Tonight in Washington, D.C., WWE isn’t just producing another special event—it’s staging a pivot point.

Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII is billed around a promise that feels bigger than any one match: John Cena wrestles the final bout of his career tonight, against GUNTHER.  But the emotional gravity of Cena’s last walk to the ring is only half the story. The other half is the way tonight’s card is constructed—stacked with WWE vs. NXT exhibition clashes that put the company’s present and its next era in the same frame, at the same time. 

And here’s the point that has to be said plainly: if these are truly the matches Cena wanted on his final night—if this is WWE’s way of honoring the man who spent two decades carrying the brand—then NXT can’t simply “show up.” NXT needs to win… or come so close that the main roster leaves the arena realizing their margin for error is gone.

Because the old guard doesn’t get to own tonight by default.

Not if Cena’s farewell is meant to be more than a curtain call.

Here is everything advertised for tonight’s show

• John Cena vs. GUNTHER (Cena’s final match)  
• Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. NXT Champion Oba Femi (Champion vs. Champion)  
• Bayley vs. Sol Ruca  
• World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans & TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater  

(WWE’s official event hub includes “how to watch” details for tonight’s broadcast.) 

Why Cena’s final match night is also a test of WWE’s future

John Cena’s career has always been tied to a very specific kind of responsibility: the face of the company is supposed to build the company. Not just by winning. By creating.

Cena did that on television for years—helping define eras by the people he fought, the people he raised up, and the way he treated big moments like they were bigger than him. And he’s continued that mindset deep into his farewell run: multiple outlets have documented Cena’s Performance Center visits during this final stretch, where he spent time with and offered perspective to NXT talent. 

On-screen, Cena’s connection to NXT hasn’t been theoretical, either. WWE has leaned on him for key NXT moments—including special appearances tied directly to spotlighting the next generation. 

So when this card features NXT names in high-profile spots on the same night Cena says goodbye, it doesn’t read like a coincidence. It reads like a statement: if Cena’s last match is the ending, then these exhibition bouts are the opening scene of what’s next.

Which is why NXT talent can’t be booked like guests at someone else’s party.

They have to be booked like the hosts.

The thesis of the night: NXT isn’t “the future”—they’re the now

For years, WWE has called NXT “the future.” It sounds respectful, but it can also be a cage: future means waiting. Future means “not yet.” Future means the main roster keeps the keys until they feel like handing them over.

Tonight is where that language should die.

If you’re going to place NXT on Saturday Night’s Main Event—on the night Cena closes his career—then the intent can’t be “they did great.” The intent should be “they took it.”

And that’s why the heartbeat of tonight’s entire show is the match that can immediately change the perception of NXT’s ceiling:

Cody Rhodes vs. Oba Femi. 

Oba Femi vs. Cody Rhodes: why “dominant” is the only ending that truly fits

WWE’s official framing is simple: Undisputed WWE Champion vs. NXT Champion.  The subtext is much heavier.

Cody Rhodes is WWE’s modern franchise champion—a titleholder who wins through resilience, emotion, and the belief that he can survive anything. Oba Femi is the opposite kind of message: inevitability. Force. A man who doesn’t want to “hang” with the best—he wants to break them.

And importantly, Oba has said as much heading into tonight. In the week of Deadline fallout, Femi has been presented as “The Ruler” who promises destruction is coming for Cody and the main roster. 

So if WWE wants this match to accomplish what the entire concept suggests—if it wants NXT to leave tonight looking like the present tense—then Oba Femi can’t win with a surprise counter or a clever flash pin.

He should win in a way that tells the audience:

• Cody didn’t lose a match—he got overwhelmed by a new reality
• NXT’s champion isn’t a prospect—he’s a problem
• The main roster can’t keep treating NXT like a stepping stone when NXT’s best can dismantle its top star

This isn’t about humiliating Cody. It’s about making Oba undeniable before he debuts full-time on Raw or SmackDown.

How Oba’s destruction of Cody can set the table for Drew McIntyre later

Here’s where tonight gets even more important than the result itself.

If Cody Rhodes is battered, dominated, and visibly shaken by Oba Femi—if his aura is cracked on the biggest stage—then WWE suddenly has a clean, believable runway for the next man who has been circling Cody and needing a title win in the worst way: Drew McIntyre.

Peacock’s own Saturday Night’s Main Event catalog highlights that Rhodes and McIntyre have already been positioned in major SNME title scenarios in 2025.  And in recent months on WWE TV, McIntyre’s frustration has been portrayed as a boiling point—anger, chaos, and a desperation that only grows each time a championship moment slips away.

That’s the story WWE can complete:

• Oba Femi breaks the champion down tonight—physically and psychologically
• Cody tries to carry on as if nothing changed
• Drew does what Drew does best when he’s at his most dangerous: he pounces on weakness
• And later, when Drew finally gets his championship moment, it feels earned—not because Cody “fell off,” but because Cody was finally made mortal

Oba doesn’t need to interact with Drew tonight to create that domino effect.

He just has to make Cody look like a man who can be beaten.

Sol Ruca and Je’Von Evans: NXT must take space, not just steal applause

The rest of the NXT representation tonight has the same mission, even if the match types are different.

Bayley vs. Sol Ruca is the cleanest version of the argument: veteran credibility vs. NXT explosion. Ruca doesn’t need a “moral victory.” She needs a performance that forces the crowd—and the main roster—to accept that her ceiling is main-event level. 

And then there’s the tag title clash: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee defending the World Tag Team Titles against Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater, with Slater bringing TNA’s X Division Championship into the spotlight as well. 

Even if the belts don’t change hands, Evans and Slater have to leave tonight feeling like they belong in the same conversation as the champions—not in a “good effort” way, but in a “they almost took the whole thing” way.

That’s what “NXT is the now” looks like: the main roster survives, not dominates.

Cena vs. GUNTHER: the final match, and the final message

Finally, the match that makes tonight historic: John Cena vs. GUNTHER. 

GUNTHER has been vocal about his intention to ruin the sentimentality and make the final match painful, definitive, and unforgettable.  And that’s exactly why this works: Cena’s last fight isn’t supposed to be comfortable—it’s supposed to mean something.

But Cena’s farewell isn’t only about what happens in the main event.

It’s about what happens around it.

Because if Cena’s guiding hand helped shape tonight’s NXT showcase—on-screen and behind the scenes—then the only fitting way to honor the most giving top star of his era is to let the next wave do what the next wave is supposed to do:

Win.

Shock people.

Change the temperature.

And make it impossible to go back to calling them “the future.”

Tonight, NXT doesn’t need permission.

Tonight, they need a takeover.

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