is, like, a brand-new chicken egg.

This shit is so little. Like, that is, like, fresh out of a butthole.

Brand-new chicken egg. It's so little.

I wanna get turtles though. Turtles and a peacock.

And then I think I'll be satisfied.

My name is Gionna Daddio,

and I play Liv Morgan on TV.

- Oh! [screams] - [man] Whoa. Shit.

- The hornets! - [man chuckles]

- [woman] They all came down. - [man] They did.

I knew they fucking was gonna think I was a sunflower.

- [man] They went away when… Holy shit. - Whoo!

Did you get that?

[woman] Oh my God, they're dropping!

- [dramatic music playing] - [Taylor] Liv Morgan!

- [crowd cheering] - [Cole] Oh!

Women's World Champion.

[Morgan] If you look at my life on paper, I should not be a WWE Superstar.

I dropped out of high school, and I got my GED.

I was not a Division 1 athlete.

I do not have family in the business.

I grew up in a very chaotic environment.

And so I don't know how I squeezed and finessed my way in here, but I did.

I was working at a Hooters.

Hooters, first and foremost, is a family restaurant.

Kids eat for free on Tuesdays.

I had a really great experience working there.

It helped me pay my bills and provide for myself.

So Joe DeFranco, a personal trainer, had walked in with his wife.

He found out I was a WWE fan,

and he just so happens to train Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

So he was kind enough to pass along my information to WWE recruitment,

and so I had my tryout, and it was, like, the craziest three days of my entire life.

But I got signed.

It just completely changed my life, it just felt like, just like that.

I've been in WWE for the last 11 years.

11/21/17, which is the day that I officially debuted

on WWE television.

It was, like, the moment that I made my dream come true, you know?

[Taylor] …Championship!

[Morgan] WWE has given me so much and has shaped and changed my whole life.

I will give just as much as it gave to me.

There's nothing that I won't do.

The lashings and the bruising and the cuts doesn't bother me.

- [woman] Ooh! - Oh, you could never make me ugly.

[both laughing]

[Cole] Oh no!

[Barrett] Morgan's midsection is bleeding from that hair whip.

[Morgan] Not that the pain doesn't hurt.

I guess it just makes you feel alive. I'm a sicko, aren't I? [laughs]

[Cole] Liv Morgan lets it all out

with a senton through the table!

[Morgan] The spots are limited, especially when you come up with people

that you consider the fucking greats.

And so the fact that little old Liv fucking Morgan

somehow put herself in this conversation…

I was just like, "Thank you."

I was so… I was just so proud and so happy.

I knew my bosses trusted me.

[Hunter] You're like a ring general now.

I feel like I could put you in with anybody.

You'd get the best out of them. That's an art form.

- [Morgan] That's all I wanna do. - …that mostly nobody gets.

From… You know, with your background and everything else

to where you are now, it's incredible. You should be so proud of yourself.

Yeah, well, no one walks away unscathed.

You're gonna… [chuckles] …pay your dues somewhere along the way with your body

just because it's a given.

[intriguing music playing]

[Morgan] It was a bizarre fluke.

[bell ringing]

[Morgan] I loved what I was doing. I felt like I was firing on all cylinders.

Liv may have injured her shoulder.

[Morgan] I knew it happened, and I rolled out the ring

because I was like, "Let me see if I can,"

you know, "try to get it back in and continue."

And then we had medical aid come out.

We couldn't pop it back in. And so I'm like, "I have to walk away."

I have to leave this match and walk away injured, which…

That, in and of itself, also fucking sucks

that I have to get up on live TV and walk away because I cannot continue.

[Cole] The doctors are helping Liv Morgan back to the locker room area

as we show you again.

Just an unfortunate instance

of Liv trying to defend against the takedown,

and her body had other plans.

I knew that it was done, and I was trying to handle it with grace.

[medic] Just relax a little.

[suspenseful music playing]

- [Morgan] Oh! - [medic] You're good. You're good.

Wait. Do you think that's it, maybe?

I said, "Do you think that's it?" [chuckles]

Like, meaning like, "Do you think that…?"

[pensive music playing]

[inhales, sighs sadly]

[clicks tongue]

[breathes shakily]

Just hoping, like, this isn't it.

Like, "Do you think I can… go back and wrestle?"

