We're told Mark Henry is officially cleared to return to the ring. The plan as of last week was to hold him back until the conclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship program between Big Show and Sheamus.

One plan pitched recently had Sheamus regaining the title at WWE TLC next month and going on to defend it at Royal Rumble against Mark Henry. Although we're told there are some in the company that feel Big Show is doing a great job and that Sheamus isn't the right guy to carry Smackdown. The people that believe this feel Show should keep the title until someone else can be groomed. The problem is Triple H is still very high up on Sheamus and doesn't want to give up on him yet. With so much invested in Sheamus, nobody really wants to "go to bat" for keeping the title on Show.

Further complicating the matter, there's nobody really ready to fill in for Sheamus although some have pushed to give the spot to Daniel Bryan.