Cena Adds Charlotte Flair and Fatal Influence to His Classic
Summary: John Cena invited Charlotte Flair, then Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid of Fatal Influence, to the Dec. 14 John Cena Classic on SmackDown on Friday, Nov. 13. Nine names are now in the field.
The quick version
- John Cena opened SmackDown on Friday, Nov. 13, and named Charlotte Flair the next entrant in the John Cena Classic, per Fightful and Ringside News.
- Later that night Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid) confronted Cena backstage and got invitations too, per Fightful.
- That makes nine names for the Classic on Monday, Dec. 14, near Orlando. WWE has not said who faces whom.
John Cena used SmackDown on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, to add four women to the John Cena Classic. Fightful reports he opened the show by naming Charlotte Flair. Later, Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid of Fatal Influence stopped him backstage and left with invitations of their own. We did not watch the show. This story is built from Fightful's and Ringside News' reports.
What happened
Cena began the show with an announcement about the Classic, per Fightful, and the entrant he named was Flair. Ringside News says he invited her to the ring. Fightful says Flair spoke about a backstage moment with Cena at WrestleMania 41, promised to be "excellent" in the Classic and vowed to win the whole thing. The segment ended with a hug, per Fightful. Ringside News adds that Cena told her he wants her to be the one who breaks his record of 17 world championships. We read that detail only in Ringside News.
Fatal Influence came next. Fightful says the group questioned Cena's choice of Flair when he met them walking backstage. Ringside News says Jayne accused him of wasting a spot, and Cena agreed with their attitude, calling it the kind of Ruthless Aggression he wants. All three were invited. Ringside News gives the date and place as Dec. 14 in Orlando, Florida.
The field now
Fightful's updated list, in the order it prints it:
- Cody Rhodes
- Zilla Fatu
- Noam Dar
- Romeo Moreno
- Kelani Jordan
- Charlotte Flair
- Jacy Jayne
- Fallon Henley
- Lainey Reid
Rhodes was named on Raw on Nov. 2 and Fatu on NXT on Nov. 4. See our Fatu story. Dar, Moreno and Jordan followed on NXT on Nov. 10. See our NXT invitations story.
What it means for the card
Our count, not WWE's: five of the nine are women and four are men. Cena has said each match pits a main roster star against an NXT wrestler, with Club WWE members voting for a men's and a women's champion. See our format story. Jordan is the only NXT woman named so far. Flair and Fatal Influence's three would need NXT opponents, so more NXT women are likely to be named. WWE has not said so.
Flair and Fatal Influence also share recent history. Flair returned on the Nov. 6 SmackDown during a Women's Tag Team Championship match that involved Jayne, and the segment ended in a brawl, per Wrestling Inc as we reported it. See our SmackDown results.
What we do not know
- Who faces whom, and how many matches there will be.
- Whether Fatal Influence will work as a group or in separate matches.
- Whether Cena names more people on Raw on Nov. 16. POST Wrestling, as cited in our earlier stories, has him due on that show.
Source: Fightful (Ishaan Sharma) for the invitations and the updated field; Ringside News (Felix Upton, H Jenkins) for the backstage confrontation, the date and place, and the 17-title record detail. We read all four pages in full. We did not watch SmackDown, see WWE's posts or contact WWE. Nothing in this story is a rumor.
Sources
- Fightful (Ishaan Sharma), "Charlotte Flair Set For John Cena Classic", Nov. 13, 2026, 8:21 pm, no time zone shown (Flair's invitation, her WrestleMania 41 remarks, the field). https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/charlotte-flair-set-for-john-cena-classic/
- Fightful (Ishaan Sharma), "Fatal Influence Gets Their Invitation To The John Cena Classic On 11/13 WWE SmackDown", Nov. 13, 2026, 8:59 pm, no time zone shown (the backstage segment and the updated field of nine). https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/fatal-influence-gets-their-invitation-to-the-john-cena-classic-on-11-13-wwe-smackdown/
- Ringside News (Felix Upton), "John Cena Invites Fatal Influence to John Cena Classic After Backstage Confrontation on WWE SmackDown", Nov. 13, 2026 (the confrontation, Dec. 14 in Orlando). https://www.ringsidenews.com/john-cena-invites-fatal-influence-to-john-cena-classic-after-backstage-confrontation-on-wwe-smackdown/
- Ringside News (H Jenkins), "John Cena Tells Charlotte Flair He Wants Her to Break His 17-Time World Title Record", Nov. 13, 2026 (the opening segment, the record remark). https://www.ringsidenews.com/john-cena-tells-charlotte-flair-he-wants-her-to-break-his-17-time-world-title-record/
- WrestlingNews.com, "Zilla Fatu Is the Second John Cena Classic Entrant, Cena Says on NXT", Nov. 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/zilla-fatu-second-john-cena-classic-entrant/
- WrestlingNews.com, "Dar, Moreno and Kelani Jordan Join John Cena Classic", Nov. 11, 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/dar-moreno-and-kelani-jordan-invited-to-john-cena-classic/
- WrestlingNews.com, "Cena Says Classic Will Be Exhibitions, Not a Bracket", Nov. 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/cena-says-john-cena-classic-is-exhibition-matches-not-a-bracket/
- WrestlingNews.com, "SmackDown Results: Owens Beats Punk, Flair Returns", Nov. 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/smackdown-results-nov-6-owens-beats-punk-flair-returns/
- WrestlingNews.com staff reporting: read Fightful and Ringside News in full, compared their accounts and the field, and checked our own site for earlier Cena Classic stories (none on Flair or Fatal Influence). We did not watch SmackDown or contact WWE.
How we credit sources: Editorial standards.