John Cena Match Placement Reportedly Still Undecided & More Backstage News for 12/13 WWE SNME Show

This Saturday’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. is scheduled to feature John Cena facing off against Gunther in Cena’s retirement match for his wrestling career.

Bryan Alvarez reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Live that his sources stated that WWE officials had yet to finalize their plans for the placement of Cena’s match on the show as of Thursday.

Alvarez reported that Cena has said both publicly and privately to others that he wants his retirement match to go on first to open the show. This idea reportedly was 100% Cena’s for his choice of spot on the show.

Alvarez also reported that Cena legitimately had wanted NXT wrestlers on the upcoming show so that they could be showcased for his final in-ring appearance of his wrestling career. Cena reportedly also wanted to open the show so that the NXT wrestlers can be seen as the main eventers for the company’s future.

WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select reported that their sources confirmed that WWE officials have yet to finalize the placement for Cena’s retirement match and provided additional details.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that the majority of the people within WWE want Cena vs. Gunther to close out the show. It was reported that both ideas of Cena’s match opening and closing the show have been considered by WWE officials.

In regards to the show itself, WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select reported in a separate report that WWE officials have held talks since this past August about changing the 1980s retro nostalgic presentation to their Saturday Night’s Main Event shows going forward. It was reported that it is currently not known if this new presentation change will be permanent or just temporary for this weekend’s show.

It was reported that the next SNME show in January of 2026 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is currently being advertised with the retro show branding which could mean that the presentation changes would only be for one-night only.

In regards to potential surprise appearances for this Saturday’s show, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE officials currently are working on plans to have some surprises for their upcoming show.

Johnson reported that CM Punk is currently scheduled to be in attendance while WWE officials have held talks about Joe Hendry making a potential appearance at the upcoming show.