The John Cena Classic Championship, the title WWE created for the tournament John Cena came up with, was finally revealed to fans. Cena handled the reveal himself on Monday’s Raw from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The title was waiting for Cena under a cover on a table in the middle of the ring. It has a big gold center plate on a black leather strap, with Cena’s signature and an image of him doing his trademark salute. The word “CHAMPION” appears underneath it.
The design is very similar to the old WWE Championship known as the “Spinner,” which Cena himself introduced in 2005.
The title was announced on May 9 at Backlash in Tampa, Florida, when Cena revealed the John Cena Classic, a show that will pit main-roster talent against NXT stars. That night, Cena said:
“We are making history. We have a brand-new event and the debut of a brand-new championship in the WWE.”
But the champion will be determined by a fan vote and not by the results of the matches. That means a wrestler could lose a match and still end up with the title. On Raw, Cena confirmed that the voting will be done by Club WWE members.
The tournament is set to take place on Monday, December 14, at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Cena used the segment to announce that the first invitation to the John Cena Classic went to Cody Rhodes. Cena said Rhodes carries the weight of the company better than he was able to, and he promised to go to SmackDown, NXT, and Survivor Series on November 28 in Houston to hand out more invitations.
Cena will next appear on Wednesday’s special episode of NXT, which airs at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.