John Cena Reveals The Origins of John Cena Classic Concept

John Cena recently opened up about the origins of the “John Cena Classic” concept.

As previously noted, the 17-time World Champion appeared at Backlash: Tampa earlier this month and announced the “John Cena Classic.” The winner of the tournament, Cena announced, would be decided by a fan vote, which would override the results of the matches that would take place between main roster stars and NXT talent.

On The Rich Eisen Show, Cena revealed the origins of the concept. Cena revealed that after the success of last December’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, which, apart from his retirement match, also showcased matches between main roster talent and NXT performers, he wanted to build on the concept.

Here’s what Cena said:

On the concept of last December’s SNME that featured his retirement bout

“Man, I can tell you I’m pumped, and I can tell you this is an idea from me, and I can also tell you that this is going to get a lot of chatter, too, because the audience is kind of every which way, but loose on this. I got this idea from that last event, that Saturday Night’s Main Event, where Gunther and I were to close the show. But the idea for the opening of the show and the way I wanted to promote it was instead of doing, you know, a 90-minute tribute showing highlights and interviews of folks to essentially my career, there’s no pay it forward there.

“So I chose to use the rest of the evening as showcasing marquee superstars as a way to get crowds in the building and keep them excited. You hear the music of your favorite superstar, and that’s great, and pair them up against the future of our business. Names like Sol Ruca, Je’Von Evans, and certainly Oba Femi, they all kind of debuted on our grand stage that day. I thought the event went well. Not only was it well received by the audience, sans my part in the ending, which is okay, because I’m a polarizing guy; I can bear the weight on my shoulders.”

On the origins of the “John Cena Classic”

“When I promoted it, people enjoyed the idea. When we executed it, people enjoyed the event, and more importantly, the talent. It’s not like the talent aren’t excited for an event, but the talent felt like they were part of something new, and that was really important. So I got the idea from there, and then I kind of wanted to extend it a little bit more. I’m like, ‘How can we involve the fan base?’ So that’s where the fan vote came from, and then I tried to take it a little bit futher in saying that, like, “Man… if you’re a talent and you go out and you actually tear the house down but you’re this close to winning and maybe you come short, you still have the opportunity to be in the running to see if you won the fan vote enough to be crowned champion.”

Listen to his comments below:

Following Cena’s announcement at Backlash, the Wrestling Observer reported that WWE has yet to zero in on the concept of the show. 411Mania will provide an update on the concept if and when it’s available.

Please credit The Rich Eisen Show and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.