The bracket is nearly complete as opening-round matches for “The Last Time is Now” Tournament are underway. The 16-man tournament features competitors all vying to earn the honor of being John Cena’s final opponent.
“Raw” General Manager Adam Pearce pulled four more names out of his tumbler Monday night at the TD Garden in Boston. Former World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER will be returning from injury next Monday night inside Madison Square Garden to take on NXT’s Je’Von Evans. Meanwhile, Solo Sikoa will battle an opponent that Pearce did not reveal. The leader of the MFT will have to wait until next week to find out his opponent.
These two announcements came on the heels of the first two opening-round matches. Both matches saw Rusev and Sheamus advance to the semi-finals by defeating Damian Priest and Shinsuke Nakamura, respectively. The final four competitors of the tournament are expected to be unveiled this Friday on SmackDown.
John Cena said that Monday night’s show from his hometown was going to be a special one, and he delivered on that promise. He captured the Men’s Intercontinental Championship from “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio in an impromptu match to begin the evening’s festivities. This marks the first time in his career that Cena has held the Men’s IC Title.
With his victory Monday night, Cena officially became a WWE Grand Slam Champion with just three dates remaining before his retirement. He joins fewer than two dozen men who have ever accomplished that feat.
With an extremely limited number of appearances left on his farewell tour, it’s very possible that the winner of “The Last Time is Now” Tournament will also earn an opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship.
Cena’s final match will take place at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” on December 13 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Prior to his match with “Dirty” Dom, John made a notable announcement about that show. In the spirit of wanting to leave the business in a better position than where he found it, Cena plans to showcase the future of WWE on the night his career comes to a close. He will be hosting a series of exhibition matches between main roster Superstars and the upcoming stars of NXT. No competitors have been announced for those matches as of this writing.
Cena’s new Intercontinental Championship win complicates his schedule for Survivor Series: WarGames on November 29. While his Raw allies CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Jey Uso are slated for the Men’s WarGames match against The Vision, Cena is now also advertised to defend his title at the event. This means the winner of “The Last Time Is Now” tournament may not be the only person who gets a chance to face Cena before his retirement. His Survivor Series opponent has not yet been named.
Stay tuned for more updates on the tournament and Cena’s farewell tour.
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https://www.newsweek.com/sports/wrestling/major-wwe-star-is-returning-for-john-cenas-retirement-tournament-11027776
