WWE's John Cena Details New Ideas For John Cena Classic, Explains Rationale Behind It

John Cena might have stepped away from active competition following his loss to GUNTHER at Saturday Night's Main Event, but the veteran is far from being done with the industry as a whole. Following his stint hosting WrestleMania 42, Cena returned at Backlash and announced the "John Cena Classic" tournament, that's set to take place on a yet-to-be-announced date. During an interview with US Weekly, Cena clarified the status of the tournament.

"It's still a work in progress," he admitted. "What I want to see is a night of exhibition matches. I always try to say to young talent, 'Tell me who you are in one sentence.' The John Cena Classic is WWE's All Star game. That's the sentence."

Cena explained that the goal is to have a number of exhibition matches between WWE stars across all brands, but that's not where his ideas for the show end.

"I love a world where I personally invite the talent to participate so they know how much it means to me," he said. "I'd love to do a card reveal where you realize the event, and these are the matchups. We've got to figure out the fan vote. I do not want it sabotaged. I do not want it hijacked. I know there's a lot of burner accounts out there and there's a lot of bots out there. Audience participation is what I want, like fair audience participation, because I'm the success story."

Cena said he's "trying to encompass my journey in an evening," recalling that he was going to be fired before getting a second chance and winning over the fans. That's why the audience participation element is so important.

"This is a night where you can put down your business card and say you're going to remember this name," he said. "It's truly just an exhibition of our best and brightest of today and tomorrow, and you never know what's going to happen."