Several more WWE stars were added to the John Cena Classic lineup during the November 13 edition of Friday Night SmackDown.
John Cena invited Lainey Reid, Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne of Fatal Influence to compete to become the inaugural John Cena Classic Champion.
Prior to this, John Cena opened the show by revealing that Charlotte Flair will compete at this event, which will take place during the December 14 Raw episode in Orlando.
Charlotte Flair and Fatal Influence now join Cody Rhodes, Zilla Fatu, Kelani Jordan, Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno in the announced lineup for the John Cena Classic, during which the inaugural champion will be determined in a fan-vote on Club WWE.
Flair is one of the more senior names in the tournament, which has resulted in some asking, why was Charlotte Flair chosen to compete in the John Cena Classic tournament?
Soon-to-be-seen 18?
At WrestleMania 41, John Cena defeated Cody Rhodes to win the Undisputed WWE Championship in one of the most historic title changes in company history.
It was so historic as with this victory, Cena earned his 17th world title, breaking the record for the most world championship reigns recognised by WWE.
Cena broke the record which had long been held by Ric Flair, with WWE consistently recognizing Ric as a 16-time world champion.
Charlotte Flair is closing in on this, having 14 recognised world championship reigns on the main roster. She stated several times in the past that she intended to break her father’s record, and after Cena’s 17th world title victory, has had her sights set on Cena’s record too.
At Royal Rumble 2025 at the beginning of his retirement tour, John Cena stated that he didn’t want to win 17 for himself, he wanted to do it so he could shake the hand of the individual who eventually wins 18.
During their SmackDown appearance together on Friday, Cena told Charlotte that he was always talking about her when he made these comments.
Not just “Ric Flair’s kid”
Also on Friday, Charlotte Flair also emotionally spoke about an interaction she had with John Cena two years ago after WrestleMania 41, when she felt lost in her life and her career.
Charlotte opened up about a backstage moment when Cena told her to stop trying to be perfect and to own who she is, which inspired her to look at her WWE role in a different way.
The Queen thanked Cena for reigniting her passion and not looking at her like she was just Ric Flair’s kid.
In response, John Cena praised Charlotte for making everything look easy, and referenced conversations that they had previously had about living up to her father’s name, her brother and the women’s evolution.
If it wasn’t clear before, this segment made it abundantly obvious that John and Charlotte have a lot of respect for one another.
Women’s wrestling veteran
While the John Cena Classic will put a big focus on up-and-coming names, the younger stars will need more experienced wrestlers to go up against.
This is the role which Cody Rhodes appears to be in for the men’s matches, with Charlotte Flair now able to play the role of “decorated former champion” on the women’s side.
It will be interesting to see who Charlotte is matched up against on December 14, with that star having an amazing opportunity to show the world what they can do against one of the most dominant female wrestlers in WWE history.
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