Ben and Bash: Tag Team Talk

John Cena’s Last Bell

• Ben and Bash • Season 2 • Episode 22

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The bell is about to ring on a career that shaped a generation, and we’re here to call the night with clear eyes and full hearts. We break down a WWE vs NXT card built for pure match quality, no belts on the line, just pride, and weigh how each result could ripple into winter storylines. From the opening tag featuring AJ Styles and Dragon Lee against Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater to a high-wire test between Bayley and Sol Ruca, we talk chemistry, momentum, and why exhibition victories still matter when you’re chasing credibility.

Finally, we sit with the weight of John Cena’s farewell. We revisit our favorite Cena matches AJ Styles’ pure in-ring clinic, the CM Punk promo masterclass, and the wars with Randy Orton to track what longevity really takes. And we face the classic question: should legends leave on their backs to elevate the future? With Gunther looming as a perfect legacy collector, we talk tradition, emotion, and the kind of ending that honors two decades of work while setting the table for the next era.

Hit play, share your picks, and join our watch-along on Twitch. If you enjoy the show, follow, rate, and send this to a friend who grew up with Cena. What’s your all-time favorite Cena match and why?

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Ben and Bash Podcast, Tag Team Talk.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm Ben.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm Bash.

SPEAKER_00:

Alrighty, here we are for another one. This one's a little different. This is gonna be if we're gonna be uh doing our predictions for Saturday night's main event. And if you know what it is, it's John Cena's final match. Uh he's guaranteeing this is his final match. Um he's gonna do really what no other wrestlers have really done, actually retire and not have another final match after this. Um I think he's actually gonna be doing it. I don't see him wrestling again. He's 48, uh, 26 years of wrestling. Uh yeah, I don't see him coming back to wrestle. I mean, he's gonna be on TV, may pop up here and there, you know, certain promotions, certain pay-per-view, uh PLEs, certain shows, stuff like that. But as far as in the ring, no, wouldn't bet on it. But um, yeah, so we're gonna do as as always predictions, you know, who we think is gonna win. This is more like a um, this is kind of like a WWE versus NXT.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, except for the main event. I'm surprised that they didn't do John's Universe from NXT.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I mean it makes sense. We'll talk about that when we get to it. But um, but yeah, let's get to it.

SPEAKER_01:

Um for the first match on the card is AJ's Thousand Dragon League versus Javon Evans and Leon Slater. And um this isn't for the title, right?

SPEAKER_00:

No. Okay, so these are all exhibition matches, no ties are online. So that's what that's kind of what John City wanted. He wanted NXT versus W with no storylines, no nothing, just matches.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean Oba Femi and uh Cody Rose kind of go starting.

SPEAKER_00:

They got a storyline, but I'm saying like they won't rather they won't see each other anytime soon after this.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't think.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe we'll see. We'll see how it goes. We'll see how he does against Cody Rose. We'll disapprove. Well, we'll talk about that when we get to it. We'll talk about what we get to it.

SPEAKER_01:

But anyways, um, yeah, I see the tag champs winning here. Um, because I just don't see them losing to someone who's like they're a tag team, but like they don't have any gold yet. They haven't acquired gold, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

True.

SPEAKER_01:

So I just don't see the champion losing even an exhibition match.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh true. But this is a hard one because Javon Evans and Leon Slater could easily win. I mean, you know, the youngest in charge and the young OG. I mean they could beat AJ Styles and Dragon Lee, as people call them, AJ Lee. They could win that. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if Javon Evans and Leon Slater won. I don't think they're gonna win, but it wouldn't surprise me if they won. I'm gonna go with AJ Styles and Dragon Lee, especially them being the tag team champs. I mean, if they lose, then it means Siobhan and Leon get out on that title shot. That's how it should be. Usually if you used to be if you pants a champion, you get a tile shot next. No more contender. That's how it used to work. If you pants the champion, you was normal contender for the belt. Um so with that being said, yeah, I don't I don't think uh AJ Styles and Dragon Lee's gonna lose. Uh also with AJ Lee, think he's gonna do the same. I don't know if he's gonna, not AJ Lee. AJ Styles, not sure if he's gonna do the same thing John Cena's doing. He said next year's gonna be his last year of wrestling.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I don't know if he's gonna do the same thing like John Cena did, roll out the red carpet and have a retirement match, retire match, retire match. Or is he just gonna just wrestle normally and just at the and then WrestleMania or sometime after Summer Slam, it's my dad just say, you know what? I'm done. I don't know. I mean, I want to see him, I want to see him go out and do it kind of similar to what John Cena did, you know, have like a little tour.

