WWE has really been suffering with ratings and viewership in the United States as of late, and you could partly attribute that to a lack of top stars on Raw and SmackDown.

Roman Reigns was arguably the biggest, but his battle with leukemia means that he will spend a prolonged period of time away from the squared circle.

That probably leaves Ronda Rousey as the biggest full-time name in the business, Brock Lesnar would be close behind if he decided to turn up more than once every few months.

A huge star WWE fans haven't seen in recent times is John Cena.

You have to go back to Super Show-Down for the last time Cena was seen, and that was nearly three months ago.

For much of the year Cena has been filming a movie in China, limiting his WWE appearances significantly.

In a segment of the Christmas Eve edition of Raw though - that also revealed that there would be new Women's Tag Team Championships coming to the WWE, Vince McMahon - dressed as Santa - revealed that Cena would be returning to television on both brands in 2019.

Some already knew that he was advertised for the January 7 edition of Raw emanating from Orlando, but his actual return to television will be before that.

It was announced on SmackDown Live on Christmas Day that the 16-time world champion will appear live on the January 1 episode to kick off 2019.

WWE are actually pre-taping the show three days before so that superstars can enter the new year with their families, so chances are that details of Cena's appearance will be known before it airs.

Don't expect Big Match John to be entering the Royal Rumble though, as he's set to fly out to Vancouver, Canada to film another movie on January 20.

Of course there's a small chance he could appear but you have to doubt it would be a prolonged showing in the match.

It will be interesting to see what Cena has to say after his extended absence - you can either check GiveMeSport for spoilers on December 30 or tune in on January 1 to find out.

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