Cena's 16-Man Tournament To Decide Farewell Opponent

WWE will hold a 16-man “Last Time Is Now” tournament to determine John Cena’s final WWE opponent, with his farewell match set for Dec. 13, 2025, at Saturday Night’s Main Event at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The bracket begins next Monday on Monday Night Raw in Boston and will draw from Raw, SmackDown, NXT and possibly unaffiliated stars; WWE said the Dec. 13 special will air live on Peacock in the U.S. and on Netflix internationally. WWE and Raw officials have already booked first-round matches — Rusev vs. Damian Priest and Sheamus vs. Shinsuke Nakamura — and promotional footage suggests the bracket will be male-only, prompting questions about female inclusion and speculation about surprise entrants from AAA, TNA, AEW or returning legends. The announcement has generated immediate reactions inside WWE, including NXT’s Brooks Jensen calling out Cena, as the company prepares a multiweek tournament to cap Cena’s farewell tour, which includes Raw appearances on Nov. 10 (his hometown) and Nov. 17 at Madison Square Garden. Holding the 2026 Royal Rumble in Riyadh on Jan. 31 has raised concerns that sneaking surprise entrants into that show will be logistically difficult, potentially pushing big reveals to the prior week's Saturday Night’s Main Event in Montreal (SNME XLIII on Jan. 24, 2026 at the Bell Centre). Separately, longtime referee Charles Robinson announced on Instagram that his nephew Shane was killed on Oct. 28, drawing condolences from fans and fellow wrestlers.