John Cena has confirmed that John Cena Classic is set to take place in December 2026.
Earlier this year in May, the 17-time WWE World Champion appeared at WWE’s Backlash Premium Live Event and announced the John Cena Classic tournament.
During an appearance on the TODAY show, Cena revealed that the tournament is taking place in December 2026. The event will celebrate his legacy, nostalgia, and core values like hustle, loyalty, respect, perseverance, and overcoming the odds.
Fans will also have the unique opportunity to choose the champion, making it an experimental live event that Cena says is another bold step for WWE.
This year in December, I’m really excited about announcing the John Cena Classic. So we’re gonna do an event, based off all the memory, all the nostalgia, the I.P. and the core values of the character which is me: Hustle, loyalty, respect, perseverance, virtue, overcoming the odds and giving the vote to the people.
Our audience is gonna decide our champion that night so it’s a really unique live event. I don’t even know if it’s gonna work. I’m still taking bold chances in the WWE space and I’m proud to be helping the John Cena Classic.
It has been announced that the winner or champion will be fully decided by a fan vote. A wrestler can lose their tournament match but still emerge as the winner.
WWE has a Premium Live Event scheduled for December, which is Wrestlepalooza in Australia on December 12th. There’s a huge possibility that the tournament could take place during that event.
