John Cena's Exact WWE Return Date Revealed

Mr. Hustle, Loyalty and Respect will celebrate 20-year anniversary of his debut.

by Scott Carlson
John Cena
WWE

John Cena will celebrate the 20-year anniversary of his WWE main roster debut later this month on WWE Raw.

Cena famously made his bow on SmackDown on 27 June 2002 when he answered Kurt Angle's open challenge. The rookie said he possessed "ruthless aggression" to help him stand up to the Olympic hero before decking Angle and kicking off his first match.

Cena would lose that bout, but he earned a handshake of respect from the Undertaker. He would undergo a gimmick change to the Doctor of Thuganomics, a rapper who would dis his opponents at every turn. Within three years, he would win his first of 16 world titles at WrestleMania 21, defeating JBL.

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In recent years, Cena's appearances have become more and more scarce. He's had just four televised matches since 2019, though he wrestled 15 dark and house show matches last year.

Cena's return will come exactly 20 years to the day of his debut, just on Raw instead of SmackDown. There's been no indication of whether Big Match John plans to wrestle that night, or if he'll do a mini-run with WWE heading into the summer. He did indicate he wants to deliver an Attitude Adjustment to United States Champion Theory recently, so that could be something on the horizon.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.