John Cena's Return to WWE Television Revealed

On Tuesday, news broke that John Cena would be making his return to a WWE ring in December. But [...]

By Jeremy Snodgrass

On Tuesday, news broke that John Cena would be making his return to a WWE ring in December. But now, we know when the 16-time World Champion will return to WWE television.

Cena will be back on Raw for the January 7 episode in Orland, FL. This will be the first time Cena graces WWE cameras since his victory at October's Super Show-Down. He's also booked for the following week of Raw on January 14 in Memphis, TN.

Here's his full slate for the upcoming months:

Madison Square Garden, New York – December 26

Nassau Coliseum, New York – December 27

Royals Farms Arena, Baltimore — December 28

PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh – December 29

Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla. – December 30

Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga. – January 4

Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, Fla. – January 5

Hertz Arena, Ft. Myers, Fla. – January 6

Amway Center, Orlando, Fla. – January 7 (Raw)

Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, W.Va. – January 11

Knoxville Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, Tenn. – January 12

Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, Ala. – January 13

FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tenn. – January 14

This looks to be Cena's seasonal warm-up for WWE's road to WrestleMania. Since April the WWE icon has only been around a handful of times in what's proven to be his lightest WWE schedule by far. Cena has been off padding his Hollywood resumè, but it looks like he'll be available to WWE for the Royal Rumble, Fastlane, and WrestleMania 35.

With Cena heading back into WWE's fray, the next question will center around his duties. As arguably the biggest star in WWE history, Cena will need to do something significant. While he may not be positioned to chase WWE Championships, it's not hard imagining him going toe-to-toe with another future Hall of Famer. Dave Bautista would be a name that makes sense, especially considering his rumored WrestleMania plans were put on ice after Triple H tore his pectoral muscle at Crown Jewel earlier this month.

At 41-year-old, Cena would conceivably be wrapping up his WWE career, but he says otherwise.

"I'm far from done with the WWE," Cena told ESPN. "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.

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