Roman Reigns' Summerslam announcement

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Roman is coming back next week to make a big announcement for Summerslam. What could it be?

There are reports about specific angle involving John Cena. Cena will likely play a free agent role, so that he appears on both RAW and Smackdown. Although that's a different topic of discussion altogether, these two could be combined for now. Are we getting Roman vs Cena at Summerslam? Is Roman going to challenge Cena? Is Roman making an open challenge answered by Cena? Who knows.

Roman could also say that he's going for the Universal Championship, but that would be absurd, since he just lost a #1 contender's match.

Another big surprise would be a match with Goldberg. But why would Roman challenge Goldberg?

Me personally? I'd just like to see Finn Balor and The Club going after the Big Dog. Balor vs Reigns can be a big Summerslam match and adding The Club in there would make it even greater. Roman and Balor have great chemistry in the ring. Right now they are tied in 1-1. The Club does have some history with Reigns.

What do you all think?

It seems too early to go for Reigns vs Cena and it feels kind of rushed. This is a Wrestlemania worthy match. Plus feeding Cena to Reigns would mean that Reigns has defeated Orton, HHH, Undertaker, Cena and Lesnar in a span of 4 years. Although maybe Wrestlemania 35 seems too far away for Vince to have Cena vs Reigns there.

It all remains to be seen though.

 

[Navi]

Well I figured it would be Strowman against Reigns, but I think they are reserving Strowman for Lesnar. That would be a shame if they did, although you can't have Reigns beat him and then have Strowman go against Lesnar. It would be a forgone conclusion and I want to see Lesnar and Strowman have a good match.

As for Reigns and all of the other main event crowd on RAW, I'm finding the whole situation very strange. Yes we know there is a rumour floating that the WWE wants Lesnar against Reigns at the next Wrestlemania, but there is a problem with that. Even though Reigns has been given the rub of defeating HHH and then the Undertaker, he still isn't over with the crowd as much as the WWE wants him to be. I sincerely don't know if it will ever happen. The guy has been given so many chances, and just can't get over the hump.

Bacon mentioned on the RAW LD thread last night that the WWE might call an audible and have Cena vs Lesnar against. That would give Cena his 17th title reign and the crowd a feel good moment like we haven't seen since Bryan a couple of years ago. I just can't see Reigns having the main event this coming Mania and then the next one as well. I mean please, no one is getting this kind of booking, and what is that saying to the rest of the roster.

So I have no idea what the big announcement will be. The whole main event of RAW is in a holding pattern right now because of Lesnar not being there. Last night we didn't even see Balor or Reigns. We had Joe in a tussle with Lesnar for about 4 minutes and Wyatt and Rollins having a war on the mic. The undercard is what is holding this show together. That's not a good sign.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

My guess is that Reigns makes a statement that he intends to challenge the winner of at vs. Joe to a match at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship. The result of this is, possibly, the return of Braun Strowman with WWE hyping his recuperative powers, much like they do with John Cena whenever he's out injured and returns much sooner than they say he's expected to. They have unfinished business and they wind up having a match at Great Balls of Fire with the winner taking on the Universal Champion at SummerSlam. If that turns out to be the case, Strowman wins at GBOF to face Lesnar while WWE continues the slow build for Lesnar vs. Reigns for WrestleMania next year.

While I agree with Navi that there's a potential problem with the scenario of waiting for next year to do Lesnar vs. Reigns, it's not as though Vince really cares about that. If it's what he wants, it's what'll happen regardless of what fans think or whatever anyone else in WWE tries to convince him of.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I'm certainly in the camp that believe the main event scene on Raw is a shambles. Unlike in late 2016, when it was the same four guys every week in the main event, at this point I don't even know who is a face or heel, who they are fighting, and what their agendas are. I suppose this announcement will make it very clear, but because of the booking of the last few weeks, I can't see what the logical announcement would be.