"Do you think… I'm gonna need to be out for six months?"

You know, so it was just, "Whew!"

Being hopeful that was it, that we popped it back in

and I'm good to go. I can wrestle next week.

Um, and she was like, "No."

Well, I think we got it quicker.

[Morgan] That was just the start. [chuckles]

[Bayley] Aww.

- Love you. - Love you.

I've had, like, a very

windy career, and we all work hard,

but I know the work that I had to put in to get to that moment.

And so for it to be taken away and to not even be able to make good

on all these things that I was supposed to be doing,

like, selfishly, that upset me.

In that specific moment in time,

you know, I'm missing Evolution, which I'm supposed to be a part of.

I'm missing SummerSlam in my hometown of New Jersey.

So to just have it all like, "Boop, bitch, bye,"

it was heartbreaking.

- Thanks. - [man] All right?

It hurt me so badly.

[Ward] We were gonna ask later about Liv, who's on the list,

and how you… [clears throat] …saw everything,

because she was starting to get really, really over right before she got injured.

When is she… When is she back?

[Ward] Sometime in November.

She's scheduled to clear right around Survivor Series.

Would it be logical to have her come help Dominik go over Cena

at Survivor Series?

Hell of a return.

[Hunter] I guess my only concern with that is that she'd be cleared by then, right?

- [Ward] The 28th, it says. - [Prichard] Yeah.

She'd probably be able to do the physicality.

The question would be, is she in ring shape?

- Offense only. - [Hunter] Yeah.

Yeah, that might be a good…

You know, uh, you get past that,

then you really just have to get through the holidays to get to Rumble.

You know what I mean?

Survivor Series also featured John Cena

defending his newly won Intercontinental Championship

against the former champion, Dominik Mysterio.

This was kind of the payoff

to a couple-of-weeks story that we had started with Dom, uh, and John

that allowed, uh, several members of Judgment Day to get involved

to try to help Dom regain the championship.

John wants that match to be what he felt his career was based on,

which is opportunity. It's not about him.

It's about the entire show and about young competitors.

[Cena] What are we gonna do in San Diego?

How do we make it the best for them?

I wanna use everyone.

'Cause that's giving the energy away.

And any time you can get that many folks involved,

it's fun, 'cause everybody wants to be a part of the show.

[Dominik] It's like he wants to be a teacher in the game.

Like, he's a student of the game,

so now he wants to pass his knowledge on to all of us.

So it's kind of cool to see him in that way.

[Cena] Okay, you have a singles match with Dom.

How do we make it look like I can't win?

[intriguing music playing]

[Cena] And then give a surprise moment

and bring back a superstar they love?

[Morgan] I feel good. I feel, like, peaceful right now, which is interesting,

'cause I feel like I've been…

I don't know, I've just felt a lot of things over the last six months

and kind of still processing it all.

So to wake up today and feel just, like, at peace, um, it was nice.

'Cause I just feel like today is, like, meant to be.

Today's my fucking day.

What I love is no one's gonna be expecting Liv

'cause she wasn't in that War Games match.

- [Asuka cheering] - [Morgan laughing]

I cried. I don't want my makeup to, like, be fucked up.

- Oh, you can't tell. Can you tell I cried? - [man] No.

- You can't see a tear? - [man] Nope.

[Morgan] We're back, bitch.

Ah!

[Cole] The self-proclaimed greatest luchador in the world,

Dominik Mysterio.

And look who's with him.

Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez of The Judgment Day.

[crowd cheering]

- [Wilson] All right, John, have fun. - Thank you.

[suspenseful music playing]

[cheering excitedly]

[Cole] Ladies and gentlemen,

for the 177th and final time in his career,

John Cena performs at a WWE Premium Live Event.

[Pearce] That looks badass. Fuck yeah.

Awesome.

[Roode] What a crowd.

- [Pearce] Let's have some fun, Bobby. - Let's go, man.

- [bell ringing] - [crowd cheering]

What I liked most about it was we had the creative freedom

to use every paint on the palette.

I want the girls to come ringside. I want them physically involved,

both in the match in a traditional way of, like, tripping and hitting.

Watch Raquel here. Watch Raquel.

[Cole] And now Raquel Rodriguez, with a right hand, getting involved.

