In one of the marquee matchups at WWE Crown Jewel 2023, John Cena took on The Bloodline's Solo Sikoa in a grudge match with heavy implications regarding Cena's future. While most fans expected The GOAT to snap his 5-year-long singles losing streak, that wasn't the case on Saturday when he lost to Solo Sikoa.
Solo Sikoa Earns The Biggest Win Of His Career
John Cena recently teased retiring from WWE. While he's certainly close to the end, many felt that he had quite a bit left in him, and a win against Solo Sikoa would have put him back on track after having lost every singles match he had been in since 2018.
RELATED: WWE: John Cena's 10 Most Surprising Losses, Ranked
Solo Sikoa had other plans, however, as he demolished the 16-time World Champion in Saudi Arabia, dominating for most of the match and absolutely destroying Cena with a flurry of Samoan Spikes to end the match with a 1-2-3.
John Cena: Retirement Tour Begins
With his convincing win, Solo Sikoa gave WWE fans a reality check that John Cena doesn't have many matches left. The tease on SmackDown was likely more than that, as Cena looks to wind down his wrestling career in the not-too-distant future. While fans all know him as "Big Match John," he's in "Give Back John" mode now, putting over WWE's rising stars and setting them up for a successful future.
RELATED: 10 Wrestlers Whose Careers Got Derailed Because Of WWE's Booking Of John Cena
It's unclear what is next for John Cena in WWE. While the SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood continues, Cena may be taking some time away from wrestling. His chase for a record-breaking 17th World title win also seems in jeopardy, as he hasn't won a singles match in 5 years and is looking less and less credible as a challenger the older he gets. Still, a ceremonial short reign is still possible if WWE really wanted him to break the record - which is likely, with Ric Flair recently signing with AEW.
Whatever the case, we're heading towards the finish line of John Cena's wrestling career. This loss to Solo Sikoa might have been a catalyst to an official retirement storyline that no WWE fan is ready for.
