It was ok, not outstanding, and that makes it even worse for a retirement match of this magnitude. And while Gunther was the absolute right choice for the one to get the torch, maybe he was the wrong choice, because there wasn't that emotional moment in this one that tugged at your heart strings, and made a retirement match truly meaningful. Like the Sean Michaels Ric Flair match. Gunther really didn't have that emotional connection with Cena.
From a technical standard, this was a decent match. From a storyline perspective I'd call it passable.
But the ending was wrong. I mean the WWE was right to have Cena lose. The booker was right to resist the temptation of having Cena struggle mightily and pass out, and good for them.
But the Cena tape out just . . . didn't . . . feel . . . . meaningful. Instead he had a almost bored look on his face as he slowly and almost casually tapped out. I agree with the above, where Cena fights it, and then gets the look at Gunter snugs it in that he just, well there was noway to break the hold, that it was the right time to end his career. And after fighting and his face turning purple, he taps out.
Instead like the entire retirement story line, this felt flat. I think that the fans felt it to, I mean the thank you Cena chants were great and energetic as was the standing O for the belt parade. But you could feel the displeasure with the match itself.
They resisted the temptation to have Cena that night take the mic and say goodbye. And by the way he laid out his equipment, he likely won't appear at smackdown to do it.
Thinking about it, everyone needs a retirement angle in their life. If I retire someday, I would hope that I could pay Brock Lesnar to F5 me out of a 20 story office building.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
It was just fine IMO. Cena smiles just before he taps out, I thought it was a nice touch by leaving on his terms. Made him very relatable and not some overly dramatic sendoff.
For all the hype and main stream media around this, the choice was still made to do this “for the business “ giving a guy like Gunther who few outside of those who watch wrestling regular nowadays, know, so there was never going to be that strong connection with the opponent, so the loss (vs a feel good ending) was always going to seem anticlimactic to the build up.
But yes, execution of this angle fell short. I think Cena needed to hold the “at peace” smile a few more seconds and maybe the tap a bit more noticeable. Have the camera zoom in on that smile and then go wide for the final tap, both for TV and the fans in attendance. Make it clear and obvious by drawn out a bit more, not wrapped up hurriedly.
And, for TV, have the announcers a bit more timed up for the right words during that sequence to build up to the moment and be a bit more dramatic/poignant.
For all the extensive story telling up to that point, it all ended probably a bit too unnecessarily rushed at the very end.
