WWE’S John Cena Classic Reportedly A ‘Work In Progress’

WWE are still figuring out the details of the John Cena Classic.

This past Saturday at Backlash: Tampa, John Cena announced the inaugural John Cena Invitational, a new WWE event set to introduce a championship decided entirely by fan voting. With the finer details of the concept still unclear, a new update has emerged regarding the company’s plans for the event.

Providing further insight into plans for the John Cena Classic in a Wrestling Observer Daily Update, Dave Meltzer revealed that WWE have yet to finalise how the event will be structured, despite John Cena already making the announcement.

“Regarding the details of the John Cena Invitational, we were just told today that this is a work in progress. They wanted to make the announcement but as far as what it is, that is not decided so any speculation of tournament vs. individual matches or how the champions will be set up is just speculation.”

-Dave Meltzer

Whilst details surrounding plans for the event remain sparse, John Cena noted that the John Cena Classic will feature established main roster talent competing against performers from the WWE NXT brand, also stating his intention for the showcase to become an annual tradition for WWE.

John Cena’s in-ring career came to an end at the hands of GUNTHER at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, 2025. During the announcement, Cena highlighted the likes of Oba Femi and Sol Ruca as former WWE NXT standouts who made their main roster debuts at the event.

Elsewhere during Backlash, Roman Reigns retained the World Heavyweight Championship after defeating Jacob Fatu, while IYO SKY was able to best Asuka, leading to a post-match embrace that has sparked speculation regarding Asuka’s future. You can read more about that here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on WWE’s plans for the inaugural John Cena Classic as soon as we hear more.