With fewer appearances left in his WWE career than most people have fingers on one hand, John Cena was a little late to finally become the WWE Grand Slam Champion. when he dethroned Dominik Mysterio to become Intercontinental Champion earlier this month. “The Greatest of All Time” is set to complete his final match, scheduled for the Saturday Night main event in December. Last Time is Now tournament continues to determine who that opponent will be. So he has very little time to make his mark on his new title, though he has a title rematch with Mysterio for Survivor Series: WarGames. Even if he retains the title in this case, he will still make his last appearance in just a couple of weeks, and presumably he will be expected to defend the title then in his final match.
Of course, the question remains what will happen to the title if he retires with nothing but victories to his name. After everything At one point, Cena actually wanted to retire with the WWE Championship on his belt. But in the spirit of crossing bridges, once one gets there and looks at the options available at the moment, it doesn't seem like a fruitful endeavor to explore so abstractly. Even with so little time left on the clock, there are plenty of options for who could continue the title after this reign. With that in mind, let's try to figure out who is most likely will and who must dethrone Cena from the Intercontinental Championship.
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Dominik Mysterio
Dominik Mysterio wins the Intercontinental Championship – WWE
Cena's final Survivor Series will be about defending the Intercontinental Title against the man he beat in the first place, with Mysterio complaining that he wasn't ready for him to challenge him at all. The champion was more than happy to defend the title against him straight away, but Mysterio wanted some time to prepare and challenged the Premium Live Event instead. That night they actually had a duel with each other, Cena will team up with Sheamus and Rey Mysterio to take on The Dirty House and Doomsday's Finn Balor and JD McDonagh.and the babyfaces were victorious in Cena's last appearance on Raw. This type of forward momentum over a challenger is usually not a good sign for a champion when all is said and done, and one also has to wonder why a rematch was booked only for Mysterio to lose again.
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On the surface, it seems like the fight was designed to bring the title back to Mysterio, especially if Cena won the fight solely to make sure that box was checked before he retired. Much has gone into Mysterio's reign as Intercontinental Champion and AAA Mega Champion, dating back to the former title at WrestleMania, and as a result, many of the credible challengers created were babyfaced. This speaks to a picture perhaps best inherited by the champion for whom it was designed. And, at least for now, he represents an immediate answer to the looming Intercontinental Championship question outside of Cena. But this writer would suggest that another would fit the bill better, and he is another who has done it before.
Gunther
Gunther becomes WWE Intercontinental Champion
As you would expect, the Last Time is Now tournament continues to feature many great names, including the likes of Jey Uso And Penta. But out of all of them, there is one that can be called a dream option for Cena's retirement match.
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Gunther has well and truly inherited the monster mantle carried before him by the likes of The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Bruiser Brody, a man who turns every match he enters into a sports slasher film, a showcase of violence and technicality. This is reflected in both his overall win-loss percentage since entering the UK branch of the company, dominating as United Kingdom Champion for 870 days and then becoming Intercontinental Championship and World Heavyweight Champion twice – 666 days, 259 days and 54 days respectively. Only Ilja Dragunov, Bron Breaker, Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso and CM Punk have been able to defeat Gunther in his entire WWE career, and this would automatically put him among the favorites to win the tournament.
Consequently, he will be the statistical favorite to become the last man to face Cena, and it would be foolish to bet on him winning this match when all is said and done. So, if that's already the direction, would it really hurt if Gunther did it all and captured the Intercontinental Championship for a second time? Many would say that he brought legitimacy and prestige to the title while reigning as champion, and this would be a new direction for “The General of the Ring”, who had lost, won and lost the World Heavyweight Championship during that year. And what a scalp it would be for someone who was supposed to be the top dog in the company, retiring and dethroning Cena in his final Intercontinental Championship match.
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