SPEAKER_01:

But like, I know A.J. Styles deserves it, but I feel like if someone like A.J. Styles or Brock Lesnar has like a retirement tour, it's just gonna be the normal. And I don't think everybody should just have a retirement tour.

SPEAKER_00:

I know, but I'm gonna say, but guys like that though, AJ Styles, uh, John Cena, Brock.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, but you're gonna think about like how many of those people are there in the company. There's a bunch of people that are.

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, it's not not that deserve a whole run like John Cena. There's not, there's not much at all.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, there kind of is, yeah. Um, Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Seamus?

SPEAKER_00:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

What?

SPEAKER_00:

No, absolutely not. Not like that. Not like not like a whole year. Yeah, he's gonna get a retired match, but he's not a whole year. Absolutely not. Randy Orton.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That's three.

SPEAKER_01:

Um That's it. Edge, but he's not in the country.

SPEAKER_00:

He's not in there anymore, so he can't use it. He's still wrestling.

SPEAKER_01:

Chris Jericho if he comes back.

SPEAKER_00:

Nope, he's still nope. Not nope.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, never mind.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what I'm saying. It's only three, it's only three wrestlers that, that, that right now. I'm not saying in ten years when Seth and Roman and those guys decide to retire. I'm talking about right now. You know, I'm not talking about ten years when, you know, Becky and Bailey and Natalia and all those, Charlotte, Lexa Bliss, all those are getting ready to retire. And, you know, but I'm talking about the right now. The ones as of right now, if they say they're retired next year, we get a retirement tour. AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton.

SPEAKER_01:

So you don't think if Roman Reigns retires this year, you know?

SPEAKER_00:

He's not gonna retire right now. He's still young. If Roman Reigns retired right now, he would still come back and rest, but he's only 38 years old. John Cena's 48.

SPEAKER_01:

Roman Reigns is 40. He's basically 40.

SPEAKER_00:

Is he 40? No, he's not. He's my age. Yeah, exactly. That's basically 40. That's not 40. That's not 40. So somebody's saying you're 13. You're basically 13 then.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I am.

SPEAKER_00:

But you're not.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

But you're not. So no, I'm just saying, so yeah. Yeah, so yeah, those guys are not 40 yet. So they still have putting time that they're under 30, they're under 40 right now. So you still have at least another eight years, or 10 years actually, before they even get to John Cena's age.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, but like, that's like two years is not a thing.

SPEAKER_00:

I know, but I'm saying, but then two years, and then you add on how old John Cena is 48.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So then you have to go another eight years after that. So 10 more years. I said, that's why I said 10 years from now, this may be a different conversation about other wrestlers.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think Seth Rollins is gonna retire early because of all his injuries and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

True. That's what I'm saying. But he may not have a he may not retire when he wants to, though. That's the difference. Some people don't retire when they want to, like Stone Cole. He didn't retire because he wanted to, he retired because he had to, because he had bad knees. You know, that match against Kevin Nolan was kind of his retirement match that he never had.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, he came back against Kevin Nolan's and had that match, and that was the first time he had wrestled in years. Because he had retired because of knee and back problem, I think it was. You know, most wrestlers, you know, you don't know it's your last match. Most of the time, you don't know it's your last match. You have your last match and don't realize it's your last match. You know, you don't go into the match saying, hey, this is my last match.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know. You know, only a few, like Goldberg, he got a last run. He had a last match. He didn't have a whole year, he got a match. That's what most of these guys, what you're talking about, is gonna get. Shaman Shaman may get one of those. If they have a PLE in Ireland, boom, he's there. You know, Scottish Warrior or Scottish, yeah, like Drew McIntyre may get one in Scotland. Stuff like that, especially because they're traveling like that. You know, they may get their last hurrah in their hometown like that. Fan battle, people like that, yes. Shinsuke may get, Shinsuke could get one. He'll get one, especially if they go to Japan. So, but right now, I mean, those three guys, right now, if you don't count John Cena because he's retiring today, everybody else is those three guys will definitely get one if they're if they say they're gonna retire next year. Where AJ Styles are already gonna retire, so it's up to him if he wants that same thing John Cena had or not.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, for the next match on the card.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, you wanted for that one?