But I also want them to hit bombs

because it's believable enough to be like, "Oh fuck. The kid could win with that."

Back, back, back, back, back, back, back!

[Cole] Back in the ring, Raquel…

Raquel Rodriguez with a Tejana Bomb to John Cena.

And now Roxanne Perez… The medical team is over there working on Dominik.

- And Roxanne with Pop Rox to Cena. - [Barrett] Whoa.

It looks like "Dirty Dom" is down and out,

but the beatdown of John Cena is gonna take place regardless.

[Cole] And look at this. Dominik Mysterio playing possum!

- 619! - Keep working, Chad. You're fucking hot.

[Cole] Mysterio going for the win!

No, you ain't counting. No fucking way, you ain't counting.

See the referee's face.

[Cole] Official Chad Patton upset over the feigned injury by Dominik Mysterio,

and he's letting Mysterio have it.

Keep working. Get hot, get hot, get hot!

- [Barrett] We should have a new champion. - [Cole] Wait a minute.

Raquel and Roxanne should be sent back to the locker room,

and that's what's gonna happen. Good move by Chad Patton.

[producer] Standby, Judgment Day. Standby, standby.

Go, guys. Go.

Here come the heels down the aisle. Here come the heels.

- [Barrett] Oh! - [Cole] JD McDonagh, Finn Bálor.

- Judgment Day on their way to the ring. - [Barrett] Nice.

And no finer time for Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh to appear,

cause some damage while the referee is down.

Want me to run out? Or can I just make my way out?

- I'm not gonna take my time, but… - [Roode] Just come out and feel it.

- Get excited and then go. - Yeah. Okay.

- [Roode] Yeah. - [Cole] Oh no!

- [Barrett] Knees up by Cena. - [Cole] John got the knees up.

- [Barrett] Oh-ho-ho! - Hope he didn't need those ribs.

[Barrett] John Cena somehow, by the skin of his teeth,

getting out of danger.

Oh God, no way. He's got that look in his eye, Cole.

[Cole] You gotta be kidding me.

John Cena powering up two men.

Bálor and JD McDonagh on his shoulders under the bright lights.

[Barrett] What a freak of nature.

- [Cole] A double Attitude Adjustment! - [Hunter laughing]

Normally, they split. Normally, the two guys split.

[Barrett] I don't care what they say. John Cena has still got it.

And when you think you've seen everything and, man,

John might retire with the IC title…

[producer] Standby Liv music.

[Cole] And now Dominik Mysterio.

What does he have in that dirty, wicked mind of his?

[Barrett] As crafty and as calculating as they come.

[Cole] Cena, though, able to duck underneath it.

Cena with an AA to Dom.

- [man] Here we go, Liv. - Hell yeah, Liv!

- [Liv Morgan's entrance music playing] - [Barrett] Oh!

[Wilson] Have fun, Liv!

[Cole] Holy…!

[crowd cheering wildly]

[Cole] Liv Morgan!

Liv Morgan is back!

[Cena] Create a swerve and a deep cut

of, like, her doing the John Cena heel turn face way better than me.

[Pearce] Liv's face.

[crowd cheering]

[Pearce] We'll see her change smile into fucking frown.

Perfect. Perfect.

Perfect.

[Cena] Oh!

- [Cole] Oh no! - [Barrett] Yes!

It's a trick. It's a ruse. Romeo and Juliet are back.

[Morgan] It was, like, so loud that I couldn't, like, hear hear.

[Roode] Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

[Cole] Up to the top rope with a frog splash.

- Go! - Go, go, go, go!

[Cole] The cover. There's no official.

Liv's gonna try to get Chad Patton back into the ring,

and she does. Cover.

Chad counts.

Dominik Mysterio wins the Intercontinental Championship.

- In the dirtiest of possible ways. - [Barrett chuckles]

Energy has been given away, and now I care about these guys again.

I wanna see what they're gonna do next.

[Morgan] Do you know what's so crazy?

All I thought about was this return and this day.

And I didn't know what I'd expect to feel,

but after, you know, having done it, it feels, like, um,

normal. [chuckles]

It feels normal,

like I never fucking left, which is bizarre. It feels normal.

- Thanks for letting me be part of this. - You kidding? Couldn't do it without you.

- Are you okay? - How'd you feel?

