SmackDown In A Nutshell: Will Roman Reigns See John Cena

It’s another Friday, so it’s SmackDown In A Nutshell time once again. So, after Sunday’s surprise return, will Roman Reigns see John Cena?

Or better yet, will Roman Reigns accept John Cena’s challenge for SummerSlam?

We should hopefully find out by the close of this week’s SmackDown, which would make for a nice ribbon on this Nutshell.

Presuming we do get Roman Reigns and John Cena as the big SummerSlam match, the top of the card seems set.

It certainly appears like RAW is giving us Goldberg versus Lashley, as came to be on Monday.

So, with a month to go until SummerSlam, we wonder…will Roman Reigns see John Cena…perhaps in the main event at SummerSlam?

Of course, there’s plenty of other activities to deal with this week.

Big E claimed the Money In The Bank briefcase for the men’s side on Sunday, so that’s cool. Will we get another cash-in this week?

Or, will that case stay unused…to make sure we can see Roman Reigns and John Cena at SummerSlam.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the blue brand follows up their return to the road from last week…but let’s get to it!

SmackDown In A Nutshell: Will Roman Reigns See John Cena

Lets crack this one open and find out!

Best Match of the night:

Match wise…this show was kinda…bad.

Like, nothing ran too long, and nothing was honestly excellent.

Finn Balor over Sami Zayn was probably the best of the show, or at least what I enjoyed most.

Worst match of the night:

Oh…too many to pick on.

Did not like Belair and Carmella…too short, and that feud never had traction.

Giving us that match again, after last week? No thanks.

Then, Dom versus Jimmy? Could have been OK, but there was some ugly botching at the end.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

You deserve it

Roman’s scared

Star of the Night

Is there one? I don’t know that there was.

If I am being pushed…I’d go with Finn Balor.

Spot of the Night:

Not one for me

Jobber of the Night:

Sami Zayn, once again.

Upset of the Night:

No match upset…but Edge was sure upset with Seth Rollins.

Justifiably so, to be honest.

As much as I want to see Edge get one more title run…I am looking forward to Edge versus Seth, because I think it can be very good.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Well, we got a semi-swerve at the end, didn’t we?

Reigns said no to John Cena’s challenge. Finn Balor then came out, challenged and had that accepted.

Surely, we expect a bit of a swerve with that one though? Like, Reigns/Balor will be on SmackDown, and somehow or other, Cena and Reigns happens in Vegas.

As much as Balor is good…he’s not selling tickets like John Cena, is he?

Botch of the night:

Dom and Jimmy.

I couldn’t even just blame one…I’d say they deserve a share of it.

Unless someone tells me that the one sequence of their match was planned to look that bad…it was a major botch, and every time they could have fixed it, it kind of just got worse.

Noteworthy Moment:

Overall lowlights:

I don’t want to be too harsh on the Rolling Loud side of things, because it’s different and the presentation was cool.

But…

The matches were short and not exciting at all.

Not sure I dig whatever they are doing to drag out Cena locking horns with Reigns. I can get keeping them apart as much as possible, but Roman not accepting?

I am sure (I think?) it will work out…but where the red brand basically confirmed their main event for SummerSlam, the blue brand did not.

Overall highlights:

Surprisingly enjoying Finn Balor back on the blue brand.

Edge and