John Cena

Necessity is the mother of invention, and that adage might hold true at WrestleMania 36.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced WWE to move The Show of Shows to its Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and no fans will attend the event.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi provided more information on the venue change:

That raises a big question regarding John Cena's battle with "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt: Will they actually set foot in a wrestling ring?

WWE has smartly played off their previous encounter at WrestleMania XXX, which was a straightforward singles match. Having them wrestle another traditional match would be a mistake and waste what is a golden opportunity to think outside the box.

According to PWInsider's Mike Johnson, the company plans to tape WrestleMania 36 on Wednesday and Thursday, with the pay-per-view hitting WWE Network on April 4 and 5.

Having the ability to closely edit and control the action opens the door for a grittier Ultimate Deletion-style setup that is light on the wrestling and heavy on choreographed set pieces.

This would make sense for a variety of reasons.

Cena, who has quickly become a major Hollywood star, is perfectly equipped to convey the kind of emotional delivery that is somewhat over the top but not so ham-fisted the whole affair devolves into a farce. The 16-time world champion could make The Fiend look like a genuine threat in an atypical setting, something not everyone in WWE could pull off.

Wyatt, meanwhile, could have a soft reset after he was turned into cannon fodder for Goldberg at Super ShowDown in February.

The Fiend is entering dangerous territory in terms of how he's perceived by the WWE Universe, and WrestleMania XXX is a perfect example why.

Losing to Cena didn't single-handedly knock Wyatt down to the midcard, but it did swiftly halt the momentum he had been building to that point. He wasn't a world champion until nearly three years later, a title run that concluded with him losing another big WrestleMania match.

Avenging his defeat to Cena in 2014 would provide Wyatt with a shot in the arm, and a match at the Firefly Fun House or another unique location would let him lean into the supernatural aspects of his Fiend character.

Wyatt is a talented in-ring performer, but fans fell in love with The Fiend because the package was so unlike anything else they were watching on WWE programming.

Because WrestleMania 36 will be pre-taped without any fans, WWE has a blank slate to do whatever it wants with The Fiend—and that doesn't mean showering the ring in red light. Let him teleport out of an Attitude Adjustment. Have him demonstrate some superhuman feat of strength, like Braun Strowman tipping over an ambulance with Roman Reigns inside.

Perhaps taping Cena vs. Wyatt beforehand was the plan all along. Now, WWE has no other choice, and it will only be limited by its imagination in how the match unfolds.

With WrestleMania 36 getting moved from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, because of the coronavirus pandemic, WWE is faced with the challenge of putting on a strong show with no fans in attendance.

The promotion is already making some adjustments on the fly, as it turned WrestleMania into a two-night event on April 4 and 5 and also announced that matches will take place at multiple locations rather than just the Performance Center.

While WWE didn't provide any specifics, thinking outside the box and holding matches in unique places could be a good way to ensure that fans watching at home have an enjoyable viewing experience.

Here is a closer look at three potential match locations that would help to make WrestleMania 36 one to remember.

John Cena vs. 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt at Firefly Funhouse

The clash between John Cena and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt was never going to be a technical masterclass, so why not play up to The Fiend character by doing something different than anything else that will be on the WrestleMania card?

Wyatt has advanced his character on the Firefly Funhouse for nearly a year, and his have become some of the most entertaining and most highly anticipated segments on WWE television.

Usually, Wyatt addresses the WWE Universe or his opponents from the Funhouse and interacts with characters such as Ramblin' Rabbit or Huskus The Pig Boy, but the Firefly Funhouse has been infiltrated before.

Seth Rollins once visited the Funhouse and burned it down, so perhaps Cena could enter into Wyatt's realm as well for their WrestleMania match.

With no fans in attendance at WrestleMania, WWE has the freedom to stray from the ring inside the Performance Center, and it can also record some matches ahead of time if it so chooses. Cena vs. Wyatt in the Firefly Funhouse is the type of match that could occur in a controlled environment and then be edited together in any way WWE desires.

Lucha Underground was a wrestling company with a cult following due largely to the cinematic nature of its segments and some of its matches, and if WWE follows in Lucha's footsteps for Cena vs. Wyatt, it could be among the most enjoyable matches on the card.

The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a Graveyard

The Undertaker will be 55 when WrestleMania 36 takes place, and nobody expects him to put on a classic match at this juncture, but playing up to his character could be a fun way to make his match against AJ Styles memorable.

Styles is among the best in-ring workers in the world, so he could probably carry The Phenom to a solid traditional match, but Taker's gimmick is conducive to environments that wouldn't work for anyone else.

During the build toward their match, Styles has called The Undertaker a broken-down old man and vowed to put the final nail in his coffin. There would be no better place for The Phenomenal One to try to make good on his promise than a graveyard.