I do think a match with John Cena is a high possibility though. There would be no reason for WWE run to this "free agent" angle unless Cena was bound for a Raw brand opponent. And in my mind, I can only see Roman Reigns as being that guy to face. If WWE are still going ahead with the rumoured match between Reigns and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania (which I sincerely hope doesn't happen), then a victory over Cena at the second or third biggest event of the year would certainly add kayfabe credibility to his forthcoming challenge of the Universal Championship. I do think that a match with Cena would be all too random though. Admittedly, I don't see anyone else on the Raw roster to logically pair with Cena at this point, but Reigns is the most logical considering the apparent "changing of the guard" from Cena to Reigns. Even then, these two have never crossed paths in a one-on-one situation before, and so I fear this would be one of those matches that I do genuinely think should happen, and I do think will be very good, but it'll happen in very random and half-assed circumstances just to be able to say it happened.

We could be looking at this wrong though. It might not have anything to do with a match necessarily. Logically it seems most likely, but you never know. The segment could certainly lead to a match, but we haven't even had Great Balls of Fire (forever burn in hell whoever made this title) yet. Having said that, the second option for me at this point is that it might have something to do with Finn Balor, who also has absolutely nothing to do at this point, which is borderline tragic considering his debut last year and comparing it to where we are now. I doubt it though. Welcome to Monday Night Raw. A match with Brock and maybe even a triple threat with Braun Strowman would make me very excited too, if they went in that direction.

Odds on Roman revealing it was him that attacked Enzo and is challenging him to a Hell in a Cell match at SummerSlam?

This certainly has me intrigued.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I'm certainly in the camp that believe the main event scene on Raw is a shambles. Unlike in late 2016, when it was the same four guys every week in the main event, at this point I don't even know who is a face or heel, who they are fighting, and what their agendas are. I suppose this announcement will make it very clear, but because of the booking of the last few weeks, I can't see what the logical announcement would be.

I do think a match with John Cena is a high possibility though. There would be no reason for WWE run to this "free agent" angle unless Cena was bound for a Raw brand opponent. And in my mind, I can only see Roman Reigns as being that guy to face. If WWE are still going ahead with the rumoured match between Reigns and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania (which I sincerely hope doesn't happen), then a victory over Cena at the second or third biggest event of the year would certainly add kayfabe credibility to his forthcoming challenge of the Universal Championship. I do think that a match with Cena would be all too random though. Admittedly, I don't see anyone else on the Raw roster to logically pair with Cena at this point, but Reigns is the most logical considering the apparent "changing of the guard" from Cena to Reigns. Even then, these two have never crossed paths in a one-on-one situation before, and so I fear this would be one of those matches that I do genuinely think should happen, and I do think will be very good, but it'll happen in very random and half-assed circumstances just to be able to say it happened.

We could be looking at this wrong though. It might not have anything to do with a match necessarily. Logically it seems most likely, but you never know. The segment could certainly lead to a match, but we haven't even had Great Balls of Fire (forever burn in hell whoever made this title) yet. Having said that, the second option for me at this point is that it might have something to do with Finn Balor, who also has absolutely nothing to do at this point, which is borderline tragic considering his debut last year and comparing it to where we are now. I doubt it though. Welcome to Monday Night Raw. A match with Brock and maybe even a triple threat with Braun Strowman would make me very excited too, if they went in that direction.

Odds on Roman revealing it was him that attacked Enzo and is challenging him to a Hell in a Cell match at SummerSlam?

This certainly has me intrigued.

He just defeated The Undertaker. He definately does not need to beat Cena right now. The two people that defeated Taker at Wrestlemania squaring off is a big enough draw.

 

[The Perfect Max]

He just defeated The Undertaker. He definately does not need to beat Cena right now. The two people that defeated Taker at Wrestlemania squaring off is a big enough draw.

I agree, I'm just trying to find a logical reason for the potential match between him and Cena. And even then, Reigns lost at Extreme Rules and Payback, and has suffered some brutal beat downs by Strowman since WrestleMania. From that perspective, Reigns may, in storyline, want a challenge to prove his worth again. After all, Reigns told us he would beat Taker, and he did.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Point is: Like many said, only Lesnar and Reigns matter right now on RAW. The crowd knows that and they just don't care about anything else. Strowman managed to get some spotlight too, but what happens when he returns and gets lost in the midcard pool that is RAW?

