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John Cena Breaks Silence On Criticism After Blockbuster WWE Announcement

By Harikesh Shekhar • Published May 15, 2026 06:45 EDT
John Cena WWE
John Cena at Backlash (Image Source-WWE.com)

John Cena has now spoken out regarding the criticism he received after his history-altering announcement at Backlash.

John Cena retired from professional wrestling last year at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December at the hands of Gunther when he tapped out to Gunther’s deadly sleeper hold.

Although this confirmed Cena‘s in-ring retirement, the GOAT later signed a new five-year deal with WWE. He made a splash return last month at WrestleMania 42, where he hosted the show.

Soon after this appearance, WWE announced that Cena would appear once again, this time at the Backlash PLE to make a major announcement.

This got the fans hyped, and when Cena eventually came out at Backlash, he revealed that he and WWE would make history with the introduction of a new tournament called the John Cena Classic.

Very few details were revealed about the tournament and the event itself during Cena’s short announcement. One key talking point was that fans get to vote for the winner of the tournament based on the wrestler’s hustle, irrespective of whether the wrestler in question has won or lost the tournament.

This immediately sparked outrage from a portion of the fan base, which did not understand the logic behind the tournament’s rules. John Cena has now come out and spoken against the criticism his tournament has received so far.

John Cena Reacts To Criticisms Of The John Cena Classic

WrestlePurists shared Cena’s statement reacting to criticisms for the John Cena classic on X and tagged Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports as the source.

In the statement, Cena says that it’s not possible to reveal all the rules of the tournament in a five-minute segment, which was his announcement at Backlash. Also, in the statement, Cena doubles down on the idea of fans being able to vote for their favourite wrestler, which is something that hasn’t been done before.

If you steal the show, and maybe you’re not lucky enough to get the one, two, three and get your hand raised, every participant qualifies for kind of a fan all star vote. So you could be recognized as the night’s champion. I’ve heard the perspective of wins and losses don’t matter. That’s a very valid point. I love listening to feedback. We’ve gotta figure out the fan votes. There’s still a lot to be done, but you can vote for the winners.

You just can also vote for everybody. And that’s a first time. So in an announcement this big, there is a lot of history being made. We’re coming up with a new event. We’re coming up with a new championship. We’re gonna give NXT people a chance to face WWE people in exhibition matches that are just a standalone part of the event. And the fans are gonna be able to vote, and everybody qualifies.

That’s a lot of information to do in one five minute interview, so I expected questions. It’s really exciting. I’m trying to do something new. WWE, we’re trying to do something new.

Cena closes by saying that it wouldn’t be normal if everyone were on board with the rules of the event, as Cena has been a polarizing figure over the past 23 years with a divided fan base.

And that’s gonna come with praise, it’s also gonna come with critique. And as one of the most polarizing figures in WWE over the past 23 years, man, it wouldn’t be normal if there wasn’t folks that were cheering and folks that weren’t.

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