reigns

WWE Changes Plans for SummerSlam Main Event

As previously reported, SummerSlam was expected to be headlined by Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Title this year. Those plans have changed and WWE has decided to go a different direction, according to the Wrestling Observer.

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that Lesnar vs. Strowman is not the plan anymore. Meltzer mentioned that Lesnar will defend his WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns or Samoa Joe at SummerSlam instead of Strowman.

If WWE decides to book Reigns against Lesnar at SummerSlam, it’s expected that Roman will carry the championship all the way until WrestleMania 34, where he would then defend it against the “free agent” John Cena. This could be one of the reasons as to why Cena is now working both RAW and SmackDown Live shows.

New Match Added to WWE Great Balls of Fire

WWE announced that Seth Rollins will face Bray Wyatt at the upcoming WWE Great Balls of Fire event. Here is the updated card:

WWE Universal Title Match
Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar

Ambulance Match
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Cruiserweight Title Match
Akira Tozawa vs. Neville

Bray Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins

Great Balls of Fire takes place on July 9th from the American Airlines Center in Dallas. As always, we will have live play-by-play coverage of the event.

Possible Spoiler for Tonight’s Episode of RAW

As previously noted, Roman Reigns will be kicking off tonight’s episode of RAW to make his SummerSlam announcement. It’s being speculated that Roman will announce that he wants to face the winner of the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view match of Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar.

With Braun Strowman now being cleared to return to action, Bryan Alvarez speculated on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Live that Strowman will return on tonight’s show to continue his feud with Roman Reigns. It’s expected that this will lead to another match with between the two, with the winner getting a shot at the Universal Title at SummerSlam.

Rumor on Seth Rollins’ Announcement on Monday

WWE announced on Friday that Seth Rollins would be making an announcement this upcoming Monday on ESPN at 10:30 AM.

Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed this topic on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio. Alvarez said that he’s heard that the announcement will be that Rollins’ is on the cover of this year’s WWE 2K18 video game. Meltzer seemed confused by this move by WWE, considering that Roman Reigns is considered the company guy.

Meltzer also indicated Kurt Angle will still be involved in WWE 2K18 this year in some capacity.

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.

Braun Strowman’s Possible Return Date

Braun Strowman may be returning at the upcoming Great Balls of Fire event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer mentioned in the latest installment that Strowman is currently scheduled to be part of the event. It’s unknown if he will face Roman Reigns at the show, but Strowman is still scheduled to face him one more time before having his match against Brock Lesnar.

Roman Reigns Responds to Hater on Twitter

Roman Reigns caught wind of a Twitter account that didn’t have nice things to say his wrestling abilities and decided to rip into the hater.

He wrote the following in response to a Tweet sent out by the user “HeelDegenerate”, who claims to be a wrestler in training.

Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Mahal’s Inability to Have 5-Star Matches, Dreaming of Wrestlers, Lucha Underground Talents Want Out? More!

A listener sends in a clip of Dave Meltzer, where Meltzer criticized The Drifter’s segment at Extreme Rules. Meltzer said that this was clearly just thrown into the show to kill time, and he wanted Samson off his television. Russo says that this proves that Meltzer has no experience in the wrestling business, because The Drifter’s presentation is a prime example of character development. WWE is being consistent with him and they have to be because he has a good look and they have a chance to do something cool with him.

Bryan Alvarez said this week that RAW has a great main event scene, where all five guys from the Fatal 5-way can be considered a legitimate threat to Brock Lesnar. Russo says he hates to break it to Alvarez, but wrestling is a work. In a real life environment, Russo thinks that Roman Reigns is the only guy in that group who could give Lesnar a run for his money, and he’d still get beat up.

Mike Johnson sent out a tweet this past week which you can read above. Russo says that this has to be the best line he has ever heard. He says that Johnson and these other ‘journalists’ are the biggest marks he has ever seen and comments like this just prove it. If you’re a grown man who’s dreaming about fake fights, you’re definitely a mark.

Finn Balor Trolls Fans at Promotional Event

While doing promotional work for WWE, Finn Balor trolled the fans in attendance by mentioning Roman Reigns.

When responding to a question by one of the interviewers, Balor stated that fans had plenty of reasons to be excited, he was then quoted as saying:

“Obviously they’ll get to see Seth Rollins, they’ll get to see Bray Wyatt, they’ll get to see Finn Balor, but most importantly they’ll get to see Roman Reigns.”

As soon as Balor mentioned Reigns, a resounding chorus of boos emanated from the fans in attendance followed by “Roman Sucks” chants.

Here is footage of the incident:

Edge Says Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe Should Have Been Saved for WrestleMania

During the recent installment of the E&C Podcast of Awesomeness, Edge talked about the upcoming match between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe and mentioned that WWE should have saved the match for WrestleMania next year.

“You want my take? Here’s my take, ok, I’m assuming that they wanna go Reigns and Brock at WrestleMania. I personally would have gone Brock and Joe at WrestleMania because it’s different, it is fresh, it is believable. You have this 300 pound Samoan you know, beast and then The Beast Incarnate. So I don’t know, I think that to me it would have been a fun match to get at WrestleMania and I think people would have been excited to see that too.”

You can listen to the complete podcast here.

Samoe Joe No Longer the Favorite to Win at Extreme Rules

Samoa Joe is no longer the favorite to win the Fatal 5-Way match at tonight’s Extreme Rules match.

5 Dimes has released the updated betting odd’s for tonight’s show and Seth Rollins is now the favorite to leave the event as the new #1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s WWE Universal Championship.

Seth Rollins comes in as a -100 favorite, while Samoa Joe is sitting at +145. Finn Balor is at +700, Bray Wyatt at +1450 and Roman Reigns at +3000.

There are no other drastic changes in the last 24-hours except for the Fatal 5-Way match. We will keep you updated if there are any other major changes.

Two Titles Changing Hands at Sunday’s Extreme Rules Events?

Smart Money bets are now coming in for Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules events. Unless there is a drastic shift over night, The Miz is expected to leave the event as the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.

In addition to that, Cesaro and Sheamus are expected to win the tag team titles. We will keep you updated if there are any major shifts tomorrow, but here are the possible outcomes:

Samoa Joe evens (favorite)
Seth Rollins 5/4
Finn Balor 5/1
Bray Wyatt 12/1
Roman Reigns 16/1

Neville 1/7 (favorite)
Austin Aries 10/3

The Miz 1/8 (favorite)
Dean Ambrose 9/2

Cesaro and Sheamus 1/3 (favorites)
Matt and Jeff Hardy 15/8

Alexa Bliss 8/15 (favorite)
Bayley 11/8