Also, Rollins needs to jump ship ASAP. The "man" my ass. Right now he's in the same midcard pool as everyone else, behind Reigns and Lesnar. The company does not even has a direction for Rollins at the moment.

Ever since after Wrestlemania, WWE feels like this Reigns > RAW > Smackdown. He's just sitting on his iron throne and the worst thing is that they're letting nobody touch that guy for a whole damn year.

WWE could have been at its most interesting stage had it been Rollins, Reigns, Ambrose, Owens, Styles, Wyatt, Balor, Orton all battling for the #1 spot. That spot has been given to Roman and everybody else just battle for the #2 spot.

But who really cares about the #2?

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

My guess is that Reigns makes a statement that he intends to challenge the winner of at vs. Joe to a match at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship. The result of this is, possibly, the return of Braun Strowman with WWE hyping his recuperative powers, much like they do with John Cena whenever he's out injured and returns much sooner than they say he's expected to. They have unfinished business and they wind up having a match at Great Balls of Fire with the winner taking on the Universal Champion at SummerSlam. If that turns out to be the case, Strowman wins at GBOF to face Lesnar while WWE continues the slow build for Lesnar vs. Reigns for WrestleMania next year.

While I agree with Navi that there's a potential problem with the scenario of waiting for next year to do Lesnar vs. Reigns, it's not as though Vince really cares about that. If it's what he wants, it's what'll happen regardless of what fans think or whatever anyone else in WWE tries to convince him of.

It is definately a problem. Right now though Summerslam is too early for Brock to lose the belt, because he shouldn't lose it with only title defense.

Best thing to do for me? Have Lesnar defend the belt at GBoF, SSlam and CoC against the people they want Lesnar to fight. Then have Reigns beat Lesnar at Survivor Series. That way, you give Lesnar a nice run, you give Reigns his rub AND you let the interest peak once again for Wrestlemania, just in time.

However all of this has been discussed plenty of times over the past months and we might drift away from the subject that is Roman's Summerslam announcement, which I highly doubt is Brock Lesnar. Not yet at least.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It is definately a problem. Right now though Summerslam is too early for Brock to lose the belt, because he shouldn't lose it with only title defense.

Best thing to do for me? Have Lesnar defend the belt at GBoF, SSlam and CoC against the people they want Lesnar to fight. Then have Reigns beat Lesnar at Survivor Series. That way, you give Lesnar a nice run, you give Reigns his rub AND you let the interest peak once again for Wrestlemania, just in time.

However all of this has been discussed plenty of times over the past months and we might drift away from the subject that is Roman's Summerslam announcement, which I highly doubt is Brock Lesnar. Not yet at least.

I doubt it'll be Lesnar vs. Reigns for SummerSlam either but, then again, you never really know with Vince. He might suddenly get this notion, if he hasn't already, of going with Lesnar vs. Reigns for SummerSlam, Reigns is obliterated and they spend the time WrestleMania building up some sort of journey towards redemption for Reigns in which Vince wants to try to have him me sort of underdog striving to save WWE from the Beast.

That's something that might be interesting if it was someone who could pull off an underdog role. You know, someone who hasn't already won 3 WWE World Championships, constantly hyped as "the Big Dog", hasn't been in the midst of a consistent 3 year push and, quite probably, retired the Undertaker. The problem is that Vince McMahon can sometimes be blind to such things his guns.

