WWE: John Cena on John Cena Classic Concept Still Being a “Work in Progress”, Backstage Update on WWE Ticket Pricing for This Summer’s WWE House Show Events, Visual Concepts Layoffs Reportedly Effect WWE 2K Developer Teams

John Cena on John Cena Classic Concept Still Being a “Work in Progress”

As noted before, this past Saturday’s WWE Backlash 2026 event in Tampa, Florida featured John Cena unveiling a new event called The John Cena Classic and a new fan voted championship called the Cena Classic Championship. This new event was stated to feature WWE main roster talent competing in matches against NXT brand talent.

Adam’s Apple held a recent interview with Cena. One of the topics discussed included Cena’s thoughts about the John Cena Classic tournament concept still being a “work in progress.”

“Oh my God, I’m super excited… It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and again, we’re still working things out and I like that. I like that it’s a work in progress but this is absolutely from me. I can’t tell you how excited I am about it. I am fully invested in this, so, I can’t wait to see what it is, I can’t wait till we announce the date and location and I think that’s obviously step one and we’ll go from there.”

Cena also gave his thoughts about who is on his radar for the John Cena Classic.

“Here’s an interesting perspective… I try to shut my radar off. Because I wasn’t on anybody’s radar, and I managed to have a wonderful career. Guys like CM Punk, and even Seth Rollins, might not necessarily be on somebody’s radar. Becky Lynch is a story about someone who was not necessarily on somebody’s radar and made something. There are sure shots. Brock Lesnar was born to do what we do. I think Joe Anoa’i, Roman Reigns is another one… I like turning the radar off and I like seeing what people can do. I like seeing potential when the bright lights are on and maybe that’s the nucleus of the John Cena Classic. It’s how I got my start.”

Transcript h/t: Figthtful.com

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Backstage Update on WWE Ticket Pricing for This Summer’s WWE House Show Events

As noted before, WWE recently announced several new dates for their upcoming 2026 Summer Tour live events schedule.

The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported that his sources stated that WWE’s ticket prices for their upcoming house show events are currently expected to be “far more affordable” than prices have been for WWE events in recent times.

In a follow-up report, Alvarez reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Live that those spoken to stated that the number one thing he has heard was the idea is that these upcoming house show events for WWE are going to be “much more affordable” shows.

Alvarez also gave his thoughts about the value and importance of house shows for wrestlers getting more in-ring experience for their wrestling careers.

“I think that house shows are an important part of professional wrestling. I think that every organization should run house show tours. I think that, you know, if you are not on the main roster of a major company, you should be going out there getting as many dates as you possibly can, obviously. And I’m glad to see that WWE’s got some house show dates.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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Visual Concepts Layoffs Reportedly Effect WWE 2K Developer Teams

Insider Gamer’s Mike Straw reported that his sources stated that company-wide layoffs have recently taken place at game developer studio Visual Concepts.

Straw reported that the WWE 2K team and WWE 2K25: Netflix teams have been hit the hardest by this wave of layoffs.

Straw reported that those spoken to within Netflix stated that those in charge felt that the WWE 2K25: Netflix edition of the game did not meet their expectations. One source spoken to reportedly stated that Netflix officials had expected the game to be a mobile game despite that was something it was never designed to be.

Netflix reportedly opted to not renew its deal for the Netflix Editions of WWE 2K26 or WWE 2K27 which left an entire dev team without projects moving forward within Visual Concepts.

Visual Concepts has been the developer for the WWE 2K series since 2019.