WWE Has No Idea What the John Cena Classic Will Look Like

With Clash in Italy in the record books, Triple H and the creative team look ahead to Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia on June 27th.

This means the King/Queen of the Ring tournaments are happening as we speak, with the finals at Night of Champions. During the Clash in Italy post-show, WWE revealed the brackets for both men and women.

The first round is a four-way, and then singles matches take place after. If you’re a little confused about the format, don’t worry, because Joe Tessitore accidentally started listing off the first-round matchups as 1v1 before correcting himself. He wasn’t the only one, either.

One of the most puzzling decisions was to put Liv Morgan, the Raw Women’s Champion, in the Queen of the Ring. She explained that she wanted to ‘take it all’. With Stephanie Vaquer on the shelf, Creative has nothing for Morgan, so they shoehorned her in.

Another error on WWE’s part was putting Drew McIntyre in the bracket despite him starring in the ‘Highlander’ movie. He was replaced on Raw by Sami Zayn.

One notable absence is Ilja Dragonuv, who hasn’t been seen on TV for months. Per Dave Meltzer, Dragonuv is seen by the creative team as a mid-carder who doesn’t have great mic skills. They don’t favor one-dimensional characters, even when they can put on a barn burner.

Here is a breakdown of the KOTR tournament:

Men’s First Round: Oba Femi defeated Solo Sikoa, Penta, and Carmelo Hayes

Dominik Mysterio advanced with help from the Judgement Day, beating Bron Breakker, Trick Williams, and Damian Priest

Je’Von Evans upset Seth Rollins, Talla Tonga, and Ricky Saints

Jey Uso ‘Yeeted’ his way to victory against LA Knight, Finn Balor, and Royce Keys

Expect Dominik Mysterio to advance to the finals with the help of Judgement Day, along with Brock Lesnar targeting Femi in the segment to set up their rubber match at SummerSlam. Hopefully, WWE doesn’t have Jey Uso win the tournament and challenge Roman Reigns for the title, but I see that being a very good possibility.

Now for the Women’s side:

Raw Women’s Champion Liv Morgan wins in the first round, featuring Chelsea Green, Becky Lynch, and Alexa Bliss

Iyo Sky continues her success w/o tag partner Rhea Ripley, taking down Roxanne Perez, Lash Legenda, and Guilia.

Finally, Raquel Rodriguez will face Sky in the semifinals after outlasting Bayley, Jacy Jayne, and Kiana James. Post-match, James accused Guilia of costing her the match, leading to the former Women’s US Champion breaking up their alliance.

Charlotte Flair beat Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria, and Jade Cargill

There are only two options here, and only one makes sense. Flair, the QUEEN, wins the tournament and challenges Rhea Ripley. Or Iyo Sky wins and goes after her former tag partner, Rhea Ripley. However, reports have emerged that Ripley has a knee injury, so maybe Morgan will become a double champion.

Despite this tourney underway, creative doesn’t have a winner set in stone. The original plan was for Seth Rollins to win and face Roman Reigns at SummerSlam, but WWE swerved all of us and gave Je’Von Evans the win. We could be seeing the two former SHIELD members collide at WrestleMania 43 instead.

While WWE prepares for its second event in Saudi Arabia, it has another tournament to mull over as the year concludes. Unlike the K/QOTR, this one has very little clarity.

There are very few details on the ‘John Cena Classic.’ In the buildup to Backlash, John Cena tweeted he had ground-breaking news that would change the game forever. Media outlets and streamers were certain he’d tell the WWE Universe more information about ‘Club WWE’. That was the original plan.

‘Club WWE’ offers fans the Ultimate Insider Experience, including exclusive merchandise, early access to tickets, a custom-made entrance, and membership perks. Instead, upper management heard the rumblings that fans would be very disappointed and might BOO John Cena. Heaven forbid that would happen. They pivoted toward the following, telling Cena to sell it as best he could.

Cena appeared at Backlash and announced the ‘John Cena Classic’. He declared it would be a tournament featuring superstars from NXT and the main roster. Then added that the fans will vote on who will be crowned the winner. Lastly, Cena said that superstars can still win the tournament even if they lose their matches.

One media analyst joked that in the finals, Oba Femi would beat Joe Hendry but would lose the tourney because the fans adored Hendry’s concert post-match. That is a possibility, but what’s the point of having NXT wrestlers beat their opponents from Raw or SmackDown when winning and losing don’t matter?

At least the fan voting sounds legit, similar to the Taboo Tuesday/Cyber Sunday PPVs. Many believe that WWE will require fans to vote via the Club WWE app, meaning it’d be a cash grab.

Cena even responded to the backlash by tweeting on X that he was firmly behind this idea and he, along with everyone, is working to hash out the specifics. In the weeks following this reveal, reports indicated WWE didn’t have a clue when or how the Classic would function. The 17-time WWE Champion suggested they have it in December to pay homage to his retirement at Saturday Night’s Main Event last year.

Even more bizarre is that the winner gets a ‘John Cena Championship’ belt. Got a hunch this belt will be as significant as the Crown Jewel belt that the King and Queen of the Ring winners get to wear. It will be featured on the PLE and then disappear off the face of the earth as soon as the event goes off the air.

WWE is just as puzzled as their fanbase on what this ‘John Cena Classic’ is going to look like. How will the voting system work, and how will superstars react when they roll through the competition but aren’t given the title because the crowd deemed someone else more worthy?

On the bright side, this PLE will probably be on Peacock at an SNME like Cena’s retirement match was last year. This means the streaming quality will be crisper and the ads less prevalent, whereas if this took place on ESPN, it might lose momentum with the number of gaps/ads in between each match.

There’s plenty of time for WWE to figure out the details for this tournament honoring one of the most decorated superstars in the company's history.

Lastly, keep on the lookout for more KOTR action as we build towards yet another PLE in Saudi Arabia. Their deal with KSA expires after WrestleMania 43 next year, so time will tell what the future looks like there.