Tonight inside Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena, WWE presents Saturday Night’s Main Event — a show that will be remembered not only as the final in-ring match of John Cena’s storied career, but as a referendum on where this company is going next.
Cena did not ask for a nostalgia tour. He did not want a night built around speeches, montages, or ceremonial victories. Instead, he pushed WWE to structure tonight around NXT vs. WWE exhibition matches — not as token showcases, but as legitimate measuring sticks. Cena wanted the audience, the locker room, and the industry to see the next generation now, not later.
That decision reframes everything about tonight.
These matches are not about respect. They are not about “learning moments.” They are about proof. And if WWE is serious about the message Cena wanted to send on his way out, then tonight cannot end with the main roster standing tall out of habit.
Tonight must belong to NXT.
Why Tonight Is About Power, Not Potential
For years, NXT has been described as “the future.” The phrase is flattering, but it’s also limiting. It implies waiting. It implies patience. It implies permission.
Tonight is about rejecting all of that.
NXT talent should not walk into Saturday Night’s Main Event hoping to impress. They should walk in expecting to win — or at the very least, to push WWE’s established stars to a breaking point that can no longer be ignored.
That philosophy starts at the top of the card with one match that has the potential to reshape WWE’s hierarchy far beyond tonight: Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. NXT Champion Oba Femi.
Oba Femi Is Not the Future — He Is the Reckoning
Oba Femi does not feel like a prospect. He feels like an inevitability.
Since first capturing the NXT Championship, Femi has been presented as a force of nature — overwhelming power, calm menace, and an aura that fills the frame the moment he steps through the curtain. His second NXT Championship reign, reclaimed at NXT Deadline, wasn’t about redemption. It was about confirmation.
On NXT television, Femi has called himself The Ruler. Not the next ruler. Not a future king. The ruler — right now.
That distinction matters when standing across from Cody Rhodes.
Cody represents the modern face of WWE’s main roster: resilient, emotionally driven, beloved, and battle-tested. Since finishing his story, he has carried the Undisputed WWE Championship with pride and consistency. But that very consistency has created something WWE desperately needs to challenge — stability.
Oba Femi should not test Cody tonight.
He should disrupt him.
A competitive, respectful match does nothing to advance the story Cena wanted told. A dominant performance — one where Femi overwhelms Rhodes physically, strips away his composure, and leaves him visibly shaken — instantly redefines both men.
- Oba Femi becomes undeniable, not just impressive
- NXT becomes dangerous, not developmental
- And Cody Rhodes becomes human again
This match does not need a title change to matter. It needs impact.
How Oba Femi Dominating Cody Rhodes Sets the Stage for Drew McIntyre
There is another man whose fate is tied directly to what happens tonight, even if he isn’t in the match: Drew McIntyre.
McIntyre’s recent WWE history is defined by one word — denial.
He has done everything asked of him. He has reinvented himself. He has won when it mattered — only to have the moment ripped away by cash-ins, interference, suspensions, and chaos. His world-title losses have piled up to the point where the frustration has become the character.
Drew doesn’t just want a championship. He needs one.
For that to happen believably, the champion standing across from him cannot feel untouchable.
If Cody Rhodes walks out of tonight having been physically dismantled by Oba Femi — ribs compromised, confidence rattled, aura cracked — then the entire equation changes. Drew McIntyre no longer looks like the man who “can’t get it done.” He looks like the man who is finally striking at the exact right moment.
Oba Femi doesn’t need to know Drew McIntyre exists.
But his destruction of Cody tonight can be the spark that finally allows Drew to pick up the pieces and claim the title that has eluded him for far too long.
That’s not fantasy booking. That’s long-term storytelling.
NXT Must Prove the Point Across the Entire Card
The message cannot stop with Oba Femi.
If tonight is truly about validating Cena’s vision, then the rest of the NXT talent involved must leave no doubt that they belong on this stage — now.
Sol Ruca vs. Bayley is not about experience versus athleticism. It’s about perception. Bayley represents the establishment, openly questioning whether Sol is ready for this level. A Sol Ruca win tonight — or a performance so strong it forces Bayley to survive rather than dominate — signals that NXT’s women’s division is already operating at main-roster level.
The World Tag Team Championship match featuring Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater against AJ Styles and Dragon Lee carries similar weight. Evans has momentum. Slater brings outside credibility. Whether they win outright or push the champions to their absolute limit, the goal is the same: remove any doubt that NXT talent can hang under the brightest lights.
Tonight is not about NXT stealing the show.
It’s about taking space.
John Cena’s Farewell Only Works If His Vision Comes True
John Cena’s final match tonight will be emotional no matter what happens against GUNTHER. His legacy is secure. His place in history is untouchable.
But Cena didn’t want tonight to be about him.
He wanted it to be about what comes next — and more importantly, about proving that what comes next is already ready.
For that to be true:
- NXT stars must win — or come frighteningly close
- The main roster must look vulnerable
- And Oba Femi must walk out of the building having changed how WWE views its future
Because if NXT can stand toe-to-toe with WWE’s best on the night John Cena says goodbye, then the message is unmistakable:
The future isn’t coming.
The future is already here — and tonight, it takes over.
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