 

[strangephish]

Wasn't there talk a little while ago where they wanted Reigns to defeat the Miz and become the Intercontinental champ so that the WM match between him and Lesnar would be Champ vs Champ with Reigns coming out on top similar to Warrior beating Hogan to capture both belts

 

[thebarber]

I'm not sure why Roman Reigns gets the right to announce what he thinks he wants to do at Summerslam. Seems Rollins and Wyatt will be going off to do something, Lesnar vs Joe cant just end with one match. Personally, I see Reigns making some announcement about challenging the winner of Lesnar vs Joe,which in turn brings Strowman back to lay claim to a shot. Fatal 4 way at Summerslam for the Universal Title sees Lesnar vs Joe vs Reigns vs Strowman. Cena vs Mahal for the WWE Title, Styles vs Owens for the IC Title, Rollins vs Wyatt

 

[mooseman]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was something stupid like Reigns challenging Kane to a match saying since he retired the Undertaker he might as well retire his brother as well.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Lesnar vs Joe cant just end with one match.

If various reports are accurate and unless things change, that's exactly what's going to happen. My guess is that beginning in September and lasting to the Royal Rumble, possibly Fastlane, all the various wrestlers involved in the Fatal Fiveway Extreme Rules match will all have a chance to face Lesnar. Joe gets his shot next month then, Strowman will probably get a shot at SummerSlam as it's something WWE's been planning for a while, then Rollins, Balor & Wyatt will each get their shot in the following months before Reigns slays the Beast at WrestleMania next year.

For whatever reason, Lesnar has the sweetest deal in pro wrestling history. He'll wrestle maybe a total of 4 or 5 more times this year, maybe 1 or 2 more times next year before WrestleMania and will make about $12 million for doing it. The way things are shaping up right now via Vince's vision, none of these guys except Reigns will beat Lesnar, so my biggest hope is that all of these guys have strong, competitive matches and see their stocks rise instead of being squashed and that Lesnar retires after losing to Reigns rather than sign another deal. If Vince wants Reigns to be the #1 guy, even if it's only in his mind, then there'll be little doubt if Reigns turns out to be the guy who beat Triple H for the WWE Championship last year, retired the Undertaker the this year and defeats Lesnar for the Universal Championship & retires him next year. What we'll have to look forward to then, most likely, will be a guy who almost never loses no matter what the odds are and what the situation is over the next 10 years.

 

[ShinChan]

I agree that it could be Roman Reigns Vs. John Cena at Summerslam. The notion that John Cena is a free agent now just to face a Raw superstar is totally accurate. It would be pointless otherwise.

Back to Roman Reigns. Who else is left for him to defeat other than John Cena and Brock Lesnar? No one, I guess. Keep giving him all rubs and make others get squashed and face the consequences as well then.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

If various reports are accurate and unless things change, that's exactly what's going to happen. My guess is that beginning in September and lasting to the Royal Rumble, possibly Fastlane, all the various wrestlers involved in the Fatal Fiveway Extreme Rules match will all have a chance to face Lesnar. Joe gets his shot next month then, Strowman will probably get a shot at SummerSlam as it's something WWE's been planning for a while, then Rollins, Balor & Wyatt will each get their shot in the following months before Reigns slays the Beast at WrestleMania next year.

For whatever reason, Lesnar has the sweetest deal in pro wrestling history. He'll wrestle maybe a total of 4 or 5 more times this year, maybe 1 or 2 more times next year before WrestleMania and will make about $12 million for doing it. The way things are shaping up right now via Vince's vision, none of these guys except Reigns will beat Lesnar, so my biggest hope is that all of these guys have strong, competitive matches and see their stocks rise instead of being squashed and that Lesnar retires after losing to Reigns rather than sign another deal. If Vince wants Reigns to be the #1 guy, even if it's only in his mind, then there'll be little doubt if Reigns turns out to be the guy who beat Triple H for the WWE Championship last year, retired the Undertaker the this year and defeats Lesnar for the Universal Championship & retires him next year. What we'll have to look forward to then, most likely, will be a guy who almost never loses no matter what the odds are and what the situation is over the next 10 years.

The man just defeated Rollins, Balor and Wyatt in 3 weeks straight and nobody even noticed. CLEAN. For guys and matches they wanna protect like Rollins vs Reigns and Reigns vs Balor they sure give it away way too easily on TV.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Roman will announce that he wants to earn his way to the Universal title, but it'll be a feint that sets up his Great Balls match (giggle).

