John Cena, AJ Styles, The Hardys & Team 3D Showed Off Their Greatness Over The Weekend

When this match was initially announced, fans were excited about Cena and Styles going at it one more time. The hardcore fans were interested in seeing how this match would be built up via storyline, but with so little time before “WWE Crown Jewel Perth,” there wouldn’t be time to give it a full storyline treatment. With social media voicing their opinion of the lack of build-up, Styles stole the mic on the SmackDown before Crown Jewel Perth and addressed the WWE Universe. Styles would say there was no need for a build-up, as his match with Cena was special without one.

This didn’t go well with a good portion of fans, while others were okay with it. By the time Crown Jewel Perth began streaming on the ESPN app, fans were just ready to see the match. FightsATW predicted that it would be a classic, and that’s precisely what it was.

Cena and Styles weren’t trying to execute moves that they could easily execute twenty years ago. They were there to tell a story, not outside of the ring but in it. Cena and Styles would pay homage to wrestling legends by executing their finishers at the right times. Once the fans in attendance caught wind of what they were doing, the match’s energy level tripled. Cena would win the match, but it was the movie he created with Styles that fans will remember the most as Cena counts down to his final match as an active wrestler.

The Hardys vs. Team 3D: It Was Always Supposed To End This Way

When TNA Wrestling began promoting “Bound for Glory 2025”, everyone who consumes the product knew that this was going to be equal to or better than January’s TNA Genesis when Joe Hendry beat Nic Nemeth for the TNA world title. It was the first PPV after signing a partnership with WWE, and the excitement for the product was at record levels that night.

Bound for Glory would feature a TNA world title fight between Trick Williams and Mike Santana, but the hardcore fans couldn’t stop talking about The Hardys vs. Team 3D for “One Final Table.” TNA set a North American attendance record for itself when 7,794 fans filled the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA, on Sunday night. Everyone was on their feet as both teams stood in the middle of the ring, staring at each other and taking in all of the energy the fans were giving them.

Once the bell rang, Team 3D wasted no time and executed a 3D on Matt Hardy, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. The rest of the match was as expected: It involved tables and a Jeff Hardy swanton bomb from the top of a ladder. Just like the Cena-Styles match, The Hardys and Team 3D weren’t trying to execute moves that they knew were not going to be done smoothly. They worked their strengths and maintained a great pace. In the end, The Hardys came out victorious and retained the TNA & NXT tag team titles.

After the match, Team 3D pulled on the heartstrings of the fans in attendance when they took off their boots and gave them to The Hardys. For those who don’t know, in wrestling, when you have your final match, you take off your boots and leave them in the middle of the ring. Team 3D giving The Hardys their boots was doing just that, signaling to the world that it was their last match. As they embraced in the middle of the ring, the crowd kept cheering loudly, making the moment even more special.

Legends Never Die

The message sent this weekend by Cena, Styles, The Hardys, and Team 3D is that the era they gave us the biggest thrill in is either over or close to being over, and that’s okay. There are new stars to cheer for, but before they go, those legends wanted to show that they could still tell a story in the ring that people would care about and most of the time, that story is better than the one scripted in conference rooms.