WWE is expected to hold the John Cena Classic at Cena’s former college in Massachusetts. That would happen if WWE goes with December 19 as the date for the show.
WrestleVotes noted during a Q&A that they heard about it over the weekend. The plan would be for WWE to hold the tournament the day after the December 18 SmackDown, which is scheduled to take place at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
“I heard over the weekend, SmackDown’s coming back to the XL Center on Friday night, December 18,” WrestleVotes said. “I heard that if they do the 19th, then Cena wanted to do this John Cena Classic at his college, Springfield University, which is just a few miles up the road from Hartford, CT.”
WrestleVotes explained why the date and location of that SmackDown got them to reach out to more people.
“The date raised some eyebrows and makes sense. The location of that SmackDown beforehand makes sense. We called a lot of people. That was an idea we heard over the weekend.”
The school WrestleVotes was referring to is Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. Cena graduated in 1999 and was inducted into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. He was one of the captains of the 1998 football team, which went 9-2.
Cena said goodbye to Springfield during his retirement tour. In September 2025, he was on Raw at the MassMutual Center, which advertised the show as the last time he would appear in the city.
A December 19 date would also have the John Cena Classic going up against AEW Worlds End, which is scheduled for the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Cena is scheduled for Monday’s Raw at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
On Tuesday, Cena promised on X that he would put an end to the rumors about the John Cena Classic during his appearance on Raw.
“Make sure not to miss [Raw] next week. SPECIAL START TIME OF 6PM EST! The wait is over, the speculation ends 11/2. Let’s build this ‘Never Seen’ CLASSIC! OUR time is NOW!”