Amazing. Are you okay?

- Yeah, of course. - Okay.

I didn't know if I… [chuckles] …hurt your balls. I was nervous.

- Oh, don't be. Don't worry about it. - Okay.

Loved it. Loved it.

I went… I pulled no punches. I went straight for it. Bam!

- [Cena] Oh! - [crowd cheering]

That was a career highlight for me, for sure.

She didn't wanna make it look bad, but I wear denim.

[Cena] Oh!

You stretch that denim tight, not a lot of give there.

That's what you learn after getting kicked in the nuts for 23 years.

- That was awesome. - Thanks so much. It's all the gaga.

- I hope we did it all alright. - Fucking awesome.

- A fucking honor to watch. - Thanks so much.

- So fucking good. Congratulations. - Thank you.

[Hunter] Honor to watch.

To me, now Liv is on a trajectory

of being one of the biggest female stars we've ever had.

If writing a movie,

you can't write a movie about saying goodbye to a character

without putting other characters in there and setting up the next chapters.

If you're not thinking about what's next, you're too late.

We're beginning to look at, "What's that next crop?"

So now we're down to John Cena's final match.

John had actually approached Paul Levesque

with the idea of building the rest of the show

with Superstars from NXT challenging established WWE Superstars.

[Hunter] I suppose you know Cena's idea for Saturday Night's Main Event.

[Prichard] You mentioned that. You hadn't…

So basically that the show is, in my words, not his,

sort of… which I kind of like this concept of sort of non-canon,

of we don't make it all… super, like, storyline-driven.

Where it's Cena versus Gunther.

That's the final match after the tournament to win it.

You get to a place where the rest of the show is sort of,

uh, rookie versus established star.

Cena prefer it not be a bunch of shit that's just all about him, so to speak.

But…

Basically, he pitched to me, "My career in WWE has been all about opportunity."

"This show could be all about you. What do you want?"

"I want it to be about opportunity for others."

[Cena] I just pitched the idea to Triple H of,

"Do you want to showcase, like,

some of the incredible talent you have down in NXT?"

[Cole] Oh, Sol Ruca!

Sol Snatcher!

Sol, Oba.

- [Cole] Oba Femi! - [Booker] Wow!

Did you see the athleticism?

- [Cena] Je'von. - [Cole] Here comes Evans!

- [Cole] Wow! From the heavens! - [Booker] Oh baby!

Give me my 30 minutes or whatever time you wanna allocate to me

and use the rest of the show

to give somebody the opportunity to steal the show.

And that's…

Amazingly enough, that's kind of how I started.

Who in the hell are you?

[crowd] Whoo!

I'm John Cena.

I wasn't supposed to be on the show.

A performer couldn't make it, so I got this opportunity.

Ruthless Aggression!

- [Cole] Oh! - [Tazz] Holy smokes!

So how I end is, is how I started.

Are you sure you don't wanna open Saturday Night's Main Event

with Cena's match so he can do the job and then just leave,

don't celebrate him at all? 'Cause that's what he wants.

[laughing]

I told him, uh, the other night.

I said, "It makes me sad that we're only gonna do this one more time."

He says, "Bruce, I've only got one more time left in me."

[laughter]

So that's all we're gonna do.

People are saying, "You don't seem very emotional about this."

He said, "I had four years to get through the emotion of this."

"I've been thinking about wanting to do this for four years."

- "I'm just glad it's fucking here." - [Ward] Yeah.

People's point of view that John is kind of this all-American… hero,

very patriotic character,

D.C. seems like an opportune place.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Cena] I've had a whole bunch of minutes.

So… I could be greedy

and continue to chase those minutes

at the expense of the audience entertainment

and my well-being and my physical health,

or I could be grateful that, like, man, I had a lot of minutes.

I… I like gratitude.

[music fades]

John has given the future NXT talent prospects

a chance to showcase themselves on his final night.

Uh, and, you know, that just speaks to his selflessness, his humility.

It's kind of poetic that his end is our beginning,

and that's part of leaving the business better than the way you found it,

and that's all that John has ever spoken about.

Everybody from a critical standpoint was like,

"I want John to retire at WrestleMania."

Why?

WrestleMania will sell out on its own.

