John Cena announced the inaugural John Cena Classic event earlier this year in May at the WWE Backlash premium live event.
The Never Seen 17 made a special appearance on the November 2 edition of Monday Night Raw, where he revealed that the event will be held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, December 14.
The event will have exhibition-style matches featuring established main roster superstars facing upcoming NXT talent across separate men’s and women’s divisions. The winners will be decided based on a fan voting system via Club WWE.
Last week on Monday Night Raw, The Never Seen 17 unveiled the championship title and also named former Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes as the first invitee. Then, the next day at WWE NXT, Cena invited Zilla Fatu.
Noam Dar, Romeo Moreno, & Kelani Jordan: The Three New Invitees Of The John Cena Classic
On this week’s edition of WWE NXT, the 17-time World Champion appeared in pre-recorded backstage segments throughout the broadcast to surprise the talent.
He handed out serialized briefcases and challenge coins to the tag duo of Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno, as well as the NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan, officially inviting them to the John Cena Classic.
ONE SHOT LANI 😤
@kelani_wwe has been invited to join the John Cena Classic!
#WWENXT https://t.co/kUcvE7lXw1
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2026
Cena said he was inspired for his John Cena Classic by the All-Star Game and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s annual Arnold Classic sports festival. He aims to create a recurring annual showcase that highlights the future of the wrestling business.
So far, five superstars have been invited to the John Cena Classic. The WWE veteran is scheduled to appear on Friday Night SmackDown in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on November 13, and on the November 16 edition of Monday Night Raw in Raleigh, North Carolina. Fans can expect more names to be invited on these days.