SPEAKER_01:

Wait, wait, actually, no, did you even pick?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I picked I picked AJ and Dragon League. Yes, and but I wouldn't be surprised if Javonda won. Like I'm I'm going for AJ Lee, AJ Lee the tag team champs, but I wouldn't be surprised if um Javon and Leon won.

SPEAKER_01:

So um for the next match on the card, it's Bailey versus Soruka.

SPEAKER_00:

Which should be a good match. I mean, you got you got a veteran, one of the best ever, versus an up-and-coming who could be up there with the best. I mean, she already has good matches. She doesn't really have any bad matches, really. And Bailey is one of the matches who can pretty much make anybody look good. Like Natalia, you know, Sammy, you know, Seth, AJ, we're talking about before. Those guys can make anybody look good. You know, if as long as they're willing to work.

SPEAKER_01:

Sammy put on a good match with Johnny Knox, bro.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what I'm saying. Most of them guys like that, you can go into another one. You can put him in a match with most people, and he's gonna have a good match. It may not be a five-star, whatever people want to call it, but it it can be a good solid match, you know? But yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so um, I think Sol Rook is gonna win.

SPEAKER_00:

You think so?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. This is a tough one. I like both of them. Like, you know, Bailey's one of my favorites of all time, and Sol Rook is one of my favorite up and coming uh wrestlers. Um yeah, this is a tough one. I mean, this is Bailey's first big PLE.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, she wasn't that. We talked about this before, it wasn't that WrestleMania, wasn't that CyberSlam, wasn't that Survivor series? All she gotta do now is Mr. Rory Roman. She had all the big four.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

The first Grand Slam champion can't be at all in none of the Grand Slam events right now.

SPEAKER_01:

She got scuffed out of um WrestleMania.

SPEAKER_00:

Day before. Night before. Night before.

SPEAKER_01:

She was only advertised for the show.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I get it, but I mean, uh, they did because you wanted to bring Becky Lynch back.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, because Becky Lynch.

SPEAKER_00:

But they could have they could have not put her in the match, though. Or they could have made something else for her. They have to do her like that. I told them before already. You don't want to get on that again. But but yeah, so Bailey versus Soul, that's this could be one of the bare matches on the card. Um you already picked. I wanted to pick Soul too.

SPEAKER_01:

Um you can if you want to.

SPEAKER_00:

I know, but I do think Soul's gonna win. But I Bailey has to, Bailey needs his win. She needs this win. Um because she had it been on TV. I mean, they're they're they did they did the whole thing with her liar right now. They're doing that tag team, um, the little split personality thing they've been doing.

SPEAKER_01:

Um they they cut that storyline off, I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh no, they still kind of have it a little bit. She has little snippets of it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. But it's not major stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, there's she, there's they're slow, they're slowly building it. If you watch her slow, you can stretch this out because they're stretching it out to WrestleMania Royal Rumble. They're stretching out something. If you watch it, if you're watching it, she does have a little snippets. Like, like Oscar said something to her, she, oh, then she steps out of it and then tells them no.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, stuff like that. She has little snippets of it where she's a hugger, then she's not a hugger, you know. So she's that's she has she they're showing it, they're building it slow. It's not gonna be one of them big pays, it's gonna be one of them long-term things, I think. Kind of how like damage control was a slow burn before they end up breaking up.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know. Um, but yeah, um, Solaruka, I think, is gonna win, but I'm gonna take Bailey just for the second. This uh this conversation.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so um that's what you're gonna say for that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, this should be a good match though. I mean, you got two two of the best females right now. I mean, veteran, all-time great versus an up-and-comer who's, like I said, shown that she actually enjoys doing it and and like and puts the work in.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. But uh for the next one, it's Cody Rose versus Oba Femi in a championship. No, not a championship, a champion versus champion match.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. No belts on the line, it's just for pride.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Kind of like a survivor series match almost.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, for this one, it's gonna be a great match.

SPEAKER_00:

Good.

SPEAKER_01:

And um, I mean, I really I I don't know why, but I really want to pick Oba Femi. I I really want to see him win, but for the sake of trying to win, I think Cody Rhodes is gonna win.

