KB’s Review: The Reigns of Summer

We’re just under a month away from “Great Balls of Fire” and that means it’s time to start talking about “Summerslam 2017”. As announced earlier this week on “Monday Night Raw”, Roman Reigns is scheduled to make his announcement for his “Summerslam 2017”, which takes place on August 20. Today we’re going to take a look at what Reigns’ announcement might be, which could cover quite a range of options. There’s a good chance that it’s going to be the main event and that opens a lot of doors.

Before we get to the possible options, let’s look at where Reigns has been in recent months. After beating Undertaker at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” and seemingly sending him into retirement (Remember that? WWE doesn’t seem to, as it’s barely been mentioned soon after it happened.), Reigns has continued his feud with Braun Strowman, including a loss to him at “Payback 2017”. Their feud was put on hold when Strowman was injured and needed arm surgery.

So where does that leave Reigns? Let’s take a look.

John Cena

This was one of the first ideas that came to my head and I think it makes the most sense. If they want Reigns to be the top guy (I’m not sure if that’s where they want it to go as they haven’t really made it clear yet.) then he needs to beat the current top guy. Even if Cena isn’t around full time anymore, he still means more than anyone else in the company. A win over Cena in a big match setting would be a game changer for Reigns, or at least it should be.

This even feels like a real possibility as Cena is rumored to be a free agent when he comes back on July 4. That would set up the stage for a potential “Monday Night Raw” vs. “Smackdown Live” match at “Summerslam 2017”. You know Cena is going to bring the goods in a match that big and this is one of the biggest potential matches left in WWE as Reigns has become a major player who could easily be seen on Cena’s level. To really be the Big Dog, Reigns is going to have to chase Cena off first.

Brock Lesnar

You know what, why not? We’ve been hearing about how Reigns vs. Lesnar has been pretty much set in stone for “Wrestlemania XXXIV” but why can’t those plans be changed? Reigns vs. Lesnar was teased the night after “Wrestlemania XXXIII” and it would be nice to have them just do it already and not make us feel like the next ten months are nothing more than filler until we get to the inevitable with Reigns winning the title back in New Orleans once and for all. Or at least until he loses it again.

I know the match itself would be fun but I don’t know many people who are interested to see the build. It’s just something that we’re stuck sitting through almost no matter what so it would be very nice to just do the match already. The Wrestlemania crowd is going to boo Reigns no matter what so just let him get it over with and set up something else for New Orleans.

Finn Balor

Coming out of the Fatal Five Way at “Extreme Rules 2017”, everyone but Balor and Reigns have something to do. These two have fought twice now and split the two matches so far and that sounds like the kind of thing that could be blown off on a bigger stage. Above all else though, Reigns wants to get the Universal Title back and it would make sense to have him go through the first Universal Champion on his road back to the championship. I’m not saying he’s going to go through Kevin Owens and Goldberg (though the latter would be a potential match as well) but Balor would be a good one off match.

As a bonus to being a push for Reigns, it would be nice to have Balor in a major spot as well. After his feud with Bray Wyatt seemed to be dropped with nothing actually happening, a feud with Reigns would be a good choice. While I’d pretty easily bet on Reigns to win the match and feud as a whole, Balor being put into such a big spot would make him seem like a big deal, which is exactly what he needs while he’s still finding his feet after his injury and on the main roster as a whole.

Shield vs. Balor Club

Now before we get into this, let me make it clear that I do NOT think this is where things are going, though it would still be entertaining to think about. This would of course be an extension of the Balor vs. Reigns feud which would be quite the dream match for several fans. Trios have become a popular idea in wrestling over recent years and Shield is pretty easily the top American version. Throw them against one of the most popular Japanese teams in the same period and there’s almost a guaranteed reaction which would really put the show over the top.

The idea of Balor/Anderson and Gallows vs. Reigns/Rollins/Dean Ambrose would be quite the match for a one off match and the action would work very well. If nothing else it would be nice to have Anderson and Gallows actually show off some of their abilities instead of making bad jokes and feuding with Enzo Amore and Big Cass for what feels like years at a time. Like I said, I can’t imagine this is going to happen but it would be one heck of a potential dream match.

So what do I think is going to happen? Who is going to be announced as the next big opponent for Reigns? Is it going to be one of the names mentioned here or some kind of a surprise? Maybe a shot at the Universal Title? Or perhaps a Shield reunion to give Reigns the boost he needs heading into the latest biggest match of his career?

I’m going with none of these actually. I’d be rather surprised if we actually get an announcement as I expect Strowman to make his return and set up a match for “Great Balls of Fire”. Given that WWE has already announced that Strowman will be out for about six months, you can pretty much pencil him in to be back in a third of that at worst. Let him show up and not do anything specifically physical until we get to “Great Balls of Fire” where Reigns can lose again to set up Strowman vs. Lesnar at “Summerslam”.

Of course there are a lot of options for Reigns at “Summerslam 2017” but I have a feeling we’re not going to be finding out what the actual choice is going to be so soon. Reigns is going to be facing someone at “Great Balls of Fire” and while it’s possible that we’re going to find out who he’ll be facing at “Summerslam 2017” before the July show, I really wouldn’t bet on it. It’s not like it’s beyond WWE to give us a bait and switch like this so just set up “Great Balls of Fire” already and drop the pretense of setting up a show over two months away.

 

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