John Cena Confirms Return to Raw

2019 will open with John Cena making back-to-back appearances on Raw. But after that, we have no idea what the 16-time WWE Champion will be doing.

Cena confirmed his upcoming WWE schedule from Twitter on Tuesday – the highlights of which are a non-televised show at Madison Square Garden and Raw on January 7 and 14. While Cena never mentions Raw, those dates fall on a Monday in Orlando and Memphis respectively.

Cena’s quotes have been all over the place ahead of his WWE return. After saying that his return won’t be televised, Cena said that he’ll be off to film a movie in January. While he certainly may be doing that, it’s hard to imagine Cena missing the Royal Rumble, or even a piece of the WrestleMania build. Regardless it looks like WWE and Cena are happy to keep his 2019 plans ambiguous.

At 41-year-old, Cena isn’t much older than some of WWE’s most active Superstars. If he wants to, he could have another era atop the company. However, that doesn’t seem to fit Cena’s ambitions as he’s aiming to become a major player in Hollywood.

But with FOX waiting, WWE may need to bolster their product and sit Cena in their throne once again. With Roman Reigns out, WWE is missing their top star. While names like Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, and Ronda Rousey are all vying for that spot, it could be Cena who’s installed as an interim king. That may be a bit of fan fiction, but we won’t be surprised if Cena takes on a bigger role this year. In an earlier interview with ESPN Cena indicated that he has more left in his tank.

“I’m far from done with the WWE. The WWE will always be my home, but in this current state of affairs right now with all this extra cool stuff that’s going on, it’s fun to try. It’s a great time to be able to take a chance and I’m so eternally grateful to the WWE and its audience for bringing me to this point. I realize I’d be nowhere without them and I never forget them. I promise as soon as I have any sort of downtime, like I had when I was at the Greatest Royal Rumble and the string of shows I did before WrestleMania, anytime free time I get will not be free, it will be spent at my home in the WWE,” he said.

“I don’t feel like they’re dependent on me in any way. I think the program is riveting as it stands and there are so many gifted young performers that deserve a chance and have earned a chance so there couldn’t be a better time for me to take a break,” he said.