John Cena said WWE may currently be wasting Gunther, while stressing that booking decisions are not his to make. Cena made the comments on Busted Open, the SiriusXM wrestling show, and Fightful published them.
Cena's final match took place at Saturday Night's Main Event in December 2025, where he tapped out to Gunther. Gunther has since taken a loss on SmackDown: Fightful noted that he took the pinfall in a Money in the Bank qualifying match on the September 25 show that also included CM Punk and Finn Balor.
The topic came up while Cena was promoting other work. He acknowledged there is "sentiment out there" among fans that WWE is wasting Gunther, and added, "Maybe currently they are."
Cena then pointed to the limits of his role. He said he is "not in those meetings" and does not see "the view from the penthouse." According to Fightful, Cena described his job in their match as making Gunther look strong, and said what WWE does with Gunther afterward is not his call. Cena also suggested the company could be cooling Gunther off before a future push, Fightful wrote.
Cena did not criticize WWE creative directly, and he did not outline any plan for Gunther. He said making Gunther look good in their match was his responsibility, and that the rest was out of his hands. WWE has not announced what is next for Gunther, who lost the Money in the Bank qualifier on September 25.
For now, Cena's comments leave Gunther's direction with WWE creative, where he said the decisions are made.
