In December of 2025, John Cena competed in his final match when he was defeated by Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Cena has remained retired from in-ring competition, but still makes appearances on WWE programming. Back in May of 2026, Cena appeared at Backlash and he announced a new event called the John Cena Classic. Fans have been waiting months for the details, but WWE has yet to confirm when, or where the John Cena Classic will take place.
WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select is reporting that although John Cena has confirmed the John Cena Classic will take place in December, a source could not confirm if it will potentially be a stateside event that follows WrestlePalooza on December 12th, or if WWE will put the event on the following weekend on December 19th.
If the John Cena Classic is confirmed for December 19th then the show will be going up against AEW Worlds End, and AAA Guerra De Titanes which is set to air later that night.
One source noted that December 5th is not a likely option for WWE as the company doesn’t like to present major events on three consecutive weekends. WWE already has a big show planned for December 26th as a live event is set for that date as part of the company’s annual holiday tour.
Regarding the format of the tournament it’s being said that the voting aspect is still something Cena would like to see happen, and several ideas have been floated internally with that in mind.