SPEAKER_00:

That's all you got for it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean So here here's here's my thing. I'm gonna pick Cody Rhodes. I'm gonna go ahead and say Cody Rose is gonna win this match.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But I'm not looking at Cody Rhodes to win. I'm looking to see. When I watch this match, I'm gonna be looking to see how good Oba Femi does.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Because this is gonna show if he's ready for the main roster or not. Well, they it's like it's like when you go swimming and you jump in a deep end. Can you swim or not? You know, you jump in that deep end and you can't swim, that lifeboard is gonna pull you out because you're not ready for it yet. If you jump in a deep end and you and you float and you swim and you and you flourish and you do everything you need to be doing, boom, you're good. We're gonna see what Oba can do on the main roster in a big time match against the current world champion who beat Brock, who's beat John Cena, who's beat Roman Reigns, who's beat all these top-tier, you know, Randy Order, who's beat all these top-tier guys. We'll see what Oba can do. Not expecting, like I said, I'm not expecting Oba to win at all. I'm looking to see if Oba can hold his own against a guy like Cody Rhodes.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I'm sure he can.

SPEAKER_00:

But we're we're gonna find out. We're gonna find out if he can. And this is gonna this, I think this right here is gonna be the the the test to see if he gets called to the main roster now or later.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

If if he does good in this match, he'll be on the main roster by Roy Rumble.

SPEAKER_01:

So he's gonna lose the title by the Royal Rumble? You don't think he's gonna go on one of those long rings again?

SPEAKER_00:

No. I think they he only got to build up the wrestling, Cody Rose.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Because Cody versus Ricky Saints, Ricky's Saints, Ricky Starks or Ricky Saints, Ricky Saints. They wrestling AW, I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So we've already seen this match before.

SPEAKER_03:

I think it doesn't matter, it's out there.

SPEAKER_00:

You can you can find it. You can't find this. This is a one-on-one first time ever match. Cody versus Oba Finney.

SPEAKER_01:

And it might not happen, you know, again, unless they run and it's gonna probably happen again.

SPEAKER_00:

Oba's gonna be a main event caliber player.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It's just about how long is it gonna take him to get back up to this, to challenge Cody or whoever the champion is at the time.

SPEAKER_03:

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, that's what I look for. I I want to see if he can hold his own against the world champion.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And if he can, he'll be up there by Roy Rumble, if not debut at Royal Rumble, and then be ready for the WrestleMania long long haul.

SPEAKER_01:

I can see Oba Femi um being one of those guys who either wins in their debut or like one like the first month.

SPEAKER_00:

If he, if he, if he, this is the debut right here.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh-huh like I'm talking about like for a champion. Actual flick for a champion.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, like his first match. Well, he like people forget though. So here's the here's the thing too. John Cena lost to Kevin Owens.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

In Kevin Owens' first match on on TV. Or not the main roster rather.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And then he won the Ninja State Championship, too. From did he beat him for the same match or was it wasn't the same match though? It was a different match.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, it was?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, was it the same? I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think they did a trip in the first champion, but I don't know if it was for the title.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, something I think it was just a regular match that he beat him for the belt, I believe. I got I can't remember exactly how it went. But could this happen again where Oba shocks the world like Kevin Owens did? Because I remember Kevin Owens beat John Cena. I was like, oh, they let him beat him.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Because I was expecting I wanted Kevin Owens to win. Because I had been this I had been a Kevin Steen fan in Ring of Honor. Yeah. So I had been watching Kevin Steen for a while before he came there. I was, you know, when he came to NXT, I was like, oh, you know, when he first debuted, I knew exactly who he was. Like when they showed this little, when they showed up the little outline on this, on this old video where he was in the little dark ring corner, I knew exactly who that was before he came out. And I was like, oh, this is finna be good now. If they let him be Kevin Steen, I don't know Kevin Owens. But if they can let him be this Kevin Steen character, which is what he was at first. And we'll see if Oba can can do kind of what Kevin Owens did on the main roster instead of against John Cena. Talking about John Cena. Can he do that against Cody Rhodes?

SPEAKER_01:

Is Kevin Steen his real name?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Um we're gonna see if he can do that against uh Cody Rhodes and see if Oba can can be on the main roster. I mean, this is gonna be his test right here.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know?

SPEAKER_01:

But um, yeah. So for the main event, before we get to the main event, I want to ask a question about John Cena. And it's probably gonna be a hard question, but like, uh, what is your favorite John Cena match of all time?

SPEAKER_00:

Hmm. That is a tough one, because you know 20 plus years. But if I have to choose my the first one that popped in my head when you when you asked me that, was him and AJ Styles.

