After John Cena's confusing Backlash announcement, WWE should tone down the constant hype
Not every show has to be sold as "historic," particularly since so few of them actually are.
Another WWE PLE, another "history-making" moment that proved to be nothing of the sort. In the end, John Cena's much-hyped appearance Saturday at WWE Backlash 2026 turned out to be the announcement of a new event — loosely based on last December’s special Saturday Night’s Main Event, in which NXT upstarts collided with their WWE main roster counterparts. Naturally, it didn't exactly set the internet alight.
It didn't help that the concept itself wasn't the easiest to explain. We know that it will be called the "John Cena Classic," but while the man himself implied that it would be some kind of structured contest — note that he didn't actually use the word "tournament" — he also told us that the ultimate winner would be defined by some kind of public vote. So as clear as mud then.
Having some kind of special show in which one NXT talent is given a fast-track pass to the main roster isn't a bad idea (particularly given the fuss they're currently making over Will Kross/Mason Rook). Though this being TKO , you can bet that public vote will have some conditions — perhaps they'll limit participation to members of Club WWE, or just give mega-votes to celebrity types, the wrestling equivalent of super-delegates. Anyway, I digress.
What really rankled about the whole announcement wasn't necessarily the convoluted nature of the nascent John Cena Classic, but the fact that the announcement had been hyped up so much in the first place — to the extent that you even had some people speculating Cena might be about to declare he was un-retiring. Of course, the problem about this kind of hype-and-deflate cycle is that it only takes the shine off the event itself — which is a particular downer given that, as our review on Saturday night made clear, Backlash itself was a pretty solid event . Not least as it culminated in a ferocious match between Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu, which practically radiated "big fight feel" from start to finish.
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