Rumors have circulated over the last few weeks that Sheamus and John Cena would return from their respective injuries in time for the January 2014 Royal Rumble, and while Sheamus appears to be on track for that exact return date, reports indicate that Cena may be returning even faster thanks to his vigorous rehab. More reports speculate the Celtic Warrior may come back as a heel.

With these two WWE Superstars off television, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and CM Punk have stepped into the forefront to carry WWE programming through the fall as Sheamus gets ready for a winter return and Cena's status remains unclear as its possible he may return sooner than expected.

Cena had surgery for a triceps injury and distended elbow in August while Sheamus has been sidelined since July when he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and each WWE Superstar has been updating the WWE Universe of their comebacks through their Twitter accounts. Cena has shown some gruesome pictures of his wound while Sheamus has shown pictures of himself enjoying his free time.

Still, both guys are driven and anxious to get back to the ring and hope to do so within the next few months. While Sheamus seems likely to be out until January, Cena has been advertised to make "special appearances" on WWE's European tour in November and also for a live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City in December.

Those appearances are described as non-wrestling appearances, but if Cena continues to recover at such a rapid pace, then he may be able to wrestle sooner than the January Royal Rumble event.

Cena tweeted a message Monday implying that he misses being on the road:

Wrestlezone.com reported that Sheamus will return at the 2014 Royal Rumble, while Cena has seemed driven to return even sooner than that. The website also reported that Sheamus may return as a heel when he comes back as the WWE plans to push the "Celtic Warrior" as a top villain upon his return in order for him to feud with the likes of Bryan and Punk.

"There has been backstage talk in WWE of having Sheamus return as a heel once he is back from injury," Wrestlezone.com wrote.

It would appear that Cena could possibly return before January's rumored date while it will be interesting to see if Sheamus turns heel.