John Cena pays homage to Punk, Edge, Angle, KO, and others on his final SmackDown

Overview

• In his final appearance on WWE SmackDown in Chicago, John Cena paid homage to some of his rivals
• In the match against Sami Zayn for the US Title, Cena used CM Punk's 'Go to Sleep' and Edge's spear
• He also used Kurt Angle's Ankle Lock and Angle Slam, JBL's Clothesline from hell, and Kevin Owens' Pop-up power bomb

In his final appearance on WWE SmackDown in Chicago, John Cena paid homage to some of his rivals. In the match against Sami Zayn for the US Title, Cena used CM Punk's 'Go to Sleep' and Edge's spear. He also used Kurt Angle's Ankle Lock and Angle Slam, JBL's Clothesline from hell, and Kevin Owens' Pop-up power bomb.

Watch the video of John Cena paying homage to some of his top rivals on WWE SmackDown here -

John Cena paying homage to his past opponents :

• KURT ANGLE - Angle Slam/Ankle Lock
• EDGE - Spear
• CM PUNK - GTS
• KEVIN OWENS - Pop Up Powerbomb

He wasn’t able to wrestle everyone but showed love and respect to all of them 🫡

There’ll never be another like him 💔 pic.twitter.com/hM0qLu9ZHU

— Nightmare (@Jwrasslintakes) September 6, 2025

Cena showed up in Chicago for his last Friday Night SmackDown appearance and thanked the fans from the bottom of his heart for accepting him. Sami Zayn confronted him, asked his permission to reintroduce the US Title Open Challenge, and started it with a match against Cena himself.

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The match was brilliant, as Cena used the finishers of some of his rivals from the past and present. He started it by using Kevin Owens' power bomb, whom he faced during his US Title run in 2015. He then used Kurt Angle's ankle lock and Angle Slam, as a homage to the first opponent of his WWE career.

John Cena uses CM Punk's GTS, Edge's Spear, and nearly RKOs Sami Zayn

Cena then used Punk's Go to sleep move, as a homage to Chicago's very own and one of his greatest rivals of all time. The 17-time world champion pulled off Edge's iconic Spear and the fans cheered it. As they realized it was the night of homages, fans chanted "RKO" and wanted Cena to use it against Sami.

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As he went for it, the US Champion countered. However, what followed was the Clothesine from Hell, a homage to JBL, against whom Cena won his first world title. There was also a homage from Sami to Cena as he used Attitude Adjustment in the match.