WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Review - December 13, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. NXT Champion Oba Femi Ended in a No Contest (Non-Title)

I suspected we'd get some sort of non-finish with this being a champion vs. champion match, so although I wasn't completely surprised when Drew McIntyre ran in, it was lame, nonetheless. Thankfully, the bout prior to that point was entertaining and Femi proved he could hang with Rhodes. Needless to say, he'll be completely fine by the time he's called up to the main roster. Maybe McIntyre will be his first program when that time comes.

Sol Ruca def. Bayley

Of the three NXT showcase matches on this show, this one made the most sense to have the NXT star go over. You had to know Ruca was winning when Bayley was announced as her opponent and not Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY or someone else WWE tends to protect. They had a nice match and Ruca was impressive as always. I appreciated that she won clean, even if it wasn't completely decisive. She has a bright future ahead of her in WWE.

World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Dragon Lee def. TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater and Je'Von Evans

From an in-ring standpoint, this was the match I was most looking forward to coming into this show. That's why I was disappointed it ended up going only a few minutes. I understand they wanted to save time for the main event, but they would've benefited from even just a few more minutes. Despite that, they had a hell of a sprint and Slater and Evans were made to look credible in defeat. This was fun while it lasted.

Joe Hendry and R-Truth Attacked The Miz

Miz has been complaining for weeks about not being able to interact with Cena during his retirement run, so at least it had a payoff here with Truth (a documented die-hard Cena fan) and Hendry laying him out. Hendry had been lobbying all year to face Cena and it never happened, so this felt like a cool consolation prize. The crowd being super hot for Hendry was an encouraging sign for when he's officially called up to the main roster.

Gunther def. John Cena

Personally, I loved pretty much everything about this match. Gunther proved he was the perfect final opponent for Cena based on the excellent quality of this contest alone. Of course, Cena more than held his own in there, but Gunther never ceases to bring the best out of everyone he works with. They capitalized on the drama wonderfully and the atmosphere was electric. Although I would've been totally fine with Cena winning, Cena tapping out for the first time in over 20 years was equally massive, if not more so. I actually preferred it. The crowd wasn't happy, and they proceeded to boo the crap out of Triple H when he showed up afterward, but oh well. I have no issue with what they did. The post-match celebration of Cena was well done and ended the night on a high note.

Overall Show

I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that this was the strongest installment of Saturday Night's Main Event from top to bottom WWE has done since they revived the concept a year ago. Cena's retirement was obviously the highlight, but the NXT exhibition matches were very enjoyable and made the rest of the show feel must-see. The finish to the main event will be debated for a long time to come, but I thought WWE did Cena justice in his swan song, and the show on the whole was terrific.

SEE MORE: Saturday Night's Main Event Reviews