Details On Why WWE Picked Washington, DC For John Cena’s Final Match

John Cena will wrestle his final match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13th at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. The expectation for most of the year was that Cena’s final match would take place in Boston on 12/13, not Washington, DC, and WWE had a period where they wanted to move the 12/13 Saturday Night’s Main Event to December 27th, but couldn’t come to a deal with NBC to shift the date and go head-to-head with AEW Worlds End.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE went with Washington, DC due to financial reasons. They apparently wanted Boston to pay a $7 million site fee, which is similar to what New Jersey paid for WWE Summerslam which was two nights. The city of Boston felt the site fee was too high and didn’t feel that a show two weeks before Christmas would generate the type of tourism needed to justify the cost.

WWE ultimately added a RAW on November 10th, and that will be Cena’s final show in what is essentially his hometown.

It’s unknown how much Washington, DC ended up paying in terms of a site fee, but some think that putting Cena’s final match in DC creates an opportunity for President Trump to appear at the show. As of now, Trump will be attending the Army vs. Navy football game on 12/13 at 3PM ET.

WWE (and UFC) have been generating high site fees where the city often even covers the cost of renting the venues as well as other costs with the idea that it will bring in tourism to the city.