WWE Accused of Blowing It With John Cena Retirement Match Build

John Cena’s retirement is set for WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, and now fans know how WWE plans to decide his final opponent.

On this past weekend’s show, Cena officially announced the “Last Time is Now” tournament—a 16-man bracket where the winner earns the honor of facing him in his farewell match. While the idea sparked plenty of excitement, not everyone is impressed. On Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray tore into the concept and even invoked Cena’s longtime ally (and now disgraced former WWE Chairman) Vince McMahon to make his point.

“I’m not a fan of the tournament idea,” Bully said. “And… I’d be willing to bet a dollar that if Vince McMahon knew about this tournament, he would be destroying his own home. ‘My god, a f*****g tournament?!’ Vince hated tournaments.”

Bully made it clear he personally doesn’t share Vince’s hatred of tournaments—but in this case, he still thinks WWE dropped the ball.

“I’m not a fan of this tournament, unless there is somebody involved in this tournament that we don’t see coming. But they’re going to have to wrestle in the first round, so we’re going to see them coming.”

He went on to argue that a tournament format kills the suspense of who Cena’s final opponent could be—especially if fans already suspect who’s winning.

“I wanted this to be built up. I wanted the anticipation to be built up, especially if you already know who’s going to win the tournament. You can build up the anticipation, because whoever loses in the first round, second round, third round, they’re just going by the waste side.”

Then Bully hit them with a brutal analogy:

“They’re not going to be able to say, ‘Well, I was in the John Cena tournament.’ It’s not like getting a bronze medal in the Olympics, where you still get to stand on the podium… It’s like, ‘You lost in the first round of the John Cena tournament. Brush your hair!’”

With only a little over a month left before Cena’s final match, the tournament is rolling forward—but it’s already drawing heat from those who believe a bigger moment deserves a bigger story.