John Cena, 48, is just days away from his final WWE match — but he’s now facing a very different kind of opponent outside the ring.
According to a report making the rounds, a federal lawsuit was filed in New York this week against WWE, TKO, and Cena, with the focus of the dispute being his entrance music.
Specifically, the “horn arrangements” that kick off “My Time Is Now” and play throughout the track are at the center of the complaint.
Below are some specifics of the lawsuit, via PostWrestling:
"The lawsuit claims that the horn-driven intro and outro used in Cena's theme music were copied from a 1974 cover recording arranged by Canadian bandleader, the late Pete Schofield. The complaint was submitted by Schofield's daughter, Kim Schofield, who says she now owns the copyrights to the record and the music she says is an original arrangement."
But the lawsuit itself, and the seemingly convenient timing of filing it, gets a whole lot more complicated from there.
According to Schofield, back in 2017 she had apparently reached a settlement with WWE, receiving a payment of $50,000. Although she is now claiming that the WWE "withheld key information during negotiations to induce her to sign the agreement."
That noted key information centers around the very same horn usage that was featured in a national commercial for Toyota that reportedly debuted just two days after the aforementioned settlement between Schofield and the WWE.
Given the timing of the settlement and Schofield reportedly being unaware of the forthcoming commercial, she is looking to void that agreement and, as of Tuesday, has officially filed said lawsuit against WWE, TKO, Cena, two music producers, and a music publisher, among others.
Thus far, WWE has not commented on the lawsuit, which probably doesn't serve as too much of a surprise amid the enormous buzz surrounding Cena's final WWE match on December 13 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
