John Cena doesn’t think he ever said ‘no’ to WWE creative decision
During his entire career, John Cena doesn’t think he ever outright said “no” to a creative decision that was made by WWE.
Cena retired from in-ring competition in December 2025 and now works for the company as a brand ambassador. He discussed that new role during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show but also took a moment to look back on his time in the ring. Cena addressed the heel turn that took place during his retirement tour. Though fans ultimately rejected the idea, Cena does not regret it. He enjoyed taking risks creatively and was up for whatever WWE wanted.
“I always like new creative challenges. And that’s why, I mean, very rarely — I honestly don’t think I’ve said ‘no’ to any sort of creative decision in WWE,” Cena said. “I’ve always tried to embrace it and do the best I can. And right up until my final moment of tapping out with fulfillment on my face, which was very mixed reviews on that as well, I always enjoy a creative challenge. I’m not afraid to take those risks.”
Cena’s final match was a loss to Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event. With a smile on his face, Cena tapped out in a sleeper, with the moment intended to mimic a person passing away peacefully at the end of their life.
In his ambassadorial role, Cena hosted WrestleMania 42 and then made an appearance at Backlash, where he announced the “John Cena Classic.” It’s an event that will see main roster stars face off against wrestlers from NXT. At the end of the show, fans will vote to determine a John Cena Classic Champion — with both winners and losers eligible to be voted the winner.
Cena told The Rich Eisen Show that he came up with the idea for the John Cena Classic after featuring NXT talent on the undercard for his retirement show. The wrestlers felt like they were part of something new, and Cena wanted to expand things more with a fan-voting component.
“I kind of wanted to extend it a little bit more. I’m like, how can we involve the fan base?,” Cena said. “So that’s where the fan vote came from. And then I tried to take it a little bit further in saying that like, man, if you’re a talent and you go out and you tear the house down, but you’re this close to winning and maybe you came up short, you still have the opportunity to be in the running to see if you won the fan vote enough to be crowned champion.
No date set for John Cena Classic yet —
There is no date or location set for the John Cena Classic as of this moment. It might be a while before the show actually takes place, as it’s being targeted for the latter part of 2026. Netflix has reportedly expressed interest in broadcasting the event.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.