Even if WWE can't get access to a real graveyard, it employs many talented people who would likely have little issue creating the illusion of one. Having Styles lure The Undertaker into a cemetery and using Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as his henchmen would be an entertaining angle, and it would stack the deck against The Deadman.

At the same time, a graveyard is essentially Taker's backyard, so it could be argued that such an environment would give him the advantage. WWE has done some wild things with The Undertaker's character over the years, and a WrestleMania match in a graveyard would be on-brand.

Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler in a Lion's Den

With WWE playing up to Shayna Baszler's background as a cage fighter and former UFC star, it is the perfect time to bring back a unique gimmick from WWE's history: the Lion's Den match.

There have been three Lion's Den matches in WWE history, and all of them featured former UFC fighter Ken Shamrock. The most memorable occurred at SummerSlam 1998 when Shamrock beat Owen Hart by submission.

The lion's den is somewhat similar to the UFC Octagon in that the competitors are fenced in and there are no ropes. Baszler would seemingly have a big advantage in that setting, although The Man's character is such that she wouldn't turn down the challenge if Baszler were to make it.

Lynch has enjoyed a dominant Raw Women's Championship reign for the past year, but Baszler has quickly established herself as Becky's toughest challenge.

Baszler made the jump to the main roster by attacking Lynch and biting the back of her neck. The Queen of Spades then became the first person in Elimination Chamber history to eliminate the entire field.

While Baszler may be the favorite to win no matter what, a Lion's Den match would play into her hands and make Lynch a bigger underdog, which is an ideal scenario for WWE when it comes to booking its top babyfaces.

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WWE has reportedly made a decision regarding when it will tape content to air as part of Nights 1 and 2 of WrestleMania 36 on April 4 and 5.

According to PWInsider (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Joshua Gagnon), matches and segments for WrestleMania will be taped ahead of time on Wednesday and Thursday. WWE reportedly taped content for the next two SmackDowns on Saturday, followed by NXT content Sunday and Raw segments Monday and Tuesday.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, WWE was forced to move WrestleMania from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, with no fans in attendance.

WWE decided to make WrestleMania a two-night event for the first time ever, and it also announced that matches will take place at multiple locations, meaning the Performance Center won't be the only setting for The Showcase of The Immortals.

By taping matches and segments ahead of time, WWE is hoping to avoid the possibility of production getting shut down. Given the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak and the fact that multiple states have gone into lockdown, waiting to do WrestleMania live on April 4 and 5 would have been a major risk.

Although WrestleMania reportedly won't be live and there won't be any fans there to watch, taping ahead of time gives WWE the ability to present things however it pleases and could allow WWE to provide the viewing audience with some unique things never before seen on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

It will be difficult to make up for the absence of fans during matches like Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg and John Cena vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, but presenting the matches in a different way and taking a more cinematic approach could make them quite enjoyable to watch at home.

WWE could also opt to hold some of the matches outside the confines of the Performance Center ring, such as Cena vs. Wyatt at the Firefly Funhouse or The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a graveyard.

WrestleMania is the biggest show of the year, and there is no doubt the live crowd and all the pageantry are significant parts of what makes it so special, but WWE is seemingly taking the necessary steps to produce an entertaining show.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

WWE Superstar and movie star John Cena did a good deed for a Vietnam veteran during a trip to the grocery store Monday. 

The daughter of veteran Charles "Bud" Phillips, Stefanie Phillips, shared the story of Cena paying her father's grocery bill at Publix in Land O' Lakes, Florida, with Leena Tailor of ET Online on Tuesday:

"My dad was behind him in the checkout line. They were chatting and John thanked my dad for his service [after] seeing his SeaBees hat. John secretly paid for all of his groceries. My dad didn't even know until he was being checked out and the cashier said, 'John paid for your groceries.' The bill was around $100.

[...]

"My dad is a retired Vietnam veteran [and] a widow. We lost my mom five years ago unexpectedly [after] they were married almost 50 years. So, as you can imagine, not too much these days make him smile as big as he did in that picture. That's what so special about this moment. A simple act of kindness brightened his day. Along with his family seeing that smile on his face!"

Additionally, another one of Phillips' family members posted a selfie of Cena and Phillips on Reddit.

The 42-year-old Cena has long been a charitable person, especially when it comes to the military and children, as evidenced by his involvement in WWE's Tribute to the Troops campaign and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Cena has parlayed a legendary WWE career into a great deal of success in Hollywood, including roles in The Marine, Bumblebee and F9, which is the latest iteration of the Fast & Furious movie series.

The 16-time world champion is still involved with WWE as well, and he will be part of WrestleMania 36 in two weeks when he faces "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).