John Cena recently addressed criticism surrounding the newly announced John Cena Classic during an interview with CBS Sports and SHAK Wrestling.
The former WWE Champion first revealed the upcoming one-night event and championship at Backlash. The concept involves wrestlers from both NXT and the main roster competing for a title, with the winner determined by a fan vote.
Acknowledging the backlash to the event’s premise, Cena reflected on the December 2025 Saturday Night’s Main Event. That night featured a similar concept, pitting the company’s current and future talents against each other. Cena remarked on his experience from that evening: “I was a small piece of that night. The larger scope, and in the media going into it, was, ‘Oh man, this is kind of a cool thing. Yes, the night could be all about John, but in essence, we’re getting to see John do his thing, but somebody’s gotta earn the right to face John, so that’s cool, you’ve gotta earn the respect to do it. And at the same time, we’re gonna get to see some new faces go against our familiar Superstars.”
Cena further elaborated on his vision for the John Cena Classic, suggesting it could serve as WWE’s equivalent of an All-Star game. He shared the inspiration for the idea: “I was there in the arena, the night rocked. It was great. The crowd was fantastic. Sure, the retirement match had a lot of buzz behind it, but they were on their feet for all the matches. So my brain started working, I’m like, ‘We should do something like this.’ I guess to sum it up in a sentence, I know I dropped a lot of information at Backlash, I think to sum it up in a sentence, it could be a version of WWE’s All-Star game.”
Addressing specific criticism regarding the fan vote potentially devaluing wins and losses on the night, Cena responded: “Now, I’ve heard the perspective of, ‘Wins and losses don’t matter.’ That’s a very valid point. I love listening to feedback. We’ve gotta figure out the fan votes; there’s still a lot to be done. But you can vote for the winners. You just can also vote for everybody. And that’s a first-time.”
As of now, no official date or location has been announced for the John Cena Classic.
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