The 16-time WWE world champion John Cena will return to WWE programming on February 28 for the first time since July 2019.

Cena's wrestling appearances are few-and-far between nowadays as his acting career took off, which is proven by the fact he has gained a huge role in the Fast & Furious series.

Big Match John had a mini-stint back in WWE in January last year, but he has been angling for a part at WrestleMania 36, whether that be just for a segment or for a match.

But with Cena's comeback coming just over five weeks before WrestleMania, there's sufficient time to build towards a big-time match.

Let's look at five superstars Cena could realistically end up facing one-on-one at the Showcase of Immortals.

VELVETEEN DREAM

In 2018, Cena picked out Dream as one of NXT's finest talents and declared he sees 'something special' in him.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Dream showcased his immense talents for such a young star, and has very recently returned from a back injury to take out Undisputed Era.

Dream could wrap up his feud with Roderick Strong next week on NXT, and then come to SmackDown the following week and go face-to-face with Cena to create a star-making moment on February 28.

With Cena probably not having many matches left, there's a good chance he will want to make this match happen.

ALEISTER BLACK

Cena may be coming to SmackDown, but that doesn't mean his WrestleMania opponent has to come from that brand.

Black has indicated that he is going to bring the fight to the locker room instead of asking other superstars to pick a fight with him, and a match with Cena on the big stage could really elevate him to main event status.

The Dutchman hasn't been pinned or submitted since moving to the main roster, and there's clearly big plans in the pipeline for him, so why not elevate him even more by letting him Black Mass Cena into oblivion in Tampa?

DANIEL BRYAN

Cena and Bryan have only wrestled one-on-one a couple of times, the last occasion being SummerSlam 2013, where Bryan won the WWE Championship (briefly) for the very first time.

With Bryan a reformed man now and Cena looking for an opponent, it would be a big match to make and it would probably be the last time they face each other as well.

If the first two men mentioned aren't in the pipeline, then a Bryan who doesn't seem to have any huge plans going forward should be.

SAMOA JOE

It's perhaps remarkable that Cena and Joe haven't gone one-on-one with each other before, considering they trained together earlier in their careers.

A match between the two looked to be in the works in 2018, but Joe injured himself in January and the chance to face Cena at WrestleMania was put on hold - the Doctor of Thuganomics faced The Undertaker instead.

Joe may be shining on Raw as a babyface right now, but he's currently in the middle of a multi-man feud with Seth Rollins' stable, and Cena may be the ticket to get him out of that.

GOLDBERG

The WCW legend is facing Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship at Super ShowDown, and if he is unsuccessful in his challenge, he might still stick around for Mania season.

There is a suggestion that Cena's return, Wyatt v Goldberg and Roman Reigns' WrestleMania plans may be tied in together, so if Wyatt retains and Reigns goes on to face The Fiend in Tampa, Cena v Goldberg in a first-time ever match could be the way to go.

It wouldn't be as satisfying as seeing Cena put over a younger talent like Black or Dream, but it would be sure to get the casual wrestling fan to watch at the very least.