WWE appears to have made significant progress on plans for the John Cena Classic.
During a panel at Fan Expo Canada over the weekend, John Cena was asked for an update on the upcoming event. Cena could not reveal when or where the show will take place, but indicated that WWE has moved beyond the planning stages and now has the details worked out.
“As far as the John Cena Classic goes, I can’t say nothing right now,” Cena said. “Normally — so I don’t want to leave you without an answer — normally, I want to say, ‘We’re figuring out the details.’ I’ll say this: we have all the details.”
He wasn’t done there.
“You just gotta hang in there with me, because they want me to keep it a secret until it’s time to say it,” Cena continued. “But we got a lot of information we’re going to dump on you. It just ain’t going to be today. I’m very excited about it. I really am, I really am excited.”
The John Cena Classic is expected to feature talent from both WWE’s main roster and NXT competing in matches. At the end of the event, fans will vote to determine the John Cena Classic Champion, with the format allowing a wrestler to potentially win the overall competition even if they lose their match.
Saturday, December 12 had previously been floated as a potential date for the event. However, WWE has since announced Wrestlepalooza 2026 for that same day in Perth, Australia, leaving the timing of the Cena Classic unclear.
The December timeframe would notably fall around the one-year anniversary of Cena’s final match. Cena concluded his in-ring career with a loss to GUNTHER at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, 2025.
Also during the Fan Expo Canada appearance, John Cena said “No Khan, Nick or Tony, has the money for him to consider a pro wrestling return in WWE or AEW.