Let's do a random Saturday night

in the worst financial quarter of the company

so we can bring Q4 up,

because I know we got some good business.

[Hunter] John will wanna do what's best to move the business forward.

Not leaving a gap, but leaving a solution, so to speak.

To a lot of us, the perfect guy for that seemed to be Gunther.

The guy that will garner the most booing from our fan base,

most likely to be able to have the kind of match

that John will wanna have.

[Cena] I knew Gunther would be my last opponent

before I knew I was wrestling Brock.

Immediately, when Hunter was like, "I'm thinking Gunther,"

I'm like, "Oh my God, I get to tap out." He's like, "Yeah. You would do that?"

I'm like, "This is beautiful. The 'never give up' guy gives up."

So, at the very end, we'll get… we'll get a sleeper.

John's just gonna end up laying down and looking straight ahead.

So I don't know if you guys wanna come in and come right in to catch his shot.

We're trying to get here, because here's where the emotion lives.

[man] I'm with you on this.

The hedge is his fucking forearm is here, and I'm gonna tap on the forearm.

- [man] Yeah. - Don't go inside his forearm.

- You'll never miss the fucking tap. - [Miller] Simple.

- I know we won't get as close as we want. - [Miller] No, no. Simple.

I don't know when you're making your moves.

- [Miller] No. That's simple. I love it. - So…

Immediately, I thought of the cycle of life,

'cause we… That's giving the energy away.

Look, he's giving you a fucking… he's giving you hell of a rub and a gift.

- So just take it and run with it. - I wanna protect it too.

- Yeah. - That's the thing.

It's worth a lot, but also I don't wanna then throw it in…

Throw it away. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right. Can I get everybody's attention?

Just for one second.

This is about the John Cena surprise party earlier,

so don't tell… don't mention it.

Sorry, I couldn't see him.

Nice.

Thank you, Kevin.

So, end of the night,

when, uh, when the Gunther match gets done,

Gunther's gonna leave the ring.

John will stay in the ring.

Everybody that wants to be a part of this is welcome to join us.

We will all leave Gorilla.

Everybody sort of follow in behind us as we come through here.

Stew's gonna drop his camera. He's gonna come with us.

[Stew] Thirty years I've been here.

Back when I was starting, nobody talked to the camera.

[crowd cheering]

One last Rumble, Stew.

One last Rumble.

John found a way around it by talking to me.

Stew, are you okay? It's after Movember. You gotta get rid of that.

All right?

I used Stew as a way to talk to the people at home.

- ["The Time is Now" playing] - Stew, man! It's been too long!

He's the closest human body of all the people behind the camera

that make this work.

Our stagehands, our arena security,

every poster hanger,

any department I've left out, who make the show work.

That conversation, at least in my heart, from my perspective, with Stew,

is a way to include everyone on the ride of, like, everyone is appreciated.

[fans cheering]

[woman] We love you, Cena! We love you!

[crowd chanting] Cena! Cena! Cena! Cena!

He wants you…

he wants you to live with us! [laughing]

More of a statement than a question!

You guys are giving me a bedroom?

- We've got a guest room, whatever. - Yeah.

- Oh my goodness. - [mom] Aw.

- Thank you. Thank you very much. - [mom] So sweet.

[sentimental music playing]

[Cole] Tonight is going to be an emotional night, not only for me,

not only for the talent back in the locker room,

not only for all those behind the scenes

who've been along this 23-plus-year ride with John Cena.

Family affair.

Family affair.

Brothers in arms.

Twins. Identical twins.

- Twins. Identical. - Same age. Same age.

Same age. You only beat me by a couple minutes.

- Couple minutes. Couple minutes. - Couple minutes.

[Cole] But for all of you, the 19,000-plus who showed up here tonight

to watch the final match of the GOAT's career,

all I simply wanna do tonight before we get underway

is say to John Cena,

"Thank you."

Congrats. Tear this up.

- You've worked hard to get here - Thanks.

[Hunter] You fucking know who you are. Go out there and fucking be you.

- Let's get fucking kicking on this. - Let's do it.

We're gonna make magic together.

[crowd cheering]

[Cole] When the bell rings…

[bell ringing]

…you won't be looking at potential.

You're gonna be looking at inevitability.

- The future is now. - [tense music playing]

[crowd chanting] Oba! Oba! Oba!

