WWE News: John Cena Faces Bray Wyatt At WWE Cedar Rapids, Women’s Star Returns
WWE star John Cena and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Bray Wyatt were among the SmackDown Live superstars in action for a house show Sunday night. The latest WWE live event took place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and not only included Wyatt defending the WWE Championship, but also Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Kalisto, Apollo Crews, Dolph Ziggler, and other stars from the SmackDown roster, as they prepare for Tuesday’s episode and WrestleMania 33.
According to Wrestling Inc., the latest event took place Sunday night and included at least eight matches on the WWE card. The early results saw the tag team champions American Alpha win a Triple Threat match as they defeated The Usos and Breezeango (aka “The Fashion Police”). Heath Slater and Rhyno were also victorious in tag team action, defeating former NXT tag champions The Ascension in Iowa. Kalisto was also in action defeating Curt Hawkins, and then Apollo Crews won a match over heel Dolph Ziggler. It was reported that the crowd was mixed in terms of cheering or booing for Dolph, making the crowd seem confused at times with his recent character development.
One of the interesting developments at some of the recent WWE live events featuring SmackDown stars has been the appearance of Tamina Snuka. She hasn’t really been featured in any of the television programming or pay-per-view events lately. Tamina participated in what seems to be a “Fatal Fiveway” match for Alexa Bliss’ WWE SmackDown Women’s title. The match also featured Natalya, Becky Lynch, and Carmella, who had James Ellsworth tagging along at ringside.
Bliss successfully defended her championship in the match, but could it mean Tamina will soon appear regularly on SmackDown Live? The show report indicated that “Tamina looked great,” so WWE could very well be preparing her for a new run on the main roster.
Dean Ambrose successfully defended his WWE Intercontinental title in a match against former champion The Miz. Maryse was ringside and up to her usual tricks, attempting to interfere and cause distractions. Eventually, the referee had enough of her schtick and tossed her from ringside. Ambrose was able to win the match from there after Miz complained about his wife being ejected.
Second #wwecedarrapids snapchat video by wwe #DeanAmbrose pic.twitter.com/hwckvopQ29
— Jon Moxley Fan Source (@JonMoxleyDotNet) February 27, 2017
It seems unlikely that Ambrose and Miz will be competing for much longer in terms of the Intercontinental title, as expectations are for Ambrose to defend it against Baron Corbin at Mania or possibly in a multiple competitor match. WWE rumors have indicated that Miz is slated to be part of a tag team match, with his wife Maryse going against John Cena and Nikki Bella.
The main event was a Fatal Fourway for Bray Wyatt’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Bray defended the belt against former champion John Cena, Baron Corbin, and former Wyatt Family member Luke Harper. Bray ended up retaining, but according to photos on social media, it looks like Cena planted him through a table with an Attitude Adjustment at some point. The other interesting part of this match was Luke Harper’s involvement, based on the fact many believe he could be part of the championship match at WrestleMania.
Among the stars who didn’t appear at the event were AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and Nikki Bella. As fans saw on last week’s SmackDown episode, Nikki suffered an attack at the hands of Maryse during a Falls Count Anywhere match against Natalya. The attack left Nikki hurt and possibly out of action for a bit, but that might be revealed on Tuesday’s episode.
The latest WWE SmackDown Live house show gave fans in Iowa a closer look at their favorite stars ahead of Tuesday’s big episode of the television show. This week’s episode features a huge match to determine a No. 1 contender for Bray Wyatt’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 33, making it one to watch as the road continues to WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year.
[Featured Image by WWE]
