Jim Ross On GUNTHER Winning John Cena's Last WWE Match: 'It Was The Right Call'

Fans have been divided about the ending to John Cena's final match since "The Champ" ended up tapping out after spending years telling his fans that they should never give up. Ahead of the bout, Jim Ross noted that he believed Cena should end up losing during an episode of his podcast, "Grilling JR," and in a new episode following "Saturday Night's Main Event," Ross broke down the match and whether he still thinks Cena losing was the right move.

"I thought it was the right call," Ross maintained. "John Cena's legacy, the feel of John Cena, his career, the whole nine yards, it's just – winning or losing was not going to affect that. He's over. He'll always be over." Ross briefly debated whether or not he'd consider Cena the absolute Greatest Of All Time, but resigned to putting him in the top four wrestlers WWE has ever had instead.

"Tony Soprano did not need to shoot one more person to be a bada**," Ross added, comparing Cena to the fictional mob boss who many regard as one of the greatest television characters ever. "That's like John Cena! All those great wins? John excelled, and he became a lot better than I ever thought he'd be," the veteran expressed, recalling how the coach he spoke to when he scouted Cena claimed that the future WWE veteran had a crazy work ethic back then.

Despite claiming that he couldn't envision John Cena as the massive star he is today, Jim Ross still praised "The Champ," and admitted that he was drawn to him and knew he would become a big deal in WWE. 

"I told [Vince], I said: 'I just found a guy that'll be – headline WrestleMania. I just found a kid that's got all the intangibles that we look for,'" Ross recalled, citing that Cena had all the qualities they look for, specifically being a team player and having experience being in a locker room. "Vince thought I was crazy, he said, 'You're just sleep deprived' or some s**t!"

Ross added that all the talk about Cena has brought back many of his memories scouting him for WWE years ago. 

"He deserves everything that he's earned. And I stressed the word 'earned,'" the veteran maintained. Ross then pivoted back to the final match, praising GUNTHER for his body transformation and suggesting that he has an incredible work ethic while calling him a blessing to the promotion. "I think [WWE] did the right thing," he noted. "I'm a big fan of his. I'm a big fan of his! I guarantee you one thing: of all – of everybody on the WWE roster, and they got some great talent, but if I had a territory and I just won the lottery and I'm gonna start my own territory and I'm gonna do a draft, I promise you: GUNTHER will be at the very near of the top echelon...of my draft."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.