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Speculation on Roman Reigns’ SummerSlam Announcement

It was announced by WWE that Roman Reigns would be making a SummerSlam announcement on the upcoming episode of RAW on Monday night.

Dave Meltzer discussed this topic on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio. While Meltzer couldn’t confirm exactly what the announcement is, he presented a scenario that would see Reigns challenge the winner of the Great Balls of Fire match between Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe.

Meltzer would go on to speculated that somehow WWE would do an angle that would setup Reigns vs. Strowman before the SummerSlam event (possibly on RAW or Great Balls of Fire), with the winner of that match facing Lesnar. Strowman would defeat Reigns and move onto the SummerSlam match against Brock for WWE Universal Championship.

Reason Why WWE Is Pushing Lana As A Top Female Superstar

As seen on WWE programming, Lana made her debut as a SmackDown Live Superstar and is already being positioned a top spot on the brand in the female division. Dave Meltzer discussed her SmackDown Live Women’s Championship match against Naomi and her position on the roster during today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer claimed that the company is adamant on having an attractive top WWE Superstar to represent the women’s division and this reason attributes her push within the company. He indicated that this role was originally planned for Eva Marie, but with her out of the picture they decided to go with Lana instead.

Money in the Bank 2017 – Predictions & Analysis

Hype Bros vs. The Colons

With Zack Ryder’s recent return to WWE programming after a lengthy layoff due to injury, The Hype Bros have re-emerged as a threat in the Smackdown Live tag team division. Mojo Rawley’s momentum has been stalled since winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania this year, and Ryder’s return could not have come at a better time for Rawley.

After debuting on Smackdown Live as The Smoking Guns 2.0 several weeks ago, The Colons have yet again found themselves floundering in the lower mid-card. Primo and Epico are vastly underrated in the ring, but their presentation on WWE programming has robbed them of any and all credibility they had as a legitimate threat in the tag team division. This does not bode well for their chances tonight.

Speculation has already started that The Hype Bros’ run as a tag team will be short lived, with Zack Ryder set to turn on Rawley in the near future. This certainly seems to be a safe bet, but I don’t see it happening tonight. This match will serve as a momentum builder for them before their eventual split, which will make Ryder’s heel turn (or maybe even Rawley’s heel turn?) all the more dramatic when it finally occurs.

Winners: The Hype Bros 

Bray Wyatt’s Affair with Jojo Allegedly Started Back in 2015

As previously reported, Bray Wyatt and his wife Samantha Rotunda are currently going through a divorce because Bray decided to have an affair with WWE ring announcer Jojo Offerman.

Samantha took to here Instagram account to describe how she feels about the whole situation. She reveals that she absolutely hates Bray for what he did to their family. She also indicated that the affair has been going on for over a year and a half, which would mean that it would have started sometime probably in 2015.

You can check out her remarks in the screen cap below:

Betting Odds for Tonight’s Money in the Bank Event

Here are the betting odds for tonight’s Money in the Bank event:
(the lower the number, the higher their chances of winning are)

WWE Money in the Bank Match
Baron Corbin -350
Sami Zayn +1200
Kevin Owens +2200
AJ Styles +1300
Shinsuke Nakamura +500
Dolph Ziggler +5000

WWE Women’s Money in the Bank Match
Carmella -265
Becky Lynch +1050
Natalya +750
Charlotte Flair +400
Tamina +6000

WWE Championship Match
Jinder Mahal(c) -900 vs Randy Orton +500

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Match
Naomi(c) -270 vs Lana +190

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship
The Usos(c) -185 vs The New Day +145

WWE Money in the Bank Results – June 18, 2017

Welcome to the SmackDown-branded, Money in the Bank 2017 results!

Tonight’s PPV is an historic one because it will host the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match! The monumental match-up features Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina Snuka, Carmella, and Natalya, all vying to climb the ladder and grab the contract hanging above the ring, becoming the first-ever winner in the process. Whoever wins the briefcase will get an instant title shot against the Champion.

Currently the Women’s Champion is Naomi but tonight she faces a mysterious challenger in the form of Lana. A lot of controversy has surrounded Lana’s instant push to the stars and seemingly unearned title shot – considering she has only wrestled one televised match and that was at WrestleMania 32. Lana appeased some concerns on SmackDown Live this week when she hit an impressive sit-out powerbomb, and it’s worth mentioning that the ravishing Russian has been wrestling on live events for over a year. So, do you think Naomi can retain against the unproven but unpredictable challenger? And who will win the Money in the Bank to challenge the Champion? Let us know in the comments!

Of course, there’s a second ladder match on tonight’s show, featuring six men who are willing to go through hell for a contract. AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn, will battle it out tonight in one of the hardest-hitting matches in all of wrestling. Any one of these men could realistically walk out with the briefcase but Nakamura was the one left holding in on SmackDown Live this past week. Baron Corbin seems the most obvious winner but it would be great to see AJ Styles or Sami Zayn grab the briefcase and go on to cash it in for a blockbuster match, rather than when a Champion is down and hurt. John Cena did this against CM Punk in 2012, on the Raw 1000 main event, and he failed but it made for a more monumental cash-in than the typical opportunistic approach. Just some food for thought, let us know who you’d like to see walk out with the briefcase!

Hometown boy Randy Orton has a huge match tonight as he challenges the WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal! Orton and the modern-day Maharaja have been going back and forth for months now, with Jinder usually getting the upper-hand due to the numbers game. The Singh Brothers could also play a huge role in tonight’s title match but Orton will look to nullify their presence, perhaps by taking them out before or during the match, allowing him to take-on the lesser-talented Jinder one-on-one!

Elsewhere on tonight’s show, The Uso’s defend their Tag Team Championship’s against The New Day, and The Hype Bro’s face The Colon’s on the pre-show. It’s a fairly small card tonight, although that means the ladder matches will probably get plenty of time to breathe. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an episode of The Fashion Files also. Let us know all your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to check out the Ringside News app and enjoy the show!

Carmella Reacts to Her Controversial Win at Money in the Bank

As seen at tonight’s Money in the Bank event, James Ellsworth injected himself into the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match and captured the briefcase only to give it to Carmella. There was tons of backlash on social media regarding the finish to the match.

Carmella took to Twitter and responded to her victory with the following remarks:

Mike Bennett and Maria Spotted In St. Louis

As we noted earlier this week, Mike Bennett and Maria would be working with the SmackDown crew over the weekend and could possibly appear at tonight’s Money in the Bank event.

The two were actually spotted at the airport in St. Louis, which is the site of tonight’s Money in the Bank event.

Paige Reportedly Returning “Soon”

As previously noted, Paige mentioned on Instagram this week that she was going in for her last set of X-Rays and will hopefully be making a comeback soon. Later in that same day, she started posting photos of herself back at the gym training, indicating that the doctor possibly had some good news for her.

When asked about her return to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer on Twitter, he replied in short fashion, “soon.”

With rumors of a potential sixth spot open in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match tonight, there is always the possibility that “soon” could be earlier than you think.