John Cena Set To Return To WWE RAW After Retirement Next Monday

WWE confirms John Cena’s first Raw appearance since his in-ring retirement.© NDTV Library

John Cena is back on WWE Raw on November 2, and it's the Barclays Center in Brooklyn that gets his first appearance on the show since he retired from in-ring competition in December 2025. The episode airs live on Netflix at a special 6 p.m. ET start, and WWE will tape SmackDown afterward. The company announced Cena's appearance during Monday's Raw but hasn't said what he'll actually do. It comes as WWE gets ready for the next stage of the John Cena Classic, which he announced during Backlash in May. Another match got added to next week's card too.

CENA IS BACK ???? @JohnCena John Cena returns to #WWERaw NEXT WEEK in Brooklyn SPECIAL START TIME 6 ET/3 PT only on @netflix! ????️: https://t.co/4dfLY9XpJf https://t.co/yZcreuIDnO

— WWE (@WWE) October 27, 2026

Cena Returns to Raw After Announcing His New WWE Tournament at Backlash

Cena's last televised WWE appearance before this announcement was Backlash on May 9, where he introduced the John Cena Classic. The tournament is planned for December, but WWE hasn't announced the full format, and nothing is confirmed about what Cena will reveal next week.

He had also hosted WrestleMania 42 before the Brooklyn date got announced. Retirement from wrestling doesn't mean he's gone from WWE programming altogether, honestly. He has pushed back on talk of another match before, saying at Fan Expo Canada that “no Khan” had enough money to convince him to return to the ring.

WWE Will Tape SmackDown After Raw, With Solo Sikoa Also Set for Action

The November 2 broadcast runs on a different schedule than usual Monday night Raw. Netflix carries the show live from Barclays Center at 6 p.m. ET, or 3 p.m. PT, and then WWE records SmackDown in same venue.

Solo Sikoa is also scheduled to face Royce Keys on the Raw card. The match was announced alongside Cena's return, so the episode has one more confirmed storyline besides the former champion's appearance.

Cena's segment is still the big unanswered part. It could give WWE a chance to share more about the December tournament, but the company hasn't confirmed he'll talk about the John Cena Classic on Raw. No match is announced for him either, so his scheduled appearance shouldn't be mistaken for an in-ring comeback.

The double taping also lands ahead of Crown Jewel on November 7 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Raw is the last live Monday show WWE has before that event, and the SmackDown episode taped in Brooklyn is scheduled to air later that week.