The first round of WWE’s The Last Time is Now tournament is complete. We have eight superstars who will compete in the next two weeks to win the contest and book their match against John Cena at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME) on December 13, 2025.
In this listicle, we will rank the chances of the remaining 8 WWE superstars in the tournament.
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8. Rusev
Rusev defeated Damian Priest in the first round of the tournament. In the next round, he will square off against Jey Uso this week on SmackDown. And in this contest, the Yeet Master is expected to win. While Rusev was a strong contender in the tournament, it doesn’t appear that the company would book him over Jey Uso in the tournament.
#7 Carmelo Hayes
Carmelo Hayes somehow defeated Bronson Reed in the first round of the tournament, thanks to Cody Rhodes. However, the former NXT Champion might not go further in the contest, as this week on RAW, his match will be against Gunther.
While Hayes might be good with his in-ring skills, he certainly stands no chance against the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. And his journey in the tournament might end this week on RAW.
#6 The Miz
The Miz is rumored to be Sheamus’s replacement in the tournament. The Celtic Warrior was slated to clash against LA Knight on SmackDown next week. However, it was reported that he suffered a shoulder injury and will not be able to further participate.
Interestingly, the Miz was eliminated in the first round itself, after losing to Jey Uso. So, on his second chance, will he be able to score a win against Knight? The chances of this happening are low. The A-Lister, although he has a storied rivalry with Cena, the company might not give him a spot in The Champ’s last match.
#5 LA Knight
LA Knight advanced to the second round after beating a returning Zack Ryder (Matt Cordona) on SmackDown. He has a match against The Miz on SmackDown this week, and most probably will be able to beat the A-Lister. However, will Knight also be able to win the tournament and challenge Cena in the last match? The answer is no.
The Megastar still has a long way to go and needs to become the company’s top star to book a spot in the main event of SNME and face Cena in the last match. He will most likely move to the semi-final or even the finals of the tournament, but might not win the tournament.
#4 Penta
Penta has advanced to the second round of the tournament by successfully beating Finn Balor. He will be up against Solo Sikoa this week on WWE RAW, which could be his final match in this tournament.
Solo Sikoa has his boys (MFTs) with him, and they won’t let their leader lose. Further, if we look at it from a creative point of view, then Penta also doesn’t have big chances to face Cena in his last match. The company could have booked the two in a one-on-one match during this tour, but it doesn’t seem that they will book Penta against John Cena at SNME.
#3 Solo Sikoa
Solo Sikoa has good chances of proceeding to the semi-final of the tournament after beating Penta in the second round, but he also might not win the tournament. The former WWE United States Champion also has no story to tell with Cena because he already defeated Cena two years ago at the Crown Jewel event.
Moreover, Solo Sikoa hasn’t had a confrontation with John Cena in the recent past. Therefore, booking him in the final match probably won’t make any sense whatsoever.
#2 Jey Uso
Among all eight superstars, Jey Uso has good chances of winning this entire thing and going up against John Cena in his last match. The two had a mini-battle at WWE Royal Rumble earlier this year. Jey eliminated John Cena and proceeded to WWE WrestleMania 41.
They have an unfinished story, and Cena would definitely like to finish the tale before he retires. Jey’s next match will be against Rusev this week on SmackDown. Most probably, he is expected to win the bout and move to the next round successfully.
#1 Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther
The Ring General has the highest chance of winning the tournament and then squaring off against John Cena. Gunther retired WWE Hall of Famer, retired Goldberg a few months back at SNME, and is now looking to retire 17-time WWE Champion, John Cena, also.
The Ring General returned on RAW last week only and defeated NXT talent Je’Von Evans to win the first round. In the next round, his match will be against Carmelo Hayes, which will be a cakewalk for him. In fact, even before this tournament began, rumors circulated that the company was considering Gunther to compete against John Cena in his final match.
Not only this, but Triple H has also stated that Cena’s last match will be something that fans will remember for a long time. It remains to be seen what Hunter has in store for the fans.
Edited by Mohammad Bilal