Major WWE Star is Returning for John Cena’s Retirement Tournament

The bracket is nearly complete as opening-round matches for “The Last Time is Now” Tournament are underway. The 16-man tournament will feature competitors all vying to earn the honor of being John Cena’s final opponent. “Raw” General Manager Adam Pearce pulled four more names out of his tumbler Monday night at the TD Garden in Boston. Former World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER will be returning from injury next Monday night inside of Madison Square Garden to take on “NXT’s” Je’Von Evans. Meanwhile, Solo Sikoa will battle an opponent that Pearce did not spoil. The leader of the MFT’s will have to wait to find out his opponent until next week. Those two announcements came on the heels of the first two opening round matches. Both matches saw Rusev and Sheamus advance to the semi-finals by defeating Damian Priest and Shinsuke Nakamura, respectively. The final four competitors of the tournament are expected to be unveiled this Friday on “SmackDown”. John Cena said that Monday night’s show from his hometown was going to be a special one, and he delivered on that promise. He captured the Men’s Intercontinental Championship from “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio in an impromptu match to begin the evening’s festivities. This is the first time in his career that Cena has held the Men’s IC Title. With his victory Monday night, he officially became a WWE Grand Slam Champion with just three dates remaining before his retirement. He’s one of fewer than two dozen men ever to accomplish that feat. More news: WWE Superstar Announces Retirement Match NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 23: John Cena enters the ring at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on August 23, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images) With an extremely limited number of appearances left on his farewell tour, it’s very possible that the winner of “The Last Time is Now” Tournament will also earn an opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship. Cena’s final match will take place at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” coming up on December 13 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. Prior to his match with “Dirty” Dom, John made a notable announcement about that show. In the spirit of wanting to leave the business in a better position than where he found it, Cena wants to showcase the future of WWE on the night his career comes to a close. He will be hosting a series of exhibition matches between main roster Superstars and the upcoming stars of “NXT”. No competitors have been announced for those matches as of this writing. Cena’s new Intercontinental Championship win complicates his schedule for “Survivor Series: WarGames” on November 29th. While his “Raw” allies CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Jey Uso are slated for the Men’s “WarGames” match against The Vision, Cena is now advertised to defend his title at the event. This means the winner of “The Last Time Is Now” tournament may not be the only person who gets a chance to face Cena before his retirement. His “Survivor Series” opponent has not yet been named. More WWE News: Released WWE Superstar Retires From Pro Wrestling Released WWE Star Breaks Silence On Departure Released WWE Star Wants To Join AEW For more on WWE, head to Newsweek Sports.