WWE SmackDown: John Cena has unleashed the hate in Bray Wyatt

John Cena and Bray Wyatt will face each other at WrestleMania 36 for one of the Show of Shows’ most highly-anticipated matches, and Cena took their feud to the next level on last week’s WWE SmackDown.

Bray Wyatt has everything to prove going into his WWE WrestleMania 36 match against John Cena. Noto only does the former world champion on WWE SmackDown need to get back on track after losing the Universal Title to Goldberg in February, but he needs to erase the memory of the biggest loss of his career.

The demoralizing defeat Wyatt suffered at Cena’s hands six years ago still weighs heavily on the former cult leader’s mind. It is, in fact, the reason for The Fiend coming into being, if we are to believe the words spoken by Wyatt over the past couple of weeks.

Even before the Mar. 13 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, emotions were running high in this feud. Every WrestleMania match is a must-win for Cena, who faces pressure like no other superstar when the Show of Shows comes around. Yet the stakes are even higher for Wyatt on a personal level because of what happened to him against Cena at WrestleMania 30. Sure, Wyatt pinned him in an Elimination Chamber title match before WrestleMania 33, but THIS match is where the real revenge comes in.

And now, Wyatt has some extra motivation to win, as if he needed any more reason to defeat Cena at ‘Mania.

Last Friday, Cena cut one of his most scathing promos in recent memory. He verbally destroyed Wyatt, after promising to physically destroy the fellow WWE veteran on Apr. 5.

Here’s what he said:

"“The reason why I took Bray Wyatt’s challenge at WrestleMania, is so I can take Bray Wyatt out of the equation. Michael Cole, this ain’t gonna be a WrestleMania match to steal the show; it’s going to be physical, it is going to be gruesome, and it is going to be uncomfortable to watch. But this WreslteMnaia match is going to accomplish what should have happened six years ago: ending the existence of the most overhyped, overvalued, overprivileged WWE superstar in existence.”"

And then we heard Wyatt’s maniacal laugh.

Those words from Cena were more than just “fighting words”. They were a warning shot and an emphatic cutdown of another wrestler from a legend who grew past a history of being criticized by fans for “burying” other wrestlers. And that includes Wyatt.

These past criticisms are not lost on Cena, who knows they were unfounded and born out of frustration. In fact, Cena has done whatever he can to put over the next generation of stars, and it’s quite clear he’s come back to put over Wyatt at WrestleMania, rectifying the decision WWE made at ‘Mania 30.

But to make it feel real, to push Wyatt to another level as a performer, John Cena had to tap into a well of emotion. And the water that flows from this well needs to be laced with venom. Anger and doubt feed The Fiend, and by speaking these words, Cena has pushed Wyatt’s latest psychological creation to another level.

Cena has created a more driven, hate-filled Fiend after this promo on WWE SmackDown, and this WrestleMania battle has become a fight even the 16-time champion can’t win. He’s about to feel the full wrath of The Fiend, whose full hatred will be unleashed.