Before Mason Rook ever stepped into a WWE ring, John Cena was watching him from a hotel room in Budapest. Cena found the NXT rookie he can’t stop praising on hotel TV, while he was in Hungary filming Matchbox: The Movie.
That rookie is now one of the names fans keep tying to the John Cena Classic, Cena’s new fan-voted showcase set for December 14, 2026, at Walt Disney World.
The Wednesday night show in Hungary
Cena told Metro in September that live sports entertainment was hard to come by during the shoot. What he did have was a U.K. wrestling program on his hotel TV, usually on Wednesday nights. A big British wrestler kept showing up on it: Will Kroos.
Cena kept tuning in, week after week. He told his wife, Shay Shariatzadeh, “I gotta watch this kid,” according to Fightful. “I was floored by his storytelling,” he said, as reported by Wrestling Inc.
Kroos had built his name far from WWE. He was a PROGRESS Atlas Champion in the U.K. and also wrestled for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan.
From hotel TV to NXT
On April 28, 2026, Kroos showed up on NXT and attacked champion Tony D’Angelo. A week later he looked into the camera and gave himself a new name: Mason Rook.
Cena did not stay quiet. He posted the crowd’s chant for Rook on social media, “He’s big, he’s bad, he’ll bodyslam your dad,” and named Rook when CBS Sports asked about future world champions. “If you don’t know who I’m talking about, I want you to go check that out,” he told CBS Sports in May.
The Classic grew out of Cena’s own start. He told CBS Sports he remembered waiting in WWE’s developmental system, unsure he would ever get a real shot. His event puts NXT talent in the same ring as Raw and SmackDown stars, and fans vote for the night’s champion through Club WWE.
The speed bump nobody planned
Rook’s rise hit a pause this fall. He won a triple threat match on September 15 to earn a shot at NXT Champion Grayson Waller, according to WWE. Two weeks later, WWE said he was not medically cleared and pulled him from the title match. No details or return date have been made public.
Cody Rhodes was the first invitee Cena confirmed, on Raw on November 2. Cena has said he will use his upcoming TV stops to recruit more names, and the next one is SmackDown on November 13.
Watch Cena’s SmackDown appearance on November 13 to see if Rook’s name finally comes up.