He'll be interrupted by someone. Maybe Braun, maybe another face and the two will fight for the SummerSlam main event. Most likely Strowman if he is indeed back, though that likely means a Roman loss, and he hasn't exactly been winning a lot since Mania.

Roman might go after the IC title too, but considering how lacklustre his US title run was, I don't know if it's the best. At least it would spell the end of Miz vs Ambrose.

Maybe Balor turns heel and SummerSlam is The Club vs The Shield. They shouldn't do a full Shield reunion though (music and gear and crowd entrance). Just Rollins/Reigns/Ambrose working together. Save the full reunion for later. You'd think they would have started building up Anderson and Gallows if this was the plan, but look at Mahal.

There's another event before SummerSlam and this likely sets up his GBoF match.

 

[Snugglebites]

Elias Samson has already beaten Ambrose twice. He'll beat Rollins a few times, then finish off The Shield triangle by beating Reings at SS. It may be Roman's yard, but he can't walk through it with Elias.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Plus feeding Cena to Reigns would mean that Reigns has defeated Orton, HHH, Undertaker, Cena and Lesnar in a span of 4 years.

Reigns is a guy who mainevented 3 Wrestlemanias in a row. If they plan on building him seriously, at least booking- wise it has sense to have him go around and take down part timers who are past the prime(at least in HHH and Takers case, and somewhat Ortons, he hasnt even started Cena feud and Lesnar is just the rumor for now). Though its basic IWC logic we are talking about here: We dont want part timers to bury future main event talents but as long as we are talking about who we like.

Given that he has probably Strowman where he would be defeated again in order to get Strowman- Lesnar by Summerslam, it makes sense to either give him something to be fed like The Miz and US title or something noticeable like Cena. Where it could go either way and would be something big and fresh. I would rather see second option.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Reigns is a guy who mainevented 3 Wrestlemanias in a row. If they plan on building him seriously, at least booking- wise it has sense to have him go around and take down part timers who are past the prime(at least in HHH and Takers case, and somewhat Ortons, he hasnt even started Cena feud and Lesnar is just the rumor for now). Though its basic IWC logic we are talking about here: We dont want part timers to bury future main event talents but as long as we are talking about who we like.

Given that he has probably Strowman where he would be defeated again in order to get Strowman- Lesnar by Summerslam, it makes sense to either give him something to be fed like The Miz and US title or something noticeable like Cena. Where it could go either way and would be something big and fresh. I would rather see second option.

My problem isn't with part-timers putting over talent. But even Cena wasn't so super. Cena did beat Triple H, JBL and HBK, but that was it. They didn't feed Undertaker to him and Cena gave back victories to both HBK and Triple H. Plus Cena had big moments and feuds in his whole career up until that point. Interesting feuds. vs Edge, vs RVD, vs HHH, vs HBK, vs JBL, vs Angle. All of these are goldmines and everybody loves going back on Youtube to find highlights of those feuds.
Where are Roman's feuds? All I see is mediocricy. Sure the man can have big matches, but what worth is the match if it lacks the build-up? That has always been Roman's problem. You have nothing to remember from Reigns vs Lesnar other than their match. You have nothing to remember from Reigns vs Triple H other than Reigns taking out Trips at TLC. Braun vs Reigns is Reigns' best feud to date. When you have faced so many legends and your best feud is with Braun Strowman, then something isn't right. Obviously that's creative's fault.

My point is: feeding people to Roman won't do anything. It's the stories that build the superstars. Simple matches don't do shit. Look at Rollins. He has just beaten Triple H, but he fails to get a reaction that suits a man that has beaten Triple H. Why? Because all of his storylines suck.

Let's admit it. WWE has gone lazy. The names of the part-timers sell. With the Network there's no need to sell PPVs anymore each month. That's why there are no interesting stories any more. Smackdown is the only brand that still uses storylines and not names, but Vince simply does not care about Smackdown.

