“The Last Time Is Now Tour” takes over WWE RAW tonight in Boston as the TD Garden hosts the first two matchups in the “John Cena Sweepstakes” tournament. Considering the importance of last week’s ending to RAW that saw Logan Paul make allies of Paul Heyman and ‘The Vision,’ this show is all about Cena’s final showing in “Beantown.”
Growing up in West Newbury, 35 miles from Boston, Cena has become folklore in the area’s rich athletic history, with tales of him and his brothers excelling in sports before he became the premier sports entertainer. This episode is being treated as a major event with the potential to have huge implications for the tourney winner.
TRIPLE H SHOWS UP FOR JOHN FOR HIS ‘FINAL’ GARDEN APPEARANCE
Triple H was already in the ring with his music playing in the background when this segment began—meant to introduce John Cena for his first appearance in the ‘farewell Boston’ finale. He gave an overly contrived intro meant to sell us on the idea of Cena’s greatness based on the premise that we cannot agree on much, but we can all agree Cena is a GOAT. It did not help elevate the moment much, but that did not matter when Cena’s music finally hit.
The fans were on 10, and the “Thank You, Cena” chants were as audible as the building’s physics permit. With a sea of green in the color spectrum of John’s current merch line, fans applauded much of the same rhetoric we have received throughout the “Time is Now” tournament. John talked about how so many people asked ‘who he’d like to face,’ but only one person asked him ‘what he wants’ from this whole thing—admitting a final Boston appearance was one of those things.
It was cool seeing Cena and Trips share the ring in any capacity, and it made you wonder why we didn’t see more of it on this final run (the NBA commissioner took a pic with Jordan and Kobe in almost every city of their final seasons, respectively). John thanked Trips for the opportunity to ‘say a few things’ on the concept of the tour and what he wanted from these final appearances, and the nature of their current relationship was on full display as the two men who were multi-feud rivals are now both on the same side—the ‘what’s best for business’ side.
Cena wrapped up his final ‘thank you’ to the fans, and it all felt a bit too congratulatory when ‘Dirty’ Dom Mysterio’s music hit, and it felt like the show finally began.
DOM GETS THE ‘DIRTY RUB’ FROM CENA ON THE GREENEST STAGE OF THEM ALL
“If John Cena has been the past 20 years of this industry, say hello to the next 20 years of this industry,” Wade Barrett said of ‘Dirty Dom’ as his entrance music played him out to the ring, where he would face one of the biggest ‘battles’ of his career. This was not unintentional, and on a night where Cena was basically telling us this was ‘his night’ based on his choices, he and the WWE let us know that they chose Dom for this moment.
Dom went one-on-one with Cena, and that would be hard enough without your boss and one of the greatest superstars of all time, Triple H, watching with an ‘in-ring’ vantage point. The ‘champ-champ’ went off on his boss, Paul, demanding retribution for actions taken against him last week.
John tried his best to resolve the issue before Dom warned he would ‘put down’ Cena for getting in his way, to which John proclaimed that he was “invincible” on this night—‘wrong time, wrong place, wrong guy,’ Cena warned right back before offering Dom the chance to walk straight back to the curtain out of ‘respect of his father.’
JOHN CENA VS DOMINIK MYSTERIO
Triple H booked the match between Cena and Dom for Dom’s Intercontinental championship as the crowd lost their minds. The idea of Cena winning the IC title, a title that he has never held throughout his illustrious career, and FightsATW’s own Abe Gonzalez predicted Cena winning the IC title at some point in his final run. Furthermore, Gonzalez made insinuations that Dom’s time as the IC champ was frivolous, unnecessary, and coming to an end.
The commentating desk put over the fact that the IC title has been the only one to allude Cena, and the finish played to the narrative with false finishes that favored a Dom fight script. Dom had every chance to win this match with a ref bump and a ‘frog splash’ to aid his defense, but without the help of ‘outside factors,’ it was always going to be an uphill battle.
After Dom hit the last frog splash, Cena no-sold and reversed it into a pinfall victory to successfully secure the outstanding strap on his mantle. What this means for “The Last Time Is Now” tournament remains unknown. While this is a celebratory night for all Cena fans, it was Dom who received the most significant “W” of the night, even after losing the title.
That spot for Dom was huge, and it solidified his current place in the larger landscape of the WWE roster, and, more than that, he received an officially unofficial rub from John on the way out—and it was John’s idea.
