John Cena’s newly announced John Cena Classic Championship is already drawing debate before the tournament even begins.

Cena recently confirmed that the upcoming competition will feature both WWE main roster stars and NXT talent competing under a fan driven system. Rather than wins and losses alone deciding the outcome, the eventual John Cena Classic Champion will reportedly be determined through fan voting.

That means a wrestler could technically lose matches during the tournament and still walk away as champion if they gain enough support from the audience.

Lance Storm Questions The Format

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Lance Storm raised concerns about how the concept could affect locker room dynamics and the willingness of wrestlers to help elevate opponents on television.

“If I’m a $500,000 main roster talent and I’m in there with a $75,000 a year NXT guy, why would I use my skill and my experience to make him look good? If he wins the popularity contest and wins and gets the push to the championship, I could lose my job” Lance noted. “Because there is going top be a TKO executive saying, ‘well why are we paying this guy that lost the fan vote and is less over than this NXT guy that works for way less money?'”

Storm also explained that the uncertainty surrounding fan voting could impact the teamwork needed to build strong wrestling matches.

“If I know ahead of time, ‘Hey, you’re getting a push, we wanna protect this guy,’ I’ll make him look good. But if I don’t know who’s winning or losing the actual fan vote, it’s no longer in my interest to make the guy look good.”

The John Cena Classic has already become one of WWE’s most talked about upcoming projects, with many fans curious to see how the company balances traditional storytelling with a format centered around audience participation.

.@JohnCena just announced the John Cena Classic! 👏

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, WWE (@WWE) May 10, 2026