In speaking exclusively to The Takedown on SI, WWE’s John Cena revealed new details for the John Cena Classic, while clearing up some misconceptions about the event next month.
Cena said it will not not feature a bracket-style tournament, as some fans had speculated. It will instead be centered around a series of exhibition matches, much like how it was determined who is final opponent was for his retirement match last December.
“They’re all gonna be current [main roster stars] versus NXT. It’s very much like Saturday Night’s Main Event, and I love that December 14th is the date, because that’s one year and one day from my last match. And as soon as I retired, on the way home, I was thinking about how I can [stay] involved.”
Cena also stated in the interview, the Classic idea and concept was taken from other mainstream sporting events.
“I wanna try to create [something like] an Arnold Classic. I took a lot from the Arnold Classic. I took a lot from fan appreciation nights. I took a lot from All-Star games, but I wanna create that situation where fans can come to an event they know every year, they know what the situation is, and we’re in the pilot.”
At the time of this writing, Cody Rhodes and Zilla Fatu are first two participants invited to the John Cena Classic.
The John Cena Classic will take place during a second episode of Monday Night Raw on December 14 at the ESPN Wild World Of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The first-ever Cena Classic champion will be awarded a belt that is similar to his old WWE spinner championship belt. Those who are WWE Club Members will get to vote on John Cena Classic participants.
