In the main event of this past weekend's WWE Saturday Night's Main Event special, "The Ring General" GUNTHER defeated 17-time World Champion John Cena via submission. Cena submitted to GUNTHER’s sleeper hold, marking his official retirement from in-ring competition. However, fans in attendance at the Capital One Arena were unhappy with this outcome, resulting in boos directed at WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque both after the match and during the post-show.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the backlash from fans and the parties responsible for the match's finish in the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. They speculated that Cena likely came up with the idea of going out on his back in his final in-ring match. While Triple H could have reversed Cena's decision and allowed him to win, Cena wanted to lose, and Triple H ultimately approved of this choice.
Fightful Select reported that, as the match concluded, Triple H was smiling in Gorilla Position, as the crowd's reaction to GUNTHER was in line with what the company had specifically desired.
