What's the story?

John Cena was largely absent from WWE programming in 2018 but will start the new year by making his first appearance on TV in nine months.

The 16-time World Champion is currently advertised to appear on the first two Monday Night Raw episodes of 2019.

In case you didn't know...

After losing his WrestleMania match against The Undertaker, Cena's appearances for WWE have been limited to international pay-per-views like Super ShowDown and non-televised live events.

Cena has not made an appearance on Raw since April 2, 2018 - the Go-Home show for WrestleMania 34.

The heart of the matter

Cena is currently advertised to appear at live events after Christmas Day and was originally scheduled to make one appearance on Raw in 2019, but there has been another date added.

At the time of this writing, WWE has advertised Cena's return to television for the January 7 episode in Orlando, Florida and the January 14 episode in Memphis, Tennessee.

With the Royal Rumble taking place in the last week of January, the former WWE Champion could be added to more Raw episodes, but that is pure speculation.

If his return in 2019 will be similar to his run from January to April of this year, Cena will probably be making regular appearances on Raw heading into WrestleMania 35.

Cena has not been advertised to appear on SmackDown Live despite being a "free agent," so his return on Raw could indicate that his opponent will come from the flagship show.

What's next?

With WrestleMania season beginning at the start of January, WWE could have Cena interact with a potential WrestleMania opponent before the Royal Rumble.

Cena said he will be at WrestleMania 35, but there has been no news or speculation regarding any potential opponents for the event.