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Claim made that WWE was “blindsided” by the negative reaction to Gunther tapping out John Cena

Aaron Rift

As seen during Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13th 2025, John Cena lost to Gunther in his final match by tapping out. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com wrote the following about the negative reaction from fans..

“We’re told that Triple H was smiling in Gorilla as the finish of John Cena and Gunther happened. @FightfulSelect is told that they believed the reaction to Gunther specifically is one the company desired.”

While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com stated the following…

“The one thing that I can say is even though they [WWE] may say something different publicly, they were blindsided by that reaction. The idea that like ‘we did it, we knew that it was gonna get heat, it’s just the price we pay,’ like when they’re all chanting and he [Triple H] is going ‘ah, I thought it would be louder!’ That was a defense mechanism. I don’t wanna say there was no discussion of a reaction, but I was told there was no discussion of a reaction.”

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