Oba! Oba! Oba!

[Noble] That entrance was awesome.

- [dramatic music playing] - [crowd cheering, chanting]

[Cole] Rhodes is stunned here by the early power and onslaught of Femi.

[crowd] Ohh!

[Cole] And now Cody Rhodes is starting to feel it.

Cody Cutter!

Ah, damn it! Come on!

- Drew McIntyre! - [bell ringing]

[Cole] "The Scottish Warrior" pounding away at Cody Rhodes.

Uh-oh! Uh-oh!

And "The Ruler" with a chokeslam.

Cody Rhodes is the present.

Oba Femi is the future.

Congratulations, dude. Freaking 19,000 people.

- Easy-peasy, man. - Easy-peasy.

- Any trouble? Any issue? - No. I was there for everything.

- You're off and running. - Hell yeah.

[Cole] Sol Ruca showing off a little bit.

[Barrett] She has that athletic wow factor.

[Cole] Sol Ruca… Oh!

That's highlight reel stuff.

[Barrett] Right off the bat, this is 100-mile-an-hour stuff here.

Goddamn.

[Barrett] This is awesome. I agree with the…

[Cole] From what we've seen tonight from Ruca and Femi and Evans,

the future's pretty bright when John Cena leaves.

[Cena] The night was a success.

People were talking about Sol, Oba, Je'von, everybody who performed.

- Je'von, great job, man. Thank you. - Appreciate you. Thank you.

Hey, everybody's… everybody's gassing up John.

- [Gunther] Why? - So I just wanna gas you up.

- I'm here for you, brother. - [Gunther] Oh, thank you.

- [CM Punk laughs] - A few people said that to me before.

I can tell it's a lie every single time. [laughs]

- Enjoy the moment, my friend. - [Gunther] Thank you. I will do.

I saw a clip. I mean, it's gotta be 2005

'cause Batista and Cena are both champs and Hogan's there.

And Cena and Batista,

they both take their titles off.

And they put them on Hogan's shoulders.

[Lilian Garcia] Here are your winners, John Cena, Batista,

and "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan!

[CM Punk] I think the universe does silly things sometimes.

I can't remember who sent me that clip, but I knew there was a reason I saw it

'cause I saw it right before that day Cena was retiring,

but I just thought it's symbolic.

And when it's over, I'll come back. I'll grab the title.

[Rhodes] And you wanna put the titles on his shoulders, is what you said?

- Yeah. - Does he know?

- [CM Punk] No. - Okay. Let's go.

I'm sure he'll refuse, and then we'll say, "Hey," and I'll say, "Hey."

[CM Punk] "You and Dave did it for Hogan."

"We're doing it for you. Deal with it."

I was a little frustrated Punk came up with an idea and I didn't.

And for him to bring up this Batista-Hogan moment,

I thought, "That's great. That's perfect."

[CM Punk] It's very rare for somebody to kind of go out the way they want to.

I never get a chance to be a fan anymore.

I have watched as many of John's more recent matches

in the bowl with the people as a fan as I can.

I'm gonna be out there tonight when he wrestles Gunther

because I need to feel the energy and the people.

And I wanna be fully invested

and as emotionally involved as a 6-year-old kid

or a 70-year-old grandfather out there.

I think tonight is immensely special.

And, in a big way, tonight is not about John Cena,

and I think that was his design.

This good?

Tonight is about the past, the present,

and the future of the business.

[camera clicks]

- [Hunter] Tear it up. Hey. - [Cena] I will do my best.

- Have fun. - That's one thing I definitely will do.

When have you known me not to?

That is one thing I know, and I know you're gonna, so…

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- And for everything. The whole… - Dude.

Man, we had a pretty fucking good year.

It was fucking pretty awesome. It's been so fucking fun. Thank you for…

Hey, nothing about it.

Twenty-five-fucking-plus years since the day you walked in the door.

- Thank you. - [Cena] Thanks, man.

- Let's finish it. - [Hunter] Yes, sir.

[Gunther's entrance music playing]

[Cole] Gunther is a terminator.

A man who makes a living out of making people give up

against a man tonight who doesn't give up.

John Cena has not tapped out in over 20 years.

[inaudible]

I hope they fucking draw this pause out.

