Wrestling veteran details possible reason why WWE brought back John Cena for the last SmackDown of 2022

Former WWE manager Jim Cornette recently spoke about John Cena returning to the promotion for the last SmackDown of the year.

Last week on the blue brand, Roman Reigns announced he would be teaming with Sami Zayn to face Kevin Owens and a partner of the latter's choosing. However, it came as a surprise to the Tribal Chief and the rest of The Bloodline when The Cenation Leader appeared on the Titantron and announced that he would team up with KO for the December 30 encounter.

On a recent episode of Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru, the veteran mentioned that the timing of Cena's return was due to WWE's deal with FOX.

"Priorities are switching... This is not the UFC, it's not pro wrestling anymore. It's not the big fight, the big match. We're gonna pay $50 to see the two biggest stars in the world collide in this epic fight. Its 'FOX is paying us more than what we're getting from this part of Peacock. Let's see what we can do for the ratings and it's also when we can get John Cena.'"

He detailed that the company was possibly trying to bump the ratings for the blue brand ahead of their big contract renegotiations. He also suggested that the return resulted from John's Hollywood schedule.

"So, in this case, yes. Their rights are going to be renegotiated coming up as everybody's talking about in the next year, year-and-a-half. This is what it is now, network television," added Cornette. [From 3:43 - 4:37]

You can watch the full video here:

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This will be John Cena's first match in 2022

Over the last two decades, John Cena has been a cornerstone of WWE and has competed in at least one match every year.

The streak was set to be broken this year had the 16-time champ not announced his return for the last show of the year.

He was last seen on WWE TV during the June 27 episode of RAW to celebrate his 20th anniversary in the company.

His last WWE TV match was at SummerSlam 2021 against Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship.

Are you excited to see John Cena return to WWE? Let us know your predictions in the comments section below.

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If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru and add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.