The John Cena Classic is being targeted for the latter part of 2026, per PWInsider, which reported the timeline was discussed at a recent WWE Town Hall. Internal speculation points to early December as a possible target, which would align with the first anniversary of Cena’s in-ring retirement.
Cena announced the Classic at Backlash as a main roster vs. NXT showcase event with fan voting determining a champion — a wrestler can win the vote even if they lost their match. No date, venue, or participant list has been finalized. Cena has said the project took four or five months just to get a formal meeting with Triple H after the initial concept was pitched, followed by roughly two more months of working out details.