Add as a preferred source on Google John Cena continues to have a direct influence on WWE’s future, even after retiring from the ring in December 2025.
Speaking with The Takedown on SI, the “Cenation Leader” revealed that he was the one who pitched WWE on his retirement tour, as well as the John Cena Classic, which was announced at Backlash 2026.
“I approached them about the retirement tour. That was my idea. And so is the John Cena Classic. Now, the retirement tour took a year and a half for me to develop. It took a year and a half after I pitched and they accepted it for the WWE to curate and develop.”
“That was a very long lead and the John Cena Classic took four or five months for me to get a proper situation where I could talk to Triple H and they’ve digested the information. We’ve been working out the details for about two months now and we’re going forward. We’re going to give it a shot.”
WWE has described the event as a new attraction featuring main roster and NXT talent, with a new champion being crowned and the fans’ voice being taken into account.
Cena, however, has made a point of explaining that this will not be a standard tournament. To him, the format is closer to WWE’s version of an “All-Star Game,” a standalone night designed to spotlight talent who normally would not get that kind of opportunity.
There is still no date or location set for the first edition. WWE is also still working on the voting system, especially when it comes to preventing manipulation of the final result.