[crowd chanting] Cena! Cena! Cena! Cena! Cena! Cena!

- Cena! Cena! Cena! - Oh my God, it's crazy!

[crowd] Cena! Cena!

Let's go, Cena!

- Let's go, Cena! - Beautiful.

[crowd chanting] Let's go, Cena!

Let's go, Cena!

[Hunter] All right, you ready?

- Go. - [crowd] Let's go, Cena!

["The Time is Now" playing]

♪ Krrr, Amadou… ♪

Let's go!

♪Your time is up My time is now ♪

♪You can't see me… ♪

[Cena] This is gonna seem weird.

[Stew] With John, who knows what was gonna happen.

It was… When he turned it around…

I mean, that's John. That's John. He was doing something for somebody else

You ready, John?

You ready?

And made me feel good. I mean, he does. That's what he does.

He makes you feel good.

♪ You can't see me My time is now ♪

♪ It's the franchise, boy I'm shining now ♪

♪ You can't see me My time is now… ♪

Wow, what a fucking view this is.

- It's crazy, right? - Yeah.

Should do a quick roll-up and steal one.

- Yeah. - One, two…

[Cole] Ladies and gentlemen, the last time is now.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Barrett] And immediately launching a heinous assault on Cena.

You can hit him harder than that. You hit me harder than that.

[Bayley] Yeah.

[crowd cheering]

[Cole] John Cena with his first offensive rally of this matchup so far.

[Barrett] Cena going in for the heavy hits right off the bat in this one,

looking to finish it early.

[Cole] Now looking for the AA.

But Gunther now with a German suplex and turns it around.

[Barrett] What on earth is Gunther cooking up here?

[Cole] Well, dragging those steel steps out toward our announce table, Wade.

I would get out of the way.

Gunther mocking the 19,000-plus here tonight.

All right. Fair play.

[Cole] And now Gunther… Oh my goodness.

I think he's gonna try to powerbomb John through the table here.

[Barrett] Wait up! Wait up!

[Cole] John Cena turns it around!

Cena with Gunther on his shoulders!

AA through the table!

[Barrett] Gunther just got a little too cocky.

[Cole] Now Cena sending Gunther back into the ring.

[crowd chanting] This is awesome!

[Cole] Cena's got a chance for the win!

Center of the ring.

Gunther kicks out at two!

On this next one, might get a duck and go right into another John comeback here.

We'll go all the way through to the AA.

Oh, super AA. Let's go!

[dramatic music playing]

[Cole] John Cena…

with an avalanche FU to Gunther!

[Cena] Gosh, I got to do incredible things in a very small period of time

as a result of all the effort I put forth beforehand.

I think it was beautiful poetry.

[crowd] Ohh…

[cheering]

[Cena] Such a constant through line. It became cliché.

Everyone said, "Hey, take this in."

I wanna shake them. "You watch my fucking stuff!"

"Of course I'm taking it in. I'm there. Always."

No one anticipated how prepared I was for closure of this.

- [Cole] And now into the sleeper! - [Barrett] Just a blink of an eye.

What a pivot there from "The Ring General."

It might be John Cena's turn to finally snap.

[Cole] Cena's arm is down, uh, once,

and, uh, the future looks bleak for John Cena.

The arm's down again, this one's over, ladies and gentlemen.

- No! - Come on, John!

No!

[CM Punk] Come on!

[crowd cheering excitedly]

He's still got it!

[laughing]

We're the biggest marks.

[Cole] John's in it!

[Barrett] Sorry, Gunther. Not tonight.

[Rhodes] Wrestlers are the biggest marks of all.

If it pops us, typically it's popped to the audience.

And they don't want the ride to end, but the ride does end.

Gunther, fucking great heel.

He takes control,

and he slows the match down.

["For the Good Times" playing]

[Cena] Great heels are hated

because they're methodical.

[crowd] Ohh!

[Cena] This is everything I wished for. It is time to be killed off.

[crowd] Ohh!

[Cena] The end of the cycle of life, sometimes people go peacefully

with their loved ones around them, and they smile.

♪ Don't look so sad… ♪

[Cena] That is how I wanted the death of this character to happen.

♪ I know it's over… ♪

- [Cole] John Cena… has tapped out. - [bell ringing]

♪ But life goes on ♪

[Bayley] I missed it!

