Cena Says Classic Will Be Exhibitions, Not a Bracket
Summary: John Cena said in an interview published Monday, Nov. 9, that the John Cena Classic on Dec. 14 in Orlando is a series of exhibition matches, not a bracket, with Club WWE members voting for a men's and a women's champion afterward.
The quick version
- Cena told The Takedown on SI there is no bracket. Main roster stars face NXT talent in exhibition matches on Monday, Dec. 14.
- He said voting opens to Club WWE members when the last match ends, and that a men's champion and a women's champion will be named that night.
- Cody Rhodes and Zilla Fatu are the only entrants named. Cena said the NXT invitations were filmed last week and will be revealed in the coming weeks.
John Cena has explained how the John Cena Classic will work. In an interview with The Takedown on SI, published Monday, Nov. 9, he said the Dec. 14 show is not a tournament with a bracket. It is a card of exhibition matches, and the fans pick the winners. Fightful and POST Wrestling both reported the same details on Monday.
How it works
Cena said every match pits a main roster star against an NXT wrestler: "They're all gonna be current [main roster stars] versus NXT." He compared the format to Saturday Night's Main Event, where he wrestled his retirement match last December.
The vote comes after the last bell. Cena said: "Hopefully, if we have the technological acumen to do this, as soon as the last match is over, it's kinda like American Idol... voting's open now to Club WWE members. And when we come back from commercial break, we're gonna award the women's champion of the night, and we're gonna award the men's champion of the night."
WWE's Nov. 3 announcement said members would vote "in real time," as we noted in our opinion piece. Cena describes the vote opening once the last match ends. We found no WWE statement on which it is. His "hopefully" also suggests the plan depends on the voting technology working.
The field so far
Rhodes was named first, on Raw on Nov. 2. Fatu was named on NXT on Nov. 4, as we reported in our Fatu story. SI reports the other NXT invitations were filmed last week while Cena was in Orlando, and POST says Cena will announce more names on upcoming shows. WWE has not said how many matches there will be.
Cena also said he wants the event to be a yearly one, but he is not promising it. Thanking Paul Levesque and Nick Khan for agreeing to try it, he said: "if it stinks, like, whatever. We don't have to do it again next year."
What to watch next
The event is Monday, Dec. 14, at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, as a special Raw on Netflix, per WWE's announcement as we reported it. Cena is due on SmackDown on Nov. 13 and Raw on Nov. 16, per the POST Wrestling report cited in our earlier stories. In another part of the same interview, quoted by eWrestlingNews, Cena said he makes sure to be "a ghost" from around Dec. 15 and resurfaces about Jan. 4 or 5.
Source: John Cena's on-the-record comments in his interview with The Takedown on SI, as published by SI and as quoted by Fightful, POST Wrestling and eWrestlingNews. We did not hear the interview itself. We have no WWE statement beyond its earlier announcement. Nothing in this story is a rumor.
Sources
- Sports Illustrated, The Takedown (Rick Ucchino), "John Cena Reveals New Details About the Upcoming John Cena Classic [Exclusive]", Nov. 9, 2026 (interview, vote, field, NXT invitations). https://www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/features/john-cena-reveals-new-details-about-the-upcoming-john-cena-classic-exclusive
- Fightful (Corey Brennan), "John Cena Clarifies John Cena Classic Details, 'If It Stinks, We Don't Have To Do It Again Next Year'", Nov. 9, 2026 (the "if it stinks" quote, exhibition matches). https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/john-cena-clarifies-john-cena-classic-details-if-it-stinks-we-dont-have-to-do-it-again-next-year/
- POST Wrestling, "John Cena Classic will be series of exhibition matches instead of traditional tournament, Cena reveals", Nov. 9, 2026 (format, upcoming name announcements). https://www.postwrestling.com/2026/11/09/john-cena-classic-will-be-series-of-exhibition-matches-instead-of-traditional-tournament-cena-reveals/
- eWrestlingNews (Christopher Paul), "John Cena Confirms When He'll 'Resurface' In WWE", Nov. 9, 2026 (Cena's yearly break). https://www.ewrestlingnews.com/news/wwe/john-cena-confirms-when-hell-resurface-in-wwe
- WrestlingNews.com, "Why the John Cena Classic's Fan Vote Is a Smart Bet for NXT", Nov. 2026 (WWE's Nov. 3 wording, event venue, Cena's other dates). https://wrestlingnews.com/story/opinion-john-cena-classic-fan-vote-smart-bet-for-nxt/
- 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 staff reporting: read four outlets' accounts of the interview and checked the venue, date and entrants against our earlier stories. We did not contact WWE.
How we credit sources: Editorial standards.