John Cena is facing an unexpected challenge before his final match.
The Cenation Leader, alongside WWE, TKO, producer Jake One, among others, have been accused of using an unlicensed music sample to create Cena's theme song The Time Is Now without proper credit.
A lawsuit filed on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York alleges that the iconic horn music that opens and can be heard throughout the theme song was copied from a 1974 instrumental cover of The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.
According to the complaint, the horn elements, which were not present in the original Bobby Russell composition, were arranged by Canadian bandleader Pete Schofield, and his daughter, Kim Schofield, now owns the rights to it.
The lawsuit notes that the owners reached a written settlement with WWE in 2017 over the use of the sound sample, and received a one-time payment of $50,000. Schofield is now claiming, however, that the company withheld key information during negotiations of this agreement.
It is also said that the company violated the 2017 agreement by releasing a new version of the theme song in 2019, and is seeking more than $150,000 in damages.
John Cena is set to compete in his retirement match during the upcoming Saturday Night's Main Event on December 13, with either LA Knight or Gunther being his final opponent.