- He dropped him? I missed it. - No, he tapped.

[Cole] 19,000 fans are in shock.

♪ Let's just be glad ♪

♪ We had this time ♪

♪ To spend together… ♪

[Cole] This is not the way anyone wanted this legendary career to end.

♪ One more time… ♪

- [CM Punk] That was something, huh? ♪ For the good times ♪

♪ Hey, yeah ♪

♪ For the good times… ♪

We're gonna put one of these on each of your shoulders.

You're gonna deal with it

'cause I watched you and Dave do this to Hogan.

- Hogan's not here, so… [chuckles] - [Cena] You son of a bitch.

You don't wanna put up too much of a fight.

- We're paying it forward. - It's gotta happen.

- Appreciate it. Yeah. - Okay?

Hey. Love you.

- Love you too, man. - Love you.

- [crowd cheering] - ♪ I'll be here ♪

♪ I'm gonna stay right here ♪

♪ If you should ever find you need me ♪

♪ Oh, baby ♪

♪ Won't you hear the whisper ♪

♪ Hear the whisper ♪

♪ Of the raindrops ♪

♪ Of the raindrops ♪

♪ Rolling softly Softly against my window ♪

- ♪ All you gotta do is ♪ - ♪ Make believe ♪

♪ All you gotta do is make believe You love me ♪

♪ One more time ♪

♪For the good times ♪

♪ Yeah, baby… ♪

[crowd chanting] Thank you, Cena! Thank you, Cena!

Thank you, Cena!

Thank you, Cena!

[music fades]

[man 1] No!

- There's no way! - [man 2] No!

This better be a joke.

- What?! - He had a smile on his face.

[man 3] Is he smiling?!

- [man 4] No! No! No! - [Cole] John Cena… has tapped out.

[man 5] I'm telling you, the IWC about to fry WWE!

[woman screams]

[man 6] I'm sick. I feel like I could throw up.

[Cena] They didn't understand.

This was the first time a character was killed off the show.

Why?

[Cena] You have to make the character's death further the show.

Who booked this?

Yeah.

I hope the next episode is just as good.

You give them an unpredictable, controversial ending,

which is the ending of my story, but not the story.

It exceeded expectations

'cause I was able to swing boldly up until my last second.

My last decision was a bold swing.

One that would not be universally liked.

Gosh, Paul's great.

And he's great to work with. He's a great collaborator.

He allows freedom to paint.

But no BS.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

[commentator] I see Jimmy from security's here for a reason.

We got Jimmy waiting in the wings just in case.

- [crowd chanting] You fucked up! - Come on.

You fucked up! You fucked up! You fucked up! You fucked up!

[Hunter] I'm actually mildly disappointed. I thought it would be so much louder.

- [chuckling] - [crowd] You fucked up!

They were really upset.

They certainly were talking about Gunther.

[man 1] Fuck you, Gunther!

Fuck you! Fuck you!

[man 2] Get the fuck out of here!

[Cena] My truth is, I just wanna do what is best for business.

And I wanna leave this place better than I found it.

History dictates, if you're leaving a company or you're leaving your career,

you go out on your back,

and you lose to somebody to make them a bigger star.

[chanting] You suck!

It allows us to continue his growth and ascent

as sort of a monster heel.

[angry jeering]

Some people think John Cena's retirement run was a failure.

I don't see that at all. I see it as a whopping success on all levels.

[Cena] I have been taking every moment in

since I walked down the ramp in Chicago in 2002.

[crowd chanting] Thank you, Cena! Thank you, Cena!

[Cena] I don't ever miss a moment.

And who's gonna be the next WWE Champion?

[crowd] You can't see me!

[Cena] John Cena.

[Cole] Sweet 16

for John Cena.

[Jim Ross] By God!

It's John Cena!

Sure, I'd wanna do it forever. But look how many minutes I've had.

Great, wonderful moments.

[Cole] John Cena's a Grand Slam Champion!

[Cena] I've been thinking about this for three years.

I painted a picture, and this is way better than the picture.

That's all, folks.

It's the end.

Let's go home. We did it. That's it.

I am absolutely done with physical in-ring performance.

That, uh…

My time is up. Your time is now.

[intriguing music playing]

[music fades out]