John Cena’s Intercontinental Championship loss to Dominik Mysterio at Survivor Series 2025 was decided by outside help, and Cena says that was by design, all the way down to wanting the women of The Judgment Day to hit their finishers on him.
At the November 29 event in San Diego, Cena defended the title against Mysterio in the penultimate premium live event match of his career. Throughout the bout, Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez repeatedly interfered behind the referee’s back, hitting their finishers on Cena before both were ejected. The finish came with the returning Liv Morgan, back for the first time since June, low-blowing Cena and cracking him with the title to let Mysterio retain.
Speaking during the third season of WWE Unreal, the Netflix docuseries that goes inside WWE’s creative process, Cena said he wanted the group’s women to be central to the match, not just window dressing.
“We had the creative freedom to use every paint on the palette. I want the girls to come ringside,” Cena said. “I want them physically involved, both in the match in a traditional way of, like, tripping and hitting. But I also want them to hit bombs because it’s believable enough to be like, ‘Oh f*ck. The kid could win with that.'”
The reasoning speaks to Cena’s approach on his way out the door. By making the interference count for real, the story sold the idea that Mysterio needed everything The Judgment Day had to put away a 17-time world champion, protecting Cena while elevating Mysterio and the faction.
It was one of the final stops on Cena’s retirement tour. He had won the Intercontinental Championship from Mysterio weeks earlier to complete his Grand Slam, and the Survivor Series rematch sent the title back to Mysterio in his hometown. Cena wrestled his final match on December 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event, a loss to Gunther. His heel run and retirement tour are among the central threads of WWE Unreal’s third season.
