WWE Rumors: Former Multi-Time Champ Returning For ‘WrestleMania 36’ And His Opponent Is Known

There are still plenty of matches that WWE needs to put together for WrestleMania 36 in April, but one rumored bout may not please many fans. John Cena is officially heading back to WWE and will appear on Friday Night SmackDown later this month for what will be the initial build to his return match. Now, rumors are swirling about who his opponent will be for the pay-per-view, and it’s one that has been called rather “underwhelming.”

Fans may remember at WrestleMania 35 last year that Cena appeared as the “Doctor of Thuganomics” for an apparent heel turn. He put together a rap, entered the ring, and took out Elias who was simply trying to entertain the fans with a little concert.

That whole segment of the PPV may have been actually the first step for a possible match at WrestleMania 36, but a full year in the making.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, by way of Wrestling Inc., Cena’s big mystery opponent at this year’s event will be Elias. Dave Meltzer said that WWE is planning for this match to take place as they feel as if Elias will “get the rub from losing to Cena” at the biggest wrestling event of the entire year.

At least, that’s the mentality they have going into things.

While speaking of the rumored match on this week’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez initially guessed that it would be Elias or King Baron Corbin. As Meltzer continued on, he finally admitted that it wasn’t Corbin and that WWE had all plans to pit Elias against Cena.

Cena didn’t have a single pay-per-view match last year and only wrestled a couple of times in January. The last time he was even on WWE television at all was when he appeared at the Raw Reunion in July, but he’s been absent ever since that time.

The interesting thing about this move is that in the last couple of months, WWE had actually been pushing Elias as a babyface. Seen as a heel throughout the majority of his time on the main roster, it was a new turn for the guitar-toting superstar. Putting him against Cena would make one think he’d be the bad guy, but fans don’t necessarily always cheer John either.

John Cena is officially coming back to WWE for Friday Night SmackDown and that has been confirmed. The company hasn’t actually said what he’ll be doing during his blue brand return, but it is expected that he’ll set up his match for WrestleMania 36. If the rumors end up holding true, it’s going to be Elias who gets the honor of facing off against the former champ.