WWE will get a much-needed shot in the arm as 2022 winds down when the legendary 16-time world champion John Cena shows up on the final SmackDown of the year!
On Friday, December 9, Variety broke the news that Cena would be returning to WWE during the December 30 edition of SmackDown on FOX. The appearance will be Cena's first in WWE since June 27, when he commemorated the 20th anniversary of his WWE debut on Raw.
Cena's most-recent match took place in September 2021 when he teamed up with Dominik & Rey Mysterio and defeated The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, and roman Reigns) at a WWE house show in New York City's historic Madison Square Garden. His last televised match was the SummerSlam 2021 main event with Roman Reigns, which Cena lost.
The long-awaited WWE return of the 16-time world champion will go down at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
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During a Q&A session on WWE's official TikTok account earlier this year, Cena named current United States Champion Austin Theory as his favorite current WWE Superstar but later acknowledged that the upstart was in need of an Attitude Adjustment.
Despite the trash talk, Theory has a decent relationship with Cena and recently spoke to the New York Post’s Joseph Staszewski about the advice he’s been given by Cena.
“As cheesy as people may think that sounds, that mentality, that never-give-up mentality is what really helped me through my life and really got me to this point," Theory said. "And I think a lot of people that see me as the 24-year-old United States champion, the youngest in WWE history, and how I’ve gotten here so far is that mindset, that never-give-up attitude. That’s something that’s been an inspiration to me and that’s definitely somebody that’s a big influence on me and helps me guide my way.”
Could a match between Cena and Theory be on the cards?
John Cena made his WWE debut on the June 27, 2002 edition of SmackDown, on which he answered Kurt Angle's open challenge. After citing "ruthless aggression" as the reason he chose to go toe-to-toe with a former WWE Champion, Cena delivered a brutal slap to Angle's chops right before the match got underway. Cena lost the match, but fought valiantly against the Olympic hero and received a handshake from The Undertaker later that night.
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