3 Reasons John Cena lost the Intercontinental Title at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames

Despite the fanfare around John Cena's final months, he's no longer the Intercontinental Champion after WWE Survivor Series: WarGames.

It took interference from the entire Judgment Day at various points, as well as help from a returning Liv Morgan, to take the title away from the 17-time champ. With all the interference, Cena was heavily protected in defeat.

While winning the title in the first place was somewhat unusual, he no longer has to worry about winning or defending the gold. John Cena lost the Intercontinental Title at Survivor Series: WarGames for the next three reasons.

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#3. The initial win was to give him Grand Slam status

John Cena winning the Intercontinental Title was simply a way for him to join other WWE stars who are Grand Slam Champions.

It was the lone title he never captured, so officials decided to have him defeat Dominik Mysterio in an impromptu match to check that box.

He was never going to have a record-setting or even lengthy run, so dropping the title back to Dirty Dom was a strong possibility at Survivor Series: WarGames.

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#2. It sowed more tension in The Judgment Day

JD McDonagh and Finn Balor sacrificed themselves to help Dirty Dom. (Image Credit: WWE on X)

One of the biggest issues within The Judgment Day is that Dominik expects help whenever he needs it, but doesn't always return the favor to Finn Balor and JD McDonagh.

He doesn't listen to anything they say and often goes outside the group for help. Every member of The Judgment Day, including a returning Liv Morgan, factored in Dom regaining the Intercontinental Title.

The group has teased breaking up several times this year, and something has to give soon. Winning back the title gives the group a storyline device to argue over.

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#1. Only needs to focus on the final match after Survivor Series: WarGames

Even before he won the Intercontinental Title, The Last Time is Now Tournament was underway. While he was waiting to kill time between it beginning and his final match, he needed something to do.

While hot-shotting the belt doesn't help the title's status, it gave him a few meaningful matches before his last one at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Since he no longer has to deal with the burdens of being a champion, he can shift focus to December 13 and the final opponent of his career.