After months of waiting for more details, we now know when and where the inaugural WWE John Cena Classic will be taking place.
As confirmed by the man himself during this past Monday’s WWE Raw, the John Cena Classic will take place on December 14 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
We have also found out the first two names that will be featuring in the event, with Cena giving out personal invites to Cody Rhodes and NXT’s Zilla Fatu. We are still missing many key details regarding the event however, such as how many stars will be taking part, what the format for the event will be, and, crucially, how a winner will be decided.
While we await confirmation on those aspects of the show, it’s time to look more into which names could join the line-up, as there could be a few surprise inclusions that could be named.
Here are three absent WWE stars that could return for the John Cena Classic:
Drew McIntyre
The most glaring absentee from WWE programming remains Drew McIntyre, with it now being almost seven months since we last saw “The Scottish Warrior” inside the squared-circle.
Hollywood commitments have been the reason for his absence, but now it appears as if he is just waiting on appropriate creative plans to make his WWE comeback.
With SmackDown’s main event picture increasingly crowded, and Roman Reigns busy battling The 946, perhaps McIntyre’s best route back onto WWE TV is entering the John Cena Classic? McIntyre taking part would give the event some extra buzz given his lengthy absence, but admittedly there are probably more interesting ways WWE could bring Drew back.
Elio LeFleur
One absent star that could greatly benefit from a spot in the John Cena Classic is Elio LeFleur. The French star has been on the shelf since March, when he suffered a serious shoulder injury that required surgery.
This injury came just months after his debut, so it feels like the NXT fans barely got to welcome the former Speed Champion to WWE before he was sidelined.
At the time of his injury it was projected that he would miss around six months of action, a timeframe that we have now passed. Recoveries don’t always go to plan of course, but if LeFleur is nearing a return he should be considered for a spot in the John Cena Classic, as it’s a perfect stage to reintroduce himself to the WWE fans.
Mason Rook
Elio LeFleur is not the only absent NXT name that may be eyeing a John Cena Classic appearance however, as Mason Rook recently shared an interesting tease on social media after Cena’s appearance on WWE Raw.
Rook has been off TV for over a month after being pulled from a scheduled NXT Championship match with Grayson Waller on the September 29 episode of NXT. The circumstances of why he wasn’t medically cleared to return are still unclear, but this latest post from Rook may be suggesting that we could be seeing him back before the John Cena Classic kicks off.
Cena has been full of praise for Rook since he made his WWE debut and has shared several nods to the English star on social media. This automatically makes him a frontrunner to enter the John Cena Classic providing he’s physically able.
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