John Cena revealed new details regarding the upcoming WWE John Cena Classic, confirming that the December 14 event will abandon a traditional tournament structure in favor of an interactive exhibition format.
Speaking with The Takedown on Sports Illustrated, the WWE legend explained that the show will feature main roster stars taking on NXT talent, culminating in separate men’s and women’s champions selected directly by the fans.
Format Overhaul and Dual-RAW Broadcast Schedule
Rather than a multi-round bracket, the event will focus on inter-brand matches between established WWE stars and rising NXT talent:
“They’re all gonna be current [main roster wrestlers] versus NXT,” Cena explained. “It’s very much like Saturday Night’s Main Event [when Cena had his retirement match], and I love that December 14 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.”
The event, taking place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, will anchor a unique night of programming. WWE will broadcast its regularly scheduled episode of Monday Night Raw from Perth, Australia, followed by the WWE John Cena Classic as a second live Raw broadcast on Netflix later that evening.
Interactive Fan Voting and Confirmed Participants
The event will also incorporate live fan voting through Club WWE to determine the evening’s winners:
“Hopefully, if we have the technological acumen to do this, as soon as the last match is over, it’s kinda like American Idol… voting’s open now to Club WWE members,” Cena said. “And when we come back from commercial break, we’re gonna award the women’s champion of the night, and we’re gonna award the men’s champion of the night.”
Cody Rhodes and Zilla Fatu are the first two confirmed participants for the event.
Cena is set to make several WWE television appearances to promote the special, including SmackDown on November 13, Raw on November 16, and Survivor Series on November 28, before appearing live at the event on December 14—exactly one year and one day after his retirement match.
RELATED: John Cena Unveils John Cena Classic Championship And Tournament Details
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