Will John Cena appear on WWE NXT Gold Rush tonight?
(Courtesy : WWE via Getty)
The second week of the TV Special will air tonight.
The November 18 episode of WWE NXT marked the return of NXT Gold Rush. After the first week of the TV special, the developmental brand will deliver week two tonight from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Among the multiple title clashes announced for the second week, a special announcement caused a frenzy among fans. NXT General Manager Ava announced that during week two, the 17-time WWE World Champion John Cena will unveil the men’s and women’s Iron Survivor Challenge lineups for Deadline on December 6.
The winners of the upcoming matches will earn title shots for the NXT and NXT Women’s Championships at the 2026 edition of WWE NXT New Year’s Evil.
This announcement made many fans question, as week two of the show was pre-taped last week at MSG and will air on tape delay tonight.
Will John Cena appear on NXT Gold Rush tonight?
So will the 17-time WWE World Champion John Cena make an appearance tonight? As mentioned, the show tonight was pre-taped last week, and WWE has been careful not to mention if Cena is making an appearance; the announcement only said that he will ‘select’ challengers.
The pre-taping means every match has already been recorded, and WWE will likely play a video package from Cena, as they likely won’t have been able to shoot a segment with Cena on NXT in MSG without anyone noticing. Additionally, Cena recently appeared in his final Raw appearance and now only has two dates left on his retirement tour.
Cena’s next scheduled appearance is at Survivor Series, where he will defend the Intercontinental title against Dominik Mysterio, while his final appearance is at the December 13 edition of SNME, which features his retirement match.
However, there is a possibility of Cena making an appearance in some backstage segment, which is usually shot afterwards during pre-taping. Fans will likely not complain if Cena appears outside of the set dates, but they will surely complain if they’re misled into believing that he is going to appear.
When and where will week two of NXT Gold Rush 2025 take place?
Week two of NXT Gold Rush 25, 2025, was pre-taped at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 18 and will air on tape delay tonight.
Will John Cena make an appearance on WWE NXT tonight?
It seems unlikely, as Cena has only two dates left on his retirement tour, with the two being at Survivor Series and a retirement match at SNME. Cena will likely appear in a promo or a backstage segment.
What is NXT Gold Rush 2025?
The 2025 Gold Rush is a two-part wrestling TV special co-produced by WWE, TNA, and AAA, showcasing wrestlers from NXT, Evolve, TNA, and AAA.
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Abhijit Singh is a budding sports journalist with over three years of experience in the field, and a photographer capturing stories through his lens since 2018. With a background in philosophy and political science, he brings a thoughtful, analytical edge to his reporting where every word is guided by curiosity and intent. Whether he's capturing the emotion of a moment or unpacking the deeper narratives within the game, Abhijit’s work is rooted in insight and passion. When he’s not covering sports, he’s often exploring new ideas through reading, traveling or just procrastinating.