It hasn’t been the cohesive storyline we might have hoped for. His “they deal ‘em, I play ’em” approach notwithstanding, we imagine John Cena probably envisioned different creative for his last year as a pro wrestler too. But just like he’d surely tell us to do on his X/Twitter, Cena’s controlled what he can control and made his last few matches feel pretty special.
None have been better than what he and AJ Styles did today (Oct. 11) in Perth, Australia at Crown Jewel.
Cena, as we know, is retiring from the ring after Saturday Night’s Main Event in December. As far as we know, that means he only has two more matches left. Styles just confirmed that he doesn’t plan to keep wrestling past next December. That was clearly on both men’s minds as they crafted and executed their nearly 30-minute match in the middle of today’s premium live event card.
It started with AJ’s entrance and gear, which was a throwback to his TNA days of 20 years ago.
The crowd in Western Australia was much more excited for the Never Seen 17’s last appearance Down Under in jorts that they were to see AJ. But Cena put the spotlight back on his respected rival with a custom intro that referred to Styles as “the definition of Total Nonstop Action”, “the Ace and Undisputed Boss of The Bullet Club”, and spoke about the honor of getting to see if AJ could “beat up John Cena” one final time. It obviously surprised Styles, and meant a lot. It was very cool.
The match became a retrospective of each man’s career, as they honored opponents, contemporaries, and influences.
Cena’s tipped his hat to a few folks who didn’t or couldn’t get spots on his dance card this year in a other recent matches, but not quite as much as he did Down Under. He started with Miz’s Skull-Crushing Finale:
Later, he locked on an Accolade. Michael Cole first mentioned Iron Sheik, who’s always worth a tribute. But Wade Barrett caught on as the crowd told us what day it is:
With speculation going around about Chris Jericho’s next career move, Cena used one of the Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla’s famous spins on an equally famous submission:
Emotions went into overdrive when Cena grabbed Styles in a throwback to someone who’s only with us in spirit now. The RAC Arena crowd exploded when he planted a kiss on AJ’s head before using Bray Wyatt’s Sister Abigail.
The wrestlers took a beat as fans got out their cellphones so the Fireflies could honor Bray one more time.
He tried for a Pedigree, but Styles countered Triple H’s iconic finisher… interestingly, with what many thought was AEW World champion Hangman Adam Page’s Deadeye (Page was in Bullet Club, but only after AJ left for WWE with Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson). That got sorted out, and the correct reference will be covered when we get into AJ’s moveset in a moment. For now, we’ll tell you the Phenomenal One also thwarted a Randy Orton punt, but only after falling victim to two of The Viper’s other signature moves:
A couple of Cena’s spots came from Death Valley. The first Undertaker sample stopped Styles’ from starting a Five Knuckle Shuffle on the man who originated that classic:
As they got hip to what these cats were putting down, the fans chanted for a 6-1-9, but The Phenomenal One also cut that off.
Styles was paying tribute to TNA’s glory days with more than just his gear throughout his time in the ring with Cena. The other two men he was in some of this century’s best matches with during that era, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe, got shoutouts. Cena’s Accolade was answered with Joe’s Coquina Clutch…
… and a signature of the Fallen Angel appeared later on…
TNA and WWE Hall of Famer Sting made Styles’ playlist:
As did a man who’s still at TNA, Frankie Kazarian:
Before the end, AJ borrowed a finisher from someone Cena had one of this century’s best matches with, Shawn Michaels:
Then got finished off with another that The Phenom made famous, and one Styles took from him in a cinematic banger:
Search-friendly headline aside, I was pretty caught up in this one and can’t have caught everything Cena and Styles were up to. If there’s anyone I know who can help fill in any gaps though, it’s the Cageside Community. Do your best, or just share your thoughts on this instant classic, in the comments below.