Cena received the ‘face’ celebration in the back and was even dapped up by Rey Mysterio Jr., and Cena said of his son Dom, ‘he’s a good kid, I hope it was a good lesson,’ before being praised personally by Cody Rhodes himself (title in hand).
JOHN CENA: THE LAST TIME IS NOW TOURNAMENT
DAMIAN PRIEST VS RUSEV—Round One
Rusev took the pinfall victory after some ‘veteran tactics’ to the eyes of Priest. Since returning to the company, Rusev has not been able to gain either love or heat from fans, while Priest is at least a former heavyweight champion. The first match ended in a minor upset, but the rest of the tourney will be a major uphill battle for Rusev.
SHEAMUS VS SHINSUKE NAKAMURA—Round One
In a booking that made a ton more sense, Sheamus took the pinfall victory over a now face Nakamura. It was a clean win for Sheamus, and Nakamura was gracious in the loss, but this is as much an uphill climb for Sheamus as it will be for Rusev. However, Sheamus makes much more sense than a lot of others, considering the history of feuds between them—in fact, it was Cena that Sheamus defeated at TLC 2009 to become the first Irish-born world champion in what was a meteoric rise.
NEXT MATCHUPS—ROUND ONE
Like GM Aldis on SD, Pearce kept one of the lottery picks a secret. This TBD opponent will face Solo in the next set of round one matchups—Jacob Fatu?
Je’Von Evans vs. Gunther—Round ONE
Solo Sikoa vs. (TBD)
FACES AND HEELS ALIGN AHEAD OF SURVIVOR SERIES, PUNK-PAUL GETS PERSONAL
CM Punk called out Logan Paul only minutes into his promo, and the YouTuber was happy to oblige. Paul asked why Punk was ‘so mad’ following his ‘smart’ chess move last week. Logan said the current landscape is clear, and anyone not aligned with Paul and The Vision is subject to being victimized.
Mid-segment, it was Heyman in the back of all three men, Breakker, Reed, and, now, Paul as they made their way to the ring to surround Punk. Then, suddenly, Jey was in the ring with Punk and Rhodes music hit as the faces stood in the middle of the ring facing off with the heels.
The six men brawled around the ring with a steel chair as the crowd cheered on for a united ‘face’ force.
MAIN EVENT: FLAIR & BLISS(c) VS KABUKI WARRIORS—WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Kabuki Warriors have been plotting for a tag team title match ever since they redeclared themselves a tag team threat following their unsuccessful attempt to take out Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley. The tag champs have faced plenty of challengers over the last several weeks, but the lack of specific direction has made their title reign seem fragile.
With so many challengers aligned by the chance of claiming gold, this match ended in a schmoz pitting faces against heels. Lash Legend and Nia Jax were able to aid The Kabuki Warriors to a successful title win (second on the night).
After the less-than-clean finish, Lash and Jax committed to a post-match beatdown on Flair and Bliss until the tag champs entered the ring as all four joined forces against the former champs. That is when Iyo Sky came down to help, and when it did not seem like she would be enough, Rhea Ripley came down to help with the numbers game.
The bookings come just in time for Survivor Series, and the rumor of a few ‘traditional’ elimination matchups spread throughout the weekend. The segment ended with Rhea launching Sane out of the ring with a ‘Razor’s Edge’ onto the rest of the heels before grabbing the mic and declaring “WARGAMESSSSS!”
STEPH GETS AMBUSHED BY BELLA
VAQUER VS RODRIGUEZ—Women’s World Champ (RAW)
After the champ Vaquer attempted to get the back of Nikki Bella, she found herself forced into a title defense against Raquel Rodriguez, who was booked last week after a losing affair in tag team action.
Steph won the match, but that is when Bella turned on Vaquer, shedding the ‘face’ character for the ‘Bella brand’ of heel. This will likely set up a title feud between the two.
OTHER TIDBITS/IN-RING ACTION
- Maxxine Dupri found her confidence, and then Becky Lynch’s right hand as GM Adam Pearce made the IC title match official for next week. Durpi has been the number one contender for a few weeks, but has been putting off her match in favor of more training. Tonight, she let Pearce know she’s ready, and he made it official for next Monday, and that is when Becky attacked Dupri in hopes of ‘softening her up’ for this ‘final’ defense.
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