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The legendary career of John Cena will come to an end on the 13th of December and WWE have come up with a unique way to decide his final opponent. The 17-time world champion now has just four appearances left of his 36-date 'farewell tour', which began back in January at the debut on Raw on Netflix. Since the beginning of his final year in the ring, Cena has mixed it up with both old foes and some of the best talent from the modern era. Feuds with the likes of CM Punk, Randy Orton and AJ Styles had a nostalgic vibe, while Cena proved he could still perform to a high level in gripping matches against Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul. With a career and reputation as storied as Cena's, though, he was never going to have the chance to work with everyone he wanted to with such a limited number of dates available. In an attempt to pay homage to those he had shared the ring with in the past, John's most recent matches have seen him adopt the moves of some of his greatest rivals as he moves towards the final bouts of his career. Although he still has a handful of shows left as an active Superstar, Cena's final bow will come at Saturday Night's Main Event in Washington DC in mid-December. Such is the prestige of sharing the ring with the sports entertainment icon on his final night that WWE have scheduled a huge tournament to decide who Cena will face. During this past weekend's edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Cena narrated a video package confirming the tournament. The 48-year-old stated that the field would include competitors from Raw, SmackDown, NXT and "even some faces that don't even work here". Below is a look at the 16-man line-up that WWE should book in Cena's 'Last Time is Now Tournament'. Participants have been split into four categories: Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Outside WWE. Selections have been made based on clues provided on WWE television (such as Superstars featured in Saturday's video package), as well as some more obscure options based on comments made over the last year. It has also been assumed that every man in the tournament will be someone that Cena hasn't faced so far on his farewell tour. Raw Rusev, Sheamus, LA Knight, Penta, Bronson Reed, Gunther and Dominik Mysterio Of the 11 Superstars shown during Cena's introductory video for the tournament, seven currently compete on Monday nights. The West Newbury, Massachusetts native has a storied past with both Rusev and Sheamus. He defeated the 'Bulgarian Brute' to win the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31 and once lost the WWE Championship to the Irishman (at TLC 2009). There are some fresh potential opponents for Cena from the red brand, though. Both Dominik Mysterio and Gunther have been widely rumoured as possible foes for the WWE legend, while the likes of Penta, Bronson Reed and LA Knight could also benefit from sharing the stage with 'Big Match John'. SmackDown The Miz, Solo Sikoa, Drew McIntyre and Carmelo Hayes Cena officially made his last SmackDown appearance back in September, but that doesn't mean he couldn't face a Superstar from the blue brand in his final outing. The Miz has openly campaigned to face Cena during 2025, having faced off with him in the main event of WrestleMania 27 in 2011. John also has a past rivalry with Solo Sikoa, while Drew McIntyre is one of the few main eventers that Cena has yet to face in his WWE career. The departing star spoke about the desire to work with up-and-coming talent during his retirement run and Carmelo Hayes certainly fits that description. It would be no surprise to see the former NXT Champion get a spot in the tournament. NXT Brooks Jensen Speaking of NXT, Cena has opened up the tournament to Superstars from WWE's third brand. With so much competition for a spot in the field, though, athletes are going to have to go out of their way to get themselves noticed and come up with a compelling reason why they should get an invite. Second-generation Superstar Brooks Jensen has done just that. The son of John's former tag team partner, Bull Buchanan (aka B2), Jensen took to social media on Saturday night to announce that he had been waiting 22 years to get revenge on Cena for dumping his father as his tag team partner in 2003. Shortly after the end of his association with Cena, Buchanan was released from his WWE contract. Jensen wrote: "It’s been 22 years since John Cena screwed my father's career over… maybe my time is now?" It remains to be seen if he will be handed the opportunity. Outside WWE Edge, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler and Joe Hendry When it comes to names outside WWE that could be brought back for the 'Last Time is Now' tournament, some options are easier to imagine than others. However, fans have made it clear that they consider Edge (who now works for rival promotion All Elite Wrestling under his real name of Adam Copeland) to be Cena's greatest rival. Thousands of fans sang Edge's theme song at Chief Content Officer Paul 'Triple H' Levesque after the Crown Jewel PLE last month, demanding that the 'Rated R Superstar' return to the company to face Cena. Naturally, with the performer being under contract to a competitor, that is not exactly straightforward. However, stranger things have happened in professional wrestling history, and it is feasible - if not particularly likely - that WWE could reach out to AEW boss Tony Khan to make a deal, even if only for one appearance. On the subject of AEW, former multi-time world champion Chris Jericho is heavily rumoured to be on the verge of a return to WWE following the end of his contract with the Jacksonville-based promotion. It would be a surprise at this point if Jericho did not make a comeback over the next few months and Cena's farewell tournament would be the ideal place to make an impact. WWE's working relationship with TNA Wrestling means that there is huge scope for the company to bring in outside talent from the TNA roster. Dolph Ziggler - who currently performs for TNA under his real name of Nic Nemeth - was a rival of Cena's for many years in WWE. John even acknowledged Nemeth by name on SmackDown this summer while saying hello to a number of his friends outside WWE during his own version of the legendary 'Pipe Bomb' promo. Lastly, no outside talent has been more vocal about getting the opportunity to work with Cena than former TNA World Champion Joe Hendry. The Scotsman has been campaigning for the match for years and WWE is clearly high on the viral sensation, having booked him to appear in the 2025 Royal Rumble as well as to wrestle Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41. With the tournament set to get underway on the 10th of November edition of Raw, WWE fans don't have long to wait until at least a portion of the field is officially announced. Cena's farewell match is a genuinely historic occasion and the tournament which surrounds it looks as though it will provide for some memorable television leading up to John's December goodbye.
