John Cena’s Final WWE Match Set To Break Impressive Record
John Cena’s final advertised WWE match is an impressive one when it comes to the box office.
At WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13th in Washington, D.C., WWE’s “Greatest of All Time” John Cena will have his final pro wrestling match. That’s according to Cena, who announced his retirement plans over a year earlier and has made it clear he won’t wrestle again.
Tickets went on sale for John Cena’s final match at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. a few months ago without advertising anything else on the card. There’s a full card now, and Gunther is Cena’s opponent, but when it comes to selling out the building, Cena deserves most of the credit.
Due to the high demand of WWE fans wanting to see Cena’s farewell match in person, ticket prices for Cena’s final match at SNME were exceptionally high.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote about the record that Cena’s final match will set as he performs one final time in front of a crowd of 18,000+ fans.
“Because of the ticket prices, this will be the largest arena-sized building gate in the history of pro wrestling. We don’t have an estimate, although it’ll be well above $4 million.”
In Meltzer’s opinion, WWE and TKO actually underpriced tickets for Cena’s final match.
“And the reality is they underpriced tickets, not overpriced, given the secondary market average ticket price sold as of two days before the show is $866.98, so they were getting double and triple face value.
The lowest price to get in at press time was $365, and that’s with late slashing factored in and the 400 section for the most part is ranging from $444 to $879.”
John Cena’s Appearances Have Led To A Surge In WWE Business
Throughout John Cena’s “Last Time Is Now” tour, ticket prices have continued to go up, and Cena’s presence has led to sellouts in arenas and stadiums all around the world. According to Meltzer, Cena’s final appearances at major shows drew record crowds everywhere he went.
“It’s been the best business storyline in history, record gates for WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Elimination Chamber and Survivor Series. Cena’s appearances have significantly increased television ratings from the normal level.”
Cena’s last match will air on Peacock in the US and, internationally, for free on YouTube. Some fans wondered why it wouldn’t be a traditional PLE that would air on ESPN in the US and Netflix around the world. Meltzer said WWE had a plan, but their plans changed.
“The idea of doing it on Saturday Night’s Main Event was the idea that it would be the largest possible audience for his farewell, as well as for the company all year in the U.S. But that show being taken off NBC changed that.”
The four-match card at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13th looks like this:
- John Cena vs. Gunther in Cena’s final WWE match
- Sol Ruca vs. Bayley
- WWE World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater in a non-title match
- WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. NXT Champion Oba Femi in a non-title match
John Cena confirmed in an interview with Pat McAfee that his match will main event SNME in Washington, D.C., which is really not a surprise.
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