John Cena Says 'I Do Look Forward to Returning' to WWE

Legendary WWE performer John Cena has been focused on building up his Hollywood career as of late, but an eventual return to WWE remains on his mind.

In an interview with Den of Geek's Nick Harley, Cena said, "I do look forward to returning," when asked about his future in WWE.

Cena has not appeared on WWE programming since WrestleMania 36 last year when he lost to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in the unique and widely praised Firefly Funhouse match in front of no fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 44-year-old veteran did not compete in a single match in 2021, and he also wasn't part of WrestleMania 37 in any capacity because of his filming commitments for the upcoming HBO Max Peacemaker series.

Cena was the unquestioned face of WWE for many years, but the 16-time world champion's absence has allowed some other Superstars to emerge and stake a claim to that moniker, including Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.

With regard to what Cena wants to do when he does return to WWE, he said: "It won't be about topping a Firefly Funhouse match. The first question I'll ask is, 'Why?' And the next question I'll ask is, 'Where do we go after that?' And if I get, 'I don't know' to both of them, that's cool because that means I can come up with my own thing."

It is fitting that Cena's longest WWE absence since debuting for the company in 2002 is ongoing since he relies so heavily on fan reaction.

Whether he is cheered or booed, Cena always finds a way to elicit strong emotions from the live crowd, and that is something that wouldn't have been possible over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic—aside from the exception of WrestleMania 37.

With more events opening up across the United States and sports venues increasing their capacities in lockstep with people getting vaccinated, a return to touring may not be far off for WWE.

When that happens, WWE will likely want to pull out all the stops to give their fans the best show possible, and a Cena return would be the type of big moment WWE would benefit from.

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