John Cena

John Cena's return to WWE programming on Friday's episode of SmackDown on Fox led to a significant increase in viewership compared to last week.

According to Showbuzz Daily, SmackDown averaged 2.717 million viewers during its two-hour broadcast, which was up from last week's 2.49 million. SmackDown was also No. 1 for the night in the 18-49-year-old demographic with a 0.8 rating.

Friday's SmackDown garnered the best viewership of the show in 2020 thus far and the third-best viewership since it debuted on Fox in October.

Cena's return was the main event segment of the show, and the reception was positive since the show took place in Boston, which is close to his hometown. When Cena announced he wasn't going to appear at WrestleMania this year, the crowd was clearly disappointed.

Then, when Cena was about to exit the stage, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared and pointed the WrestleMania sign. Cena then tipped his cap, which signified that Cena vs. The Fiend was on for WrestleMania.

Cena's return wasn't the only major happening on SmackDown, as Bill Goldberg appeared after beating The Fiend for the Universal Championship at WWE Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

Goldberg received a mixed reaction and said he wanted to find out who was next. At that point, Roman Reigns' music hit, and he stormed to the ring before declaring, "I'm next!"

As a result, both Cena vs. The Fiend and Reigns vs. Goldberg were made official for WrestleMania in Tampa, Florida, on April 5.

SmackDown also featured plenty of build toward the March 8 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, including the announcement of an Elimination Chamber match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, which will see The Miz and John Morrison defend against New Day, The Usos, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party.

Also, a contract signing was held for the Intercontinental Championship match between Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura, but a twist occurred when Sami Zayn got Braun to agree to defend the title in a three-on-one handicap match against Nakamura, Zayn and Cesaro.

After an action-packed SmackDown this week, next week's show will present fans with the final build prior to Elimination Chamber.  

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John Cena returned to WWE programming on Friday's episode of SmackDown for the first time since Raw Reunion in July when he had a rap battle with The Usos.

The night resulted in "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt challenging Cena to a match at WrestleMania 36, which will take place in Tampa Bay, Florida, on April 5:

Cena then tipped his cap in The Fiend's direction, accepting the challenge.

The 13-time WWE champion didn't enter Boston's TD Garden with the intention to fight at WrestleMania, however, saying that he had no plans to take part:

But that has changed. 

With Cena vs. The Fiend set to come to fruition, it will join a card that already includes four title matches, including a bout for the WWE Championship between champion Brock Lesnar and Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre.

The 42-year-old Cena has primarily been focused on his burgeoning Hollywood acting career with recent appearances in Blockers and Bumblebee and upcoming appearances in Fast & Furious 9 and The Suicide Squad.

Although Cena's dealings with WWE are few and far between now in comparison to even just a couple of years ago, the fact that he is a part-time Superstar makes it feel more special when he is part of the show.

Cena hasn't had a match for WWE since January, when he competed in a Fatal 4-Way match on Raw against Finn Balor, Baron Corbin and McIntyre.

There was some thought he would have an impromptu match at WrestleMania 35, and while he did appear on the show, he did a throwback to his Basic Thuganomics character and dissed Elias with a rap.

At this point in his career, Cena is brought back by WWE on occasion for nostalgic purposes, and it tends to lead to far better reactions since he is no longer overexposed like he was for much of his full-time tenure with the company.

Considering the fact that Cena is one of the biggest stars in WWE history on a level similar to Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock, he has found a good wheelhouse in terms of making the fans miss him before showing up on screen.

It is always a big deal when Cena makes his presence felt in WWE, and it inevitably leads to questions about whether he might come back for another program or match at WrestleMania.

There is no guarantee that will happen since Cena's acting schedule has become so full over the past couple of years, but with WWE bringing out the big guns on SmackDown since the move to Fox, it can't be ruled out that the company offered big money to the 16-time world champion in hopes of luring him back for an angle ahead of WrestleMania.

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If you were settled into the idea of Roman Reigns taking on The Fiend or John Cena going head-to-head with Elias at WrestleMania 36, it may be time to adjust your expectations.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said the SmackDown plans for Mania have either changed or are "in danger of changing."

"I don't have a new card, but I do know those two matches I mentioned [Reigns vs. The Fiend and Cena vs. Elias], right now, look like they're off," Meltzer said. "What that means, I don't know. When I look at Bray Wyatt, if Bray Wyatt is to beat Goldberg, who else is there but Roman Reigns? There's nobody else."

Meltzer went on to speculate that The Fiend could go up against Cena or Braun Strowman. Aside from Wyatt, Meltzer mentioned Baron Corbin, Sheamus or someone "outside the box" for a matchup with Cena.

The Fiend is set to go one-on-one with Goldberg at Super Showdown this week. While it's mostly expected that Goldberg will be taking a loss in the matchup, it's possible WWE would feed Wyatt to a part-timer for WrestleMania season. We're only two years removed from Kevin Owens being fed to Goldberg to set up a Brock Lesnar feud for Mania.

Cena is one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood at the moment, so it's hard to know how long he'll be sticking around after WrestleMania. He's expected to have some level of free time after The Suicide Squad wraps filming, and he has no other films confirmed to be in development afterward. If WWE wants to give Cena his record 17th championship reign—something that will almost certainly happen at some point—this may be the time.

In that case, a Wyatt-Cena matchup may be the way WWE goes for WrestleMania. A Goldberg-Cena matchup would draw some casuals in—and potentially keep the championship away from part-timers—but there would have to be workrate concerns. While Cena is still in excellent shape, he's barely wrestled the last few years and isn't in a position to carry a WrestleMania match himself.

It would be better for the quality of the show if Cena works with a younger, full-time Superstar.

Two WWE legends are reportedly scheduled to have matches at WrestleMania 36 on April 5 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. 

Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, John Cena is expected to wrestle Elias, with The Undertaker squaring off against A.J. Styles. 

Cena's potential involvement at WrestleMania picked up steam last week when WWE announced the 16-time world champion will appear on the Feb. 28 episode of SmackDown. 

This will mark Cena's first appearance on WWE television since July 2019 when he was involved in a segment with The Usos on the Raw Reunion show. 

WWE has used Elias as a frequent hurdle for Cena in recent years. The two had a confrontation at WrestleMania 34 prior to Cena's match with The Undertaker; Cena teamed with Bobby Lashley to defeat Elias and Kevin Owens at Super ShowDown in 2018; Cena interrupted Elias' concert at WrestleMania 35 and proceeded to beat up The Drifter. 

Undertaker and Styles would be a WrestleMania dream match between two of the best wrestlers of all-time. The Dead Man last appeared on WWE television for the SmackDown from Madison Square Garden last September. 

Last year marked the first WrestleMania since 2000 in which The Undertaker wasn't on the card. His last match at WWE's premier event was when he squashed Cena in 2018. 

Styles being in the plan for WrestleMania 36 would seem to indicate WWE is confident his shoulder will be healed in time. The Phenomenal One confirmed on his Mixer channel he suffered a separated shoulder during the Royal Rumble match, but said he "doesn't expect to be out very long."