John Cena Announces Creation Of The John Cena Classic At WWE Backlash 2026

What John Cena teased would be a "history-making" announcement at Backlash 2026 was ultimately the creation of a new event and a new championship.

John Cena appeared before the main event of Backlash and after reflecting upon his final match at the December 13, 2025 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, Cena noted he was "truly happy" with his final bow because the event ended up featuring then-NXT talents like Oba Femi, Je'Von Evans, and Sol Ruca.

Cena wanted to take that concept further, though, and he announced the creation of the John Cena Classic, which will be an event featuring WWE main roster talents taking on NXT wrestlers in the hopes of being crowned the John Cena Classic Champion. A wrestler can't win that belt in a match, though, and Cena revealed it will be determined by a fan vote, with the wrestler who secures the most votes becoming the champion. This ultimately means a wrestler can become the John Cena Classic Champion without actually winning a professional wrestling match.

Within the promo, John Cena signalled the concept was his idea and thanked WWE for allowing him to create the event. When the show will take place was not revealed.