With the inaugural WWE John Cena Classic now just one month away on December 14, we have been learning of more and more names that will be competing at the event.
Following on from Cody Rhodes and Zilla Fatu receiving their invites last week, this past Tuesday’s NXT saw Kelani Jordan, Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno also get announced for the event.
John Cena will be returning to SmackDown for the first time in over a year during tonight’s November 13 episode in Fort Lauderdale, and the expectation is that he will announcing another major name for the John Cena Classic.
Here are three names we could see invited during tonight’s SmackDown:
CM Punk
The John Cena Classic is set to feature a mixture of established stars and rising talent, and we have already seen an example of the former when Cody Rhodes received the first invite during the November 2 WWE Raw.
While Cena and Rhodes have no shortage of history, CM Punk is one of, if not THE greatest rival Cena had in his storied career. While personal history doesn’t necessitate an invite, Cena will know how much a match with Punk could benefit the host of young talent coming through the ranks of NXT.
With Punk seemingly set for a period away from the Undisputed WWE Title picture, he is also someone who should be free and available to take on an opportunity like the John Cena Classic without it derailing any creative plans.
Trick Williams
Trick Williams is someone who could be considered both established, and a rising star in WWE. Within one year on SmackDown he has become one of the most popular stars on the roster, a two-time United States Champion and someone who just challenged Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Title a few weeks ago.
Trick is someone that Cena might see some of his younger self in, as he too began as a brash heel on SmackDown before turning babyface and capturing the US Title in his first WrestleMania match.
Recognizing the similarities in their path to the top, Cena could give Trick a golden ticket to adding another major accolade to his name by becoming the first John Cena Classic Champion.
GUNTHER
No matter what accolades superstars like Trick Williams achieve in WWE, there is one that he will never have: being the man who retired John Cena.
That title of course belongs to GUNTHER, who, almost one year ago, forced Cena to submit in his final match at the December 13, 2025 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Now, WWE has not done a great job with booking “The Career Killer” since that point, and it could be argued that they wasted Cena’s retirement on GUNTHER given how poorly they followed up on it over the past year.
Regardless of that, Cena will still hold a lot of respect for GUNTHER and it would make sense for him to want the man who retired him involved in the first-ever John Cena Classic.
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