For the last two months, we’ve heard many whispers about what the WWE has been planning for it’s second biggest pay-per-view of the year, SummerSlam . The build to WrestleMania 32 failed to live up to expectations calling it the biggest show in WWE history. But that was in large part to the rash of injuries to many of the company’s top stars, which forced countless audibles on the way to Dallas. Vince McMahon admitted that they were forced to make chicken salad out of chicken s*** when it came time to deliver from AT&T Stadium on April 3.
But now, due to an influx of new talent along with the returns of those injured stars, Vince and the WWE are trying to make up for it by providing a star-studded card for the Barclays Center crowd and those watching at home in August. So far, rumors of that card have included Sasha Banks and Charlotte squaring off for the WWE Women’s Championship, The New Day defending their tag team gold against Enzo & Cass, Brock Lesnar and Bray Wyatt reigniting their feud to culminate with a SummerSlam showdown, and of course, Roman Reigns defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena.
With the exception of the tag team match, the other three matches have been penciled in almost as soon as WrestleMania went off the air. Presently, AJ Styles has emerged as a bona fide star, Seth Rollins is back from injury and has immediately inserted himself into the main event picture, and, perhaps most importantly, the news of a WWE brand split has trumped everything and thrown many plans into a tizzy. According to Daily Wrestling News , the match that is in the most jeopardy of being changed or postponed, is the Reigns-Cena clash that was set to headline the event.
I need this feud ASAP #RomanReigns vs #JohnCena #WWE #RomanEmpire vs #Cenation . @WWERomanReigns @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/rw07h71qyi
— K.Dot (@Karriem15) April 24, 2016
We’re now hearing that WWE may hold off on any Cena and Reigns plans for the time being, but there are still major plans for the match. So major that the match is currently being discussed as the main event for WrestleMania 33 next April in Orlando. The Inquisitr recently reported that Cena will be kept away from Reigns, as well as AJ Styles and The Club upon his return next week. Originally, Cena would have been kept away from Reigns until after Battleground so that the build to SummerSlam would have felt fresh. But now, we might not see any interaction between the two for a while.
Again, the WWE roster divide could change anything and everything that WWE writers had long-term plans for, but from what we’ve been hearing, Roman Reigns will retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship title against Seth Rollins, which may include another match after their Money In The Bank main event. Meanwhile, John Cena is set to return on the Memorial Day episode of Monday Night RAW and feud with either Rusev or Alberto Del Rio. There have been reports that Cena will challenge the Bulgarian Brute and win the United States Championship on that very RAW . Del Rio became the most recent Money in the Bank qualifier, and one spot remains in that match. If the rumors about a Cena/Del Rio feud are true, than perhaps Cena will qualify for the ladder match himself, as the final participant will likely be added on Monday.
Saving Cena and Reigns for another time makes sense for two reasons. Both have incurred the wrath from fans due to WWE’s poor booking decisions, and pitting them up against each other might result in a reaction the company would rather avoid. And the WWE is about to house its largest roster ever, giving them more options than they’ve ever had for a SummerSlam main event that would appease its fanbase.
[Image via WWE]