SPEAKER_01:

Like this.

SPEAKER_00:

Part one.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Part one.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean the same was good too, but the that first one was different. They, I don't know if you ever I don't know if you ever noticed this, but I didn't notice the ear to watching something about it the other day. And I re-watched the match. They didn't leave the match. They didn't leave the ring.

SPEAKER_02:

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_00:

They stayed in the ring the whole match.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh.

SPEAKER_00:

They didn't do nothing outside. It was a pure wrestling match. Like they didn't go outside not one time.

SPEAKER_01:

They didn't even tip like a foot outside?

SPEAKER_00:

No, they stayed, they stayed in the ring the entire match. Like they didn't, they didn't go outside. There was when they came in the ring, the bell was wrong. They stayed inside those four, those four corners. Didn't they do that?

SPEAKER_01:

Didn't they do that in the second match too?

SPEAKER_00:

I believe I believe so too, yes. But that first one, though, was different.

SPEAKER_01:

That first one like it was more unique.

SPEAKER_00:

It was it was no, it was it was the two, you gotta think. At that point in time, it was it was it it'll have been that that was that was that was that was the new generation version of Steam vs. Undertaker that we never got. Like my generation never got to see Sting vs. Undertaker.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

They're the same, they're around Sting's a little bit older than Undertaker, but they were both wrestling at the same time. And we never got to see that match.

SPEAKER_01:

It should have been that year that he faced.

SPEAKER_00:

It should have been, but nobody thought he was gonna get hurt either. I think they're gonna plan that for next WrestleMania. But he got, but Steam messed around, messed his neck up, had to retire early. So he never got the opportunity to.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

What I'm saying is though, John Cena, John Cena versus AJ Styles, that was also a match of my generation. Because I remember AJ Styles in TNA. And I'm like, man, if he I was thinking to myself, man, if he gets to if he gets to W, he's gonna be amazing. I remember even uh granddad was talking about that before. He was watching AJ Styles before. And I mean when AJ Styles won the best wrestler of the year over John Cena, PWI, yeah. That right there is like, oh, he's good. People was like, oh that AJ, this AJ Styles guy is called me.

SPEAKER_01:

Wait, wait, wait, wait. When has John Cena been like like uh like wrestler? Like he's one of the best entertainers.

SPEAKER_00:

But PWI doesn't go about how good a rat, it goes by championships, domination, all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, then how is that not John Cena?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean because AJ Styles had a picture. That you don't, you don't you want you don't want to see an A back? You don't even born yet. But AJ Styles and TNA was different. Like you need to watch, we need to watch some old, we need to watch some old TNA, AJ Styles matches. They were you think AJ Styles good now. 15, 20 years ago, shh, best wrestler, best wrestler in the world. Even John Cena said he's best wrestler ever.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's that's what yeah that I heard about that.

SPEAKER_00:

So best I mean AJ Styles in TNA was the best wrestler in the world. There was nobody close. Like, there W's lucky AJ Styles went at W. Because had he been at W know he was on the TNA, a lot of wrestlers wouldn't be chap wouldn't have been champions. They wouldn't have been champions, just put it that way. So to see AJ Styles versus John Cena, both from their promise. I would say. I mean, AJ Sound's a little bit older. They're about the same age. They're the same age. They're the same age. I think John C is a year older, I think. Or I think they're the same, the same age, or one of them's a little bit older than the other, but they're the same. I think they're both 48, though.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Either I think 47 and 48 or 40, 48. But, anyways. That right there was a dream match for like my generation of guys who who grew up watching the wrestler, who grew up watching TNA, ECW, WCW, WB. You know, it's like, man, what happens if this guy wrestled this guy? You know? You know, back then it's like, what if the giant wrestled who, you know, whoever, Iron Taker? Because you know, Paul White was in WCW, and then you had the Iron Taker and them guys from WWE. It's like, man, what if they came over? And then like then you had Rainy Savage and you know, and all them guys, and then you had Sting Iron Taker and Stone Cold and The Rock, and it's like, man, what if they got to wrestle each other? And then you had AJ Styles and all those guys. Um, and then it's like they finally wrestle each other. It's like, oh, finally, we get to see this match.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Who's the best? Like, who's the best wrestler of our generation? Just like just like we missed it with with with with uh with Sting and Irontaker. You know, Sting was a TNA for a long time. Hey, he's been WWE at a long time, even Urtaker has a good fuse, but he never saw him WWE until older.

