Former WWE star comments on a potential issue with the John Cena Classic concept
During the 2026 WWE Backlash PLE, John Cena announced the first-ever “John Cena Classic” — the best of today vs. the best of tomorrow. Cena confirmed that there will be a new event and a new championship. The fans will also determine the winner through a voting process.
While speaking on F4WOnline.com’s Wrestling Observer Live, former WWE star Lance Storm commented on a potential issue with the format…
“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. 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?’”
“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.”