 

[d_henderson1810]

My problem isn't with part-timers putting over talent. But even Cena wasn't so super. Cena did beat Triple H, JBL and HBK, but that was it. They didn't feed Undertaker to him and Cena gave back victories to both HBK and Triple H. Plus Cena had big moments and feuds in his whole career up until that point. Interesting feuds. vs Edge, vs RVD, vs HHH, vs HBK, vs JBL, vs Angle. All of these are goldmines and everybody loves going back on Youtube to find highlights of those feuds.
Where are Roman's feuds? All I see is mediocricy. Sure the man can have big matches, but what worth is the match if it lacks the build-up? That has always been Roman's problem. You have nothing to remember from Reigns vs Lesnar other than their match. You have nothing to remember from Reigns vs Triple H other than Reigns taking out Trips at TLC. Braun vs Reigns is Reigns' best feud to date. When you have faced so many legends and your best feud is with Braun Strowman, then something isn't right. Obviously that's creative's fault.

My point is: feeding people to Roman won't do anything. It's the stories that build the superstars. Simple matches don't do shit. Look at Rollins. He has just beaten Triple H, but he fails to get a reaction that suits a man that has beaten Triple H. Why? Because all of his storylines suck.

Let's admit it. WWE has gone lazy. The names of the part-timers sell. With the Network there's no need to sell PPVs anymore each month. That's why there are no interesting stories any more. Smackdown is the only brand that still uses storylines and not names, but Vince simply does not care about Smackdown.

That's why I never got the hate on Cena. Cena may not have put on Kurt Angle-type matches, but he rarely had a forgettable match, and many times, his matches were very good (he may have had a good opponent who brought out the best in him, but good opponents can't even bring out the best in Roman by comparison).

I think it is time that the IWC apologize to John Cena for all the harsh things they said about him, since he is a breath of fresh air compared to Roman at the moment.

 

[ISkye]

A big match against someone that has or had been developing their platform for either weeks or months. More than likely to win the match and if they go on to feud... that as well. Tends to happen. We're just in one of the periods where we get to watch other guys that are being built to be fed to the same guys we've had for the last 3 to 4 years. Roman wins RR 2015, Beats Daniel Bryan fastlane, Main events mania. Triple HHH wins the Royal rumble somehow next year. Wait a minute, Roman is going to main event to beat him. Orton won? Oh wait Roman just set up another feud with The Undertaker to retire him and main event.

It really doesn't matter. It's going to have the same feel, and outcome as literally any other feud or match he has had maybe except outside that tiny window where Rollins and Ambrose were pushed over him once or twice.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I think i will come out and say that he's going after Lesnar and the universal title only to get interrupted by Braun Strowman and this will set up a number one contenders match between Strowman and Reigns at great balls of fire.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I think i will come out and say that he's going after Lesnar and the universal title only to get interrupted by Braun Strowman and this will set up a number one contenders match between Strowman and Reigns at great balls of fire.

Pretty much this. I'd expect Strowman to win that match as well if he's going to face Lesnar at SummerSlam. There's a pretty decent chance it won't be clean this time. I'd suspect his next feud is the distraction.

 

[GOOZEKING]

You guys have no idea how much I just want him to challenge Brock and we get the match out of the way. Neither Brock or Roman are losing clean until they fight and Vince doesn't give a rats butt for anyone else. So I say just have reigns have his 4th crowning moment as the "man" now. (Meanwhile some guys don't even get 1) so I can get fresh feuds at mania.

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

They're really hyping this up and yesterday Reigns said, "A lot of people won't like it". Now once we look past the fact that a lot of people don't like anything Reigns does, we have to think about what it realistically could be... and there aren't many options. It won't be Cena, it won't be Brock, Strowman looks destined to interfere in the segment regardless. It might just be a major cocktease and before Reigns can even say anything, Strowman will come out and that'll set up Reigns/Strowman for Great Balls of Fire. The only problem with that is, do they just drop the whole thing afterwards? Are we never gonna find out what Reigns' SummerSlam plans were? It would be in typical WWE fashion, but I don't know.

Either way I'm intrigued.