SPEAKER_01:

I think for my generation, that match would be Cody Rose and Roman Reigns and though.

SPEAKER_00:

For right now. For right now.

SPEAKER_01:

Who else?

SPEAKER_00:

For right now. I mean, you're only, I mean, you when you get when you get about 20-ish, you might have a different number for you might have a different name for the call. You may be some other guys who be like, man, this is gonna be some good rasters.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, like, but yeah, if I was picking Cena's best match, I mean, I I have to go something recent because I didn't watch anything like I love, yeah, of course. You know, like, but like, let me see my favorite uh retirement tour match.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's a different one, yeah. Mine, go ahead, I'll take your mind too.

SPEAKER_01:

Mine is probably um him versus Cody for the second time, you know, in that uh Summer's Plan.

SPEAKER_00:

I'll probably have that. That's my top three. But number one probably Aegis Towns again, the number two. That's the that was that was the only thing that was better than that was the number one. To me, that was the only one that was better than that was that number one match. You know, uh it was I was at AJ versus uh John Cena two. John Cena versus Cody, like you said. And then my third would probably be John Cena versus Randy Orton.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Or it's either Randy Orton or CM Punk. Because the CM Punk, it wasn't just about the match, it was the hit. Like I remember that feud. I remember that feud. Like, that's when I had just got back into wrestling. I wasn't watching it for a little while because I was, I was, I couldn't watch it before he could record and all that, and I was at work and stuff, but I got back into wrestling right around that time.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh so I watched John Cena when he first debuted. I didn't watch for a couple years, and I started back watching it when when C when uh CM Punk came to the main roster.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that the only reason you started watching it?

SPEAKER_00:

Or is it No, I just I just I just was able to I was able to start recording it and start watching it. Um But yeah, so that feud with him and CM Punk, man, you're talking about a masterclass of promos. I mean, you're talking about two of the best talkers in the game, and they were arresting each other back then, you know. And to see that now was like, it's another one. We get to see another one. Like, you know, all these feuds. Like I said, the only feuds we missed, uh obviously the number one few that everybody wanted to see, uh, don't like it's gonna happen, is him versus Edge or Adam Copeland.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That's the one match I think everybody wanted to see. And then another one I think everybody wanted to see would be him versus Kevin Owens, but Kevin Owens is hurt. His Nick Ingry may not come back to wrestling. But I think those two are the ones people were like, dang, if only we could have got those two matches. I mean, I feel like there's some other matches, like, like I know they wrestled, but I know, but I'm saying those two are the probably the top two that people, if you ask most people about John Cena retired, but who would you have wanted to see him wrestle one last time? I think most people will say Edge.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00:

And then next, maybe Kevin Owens. Uh maybe the Miz. I mean, they did wrestle WrestleMania that one year. Um, but yeah, I mean, the number one is definitely Edge and John Cena. Oh, yeah. That'd be number one that everybody wants to see that nobody got to see.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, you here still hoping he pop up. But maybe he should be he just shows up.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's why I think if he does, he's just gonna be like one of the people celebrating with John Cena.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, maybe he maybe his music hits and he comes out one time. Yeah, he don't even gotta wrestle, just shows up.

SPEAKER_01:

I feel like AEW agree to that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not it's not like they don't watch each other's shows.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean That's what I'm saying. And if he's not wrestling, so he's no no risk of injuries or insurance and all that kind of stuff. Just showing up, congratulating John Cena, one-off, boom. You know. And if and then if AEW ever wants the the payback, then we can send somebody over there for a one-off, somebody comes out, like a AJ or somebody that pops up over there, and you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. But what about the match, though?

SPEAKER_00:

What do you think about the match?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, the match we're gonna join in.

SPEAKER_00:

Going to join in? You think so?

SPEAKER_01:

Nope.

SPEAKER_00:

Here's here's my here's my thing. Most fighters, slash wrestlers, slash boxers, combat fighters, they they want to go out on their shield, that's what they call it. Meaning they want to go down swinging. I think for the business alone, John Cena loses. For the business.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh and you're gonna either tap out or pass out.

SPEAKER_00:

But here's the thing. For the business itself, I think John Cena loses. But all the guys like me who grew up watching John Cena, for the fan base, we need him to win. We want him to win. Like we we don't want to see John Cena go out losing on his last match.

SPEAKER_01:

You don't want to see him looking up at the lights.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. But we but it's it has to happen. And that's the problem you run into when somebody's retiring. They usually go out losing. You know, like your favorite football player. It's rare that their last game is the Super Bowl for your football player, or win a World Series or baseball, or you know, winning whatever. Like you're saying, both his last match, his last race wasn't an Olympic gold medal. His last rush is a regular race.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I mean, guys like that, you know, I mean, Michael Jordan's last match, last game was for a championship, but then he came back. And his last basketball game wasn't for the championship.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, LeBron James probably won't be for the championship. More likely his last game. You know, guys like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning get lucky and they can retire after winning. You know, um, but most athletes, most comeback fighters, UFC fighters, guys like that, don't go out on top. Because if you could go out, if you win, I could do it again.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And then that's when you lose. You see what I'm saying? And so I think for the sport itself, we we we we need John Cena to lose. But for the fans and the little kid in me, we want John Cena to win. Like, it's gonna be hard watching John Cena's last match, knowing he's not gonna wrestle again, looking up at the sky, on his back, either choked out or or pinned or beat up so bad we can't kick out. Um so I really don't know about this one. I mean, like I said, for the good of wrestling, we need going through the win, but for the fans, we want John Crena to win. And that's my problem I write into. Do I think with my head or my heart right now? That's the problem, you know? It's like I in my heart I want John Sr. to win, but in my head I know he's gonna lose. And that's the problem. And I think that John Cena's gonna lose. I really hope he doesn't. But I think he's gonna lose.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

He's gonna lose.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I think that's I feel like that's what John Cena will want, though. I feel like he wants to go out like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. For the fan base, though, we want him to win, but for the bet for the for the business, he has to lose.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

He has no, it's no benefit for him to be Gunter. There's no benefit for him to be Gunter. Because Gunther retired Old Bird, that's retiring John Cena. And he can be on that that Randy Orton early 2000s legend killer run. We can be the retirement run. Anybody who's gonna retire, all right, you wrestling Gunther your last match, and he's gonna put you down. So that being said, I think Gunther's gonna win, but if I don't want that to happen, the inevitable is here, and I have to choose uh John Cena for that one.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, you mean Gunther or?

SPEAKER_00:

Little Cena, John Cena lose. Oh, yeah, okay. Uh for the for the barement of uh pro wrestling.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, this is gonna be uh this is gonna be a hard one to watch, knowing that this is John Cena's final match, especially when I saw his first match. Um I watched a good bit of the Dr. Stuggeronomics.

SPEAKER_02:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, then I didn't watch it for a little while. And I started back watching it, and he was already turning into John Cena. And I went back, I went back and watched some old stuff after that though, to kind of catch up a little bit. But uh Yeah, this is gonna be a tough one to watch, especially for my generation who grew up watching, you know, John Cena. I think Brandy Orton and Brock. Maybe the last one's not to be left. I mean, from when I was younger, that's it. That's still wrestling. I mean, right now, CM Punk. Not when I was younger.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh.

SPEAKER_00:

So like CM Punk came, but he was in the r he was in Ring of Honor. And then he went then he then ECW got bought out, and then WB had the third ECW brand. Then CM Punk came over then. So that was kind of the two early mid-2000s. But John C had already been there already.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, he had already been there already. Since he wrestled, since he did the Kurt Angle uh Who Are You, you know. And then the Ruthless Aggression and all that popped up, you know. Um, so yeah, so it's gonna be a tough one for sure. But it has to happen eventually. I mean, you know, Michael Jordan retired, Cove retired, uh the Bros can retire eventually. Kevin Durant's gonna retire eventually, Steph Curry's gonna retire eventually, James Harden, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, Lamar Jackson. All those guys can retire eventually. You know, they're gonna Derrick Harry, they're all gonna retire eventually.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And the only thing you can do is just enjoy it while they're here, you know? Uh enjoy it while they're here. And if you want to watch old matches, you can just watch old matches and get some nostalgia sometimes, you know? Yeah. But uh, yeah. But uh hope Johnson has a good retirement. Um, yeah. Hope he has a good retirement and um, you know, keeps on making movies, TV shows, all that good stuff. And uh yeah, we'll see you on the other side, buddy. Anything else?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh nope.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, so alright, get it ready to watch uh Saturday Night's Main event. Uh y'all watch along with us on Twitch. But um So yeah, I'm Ben.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm Bash.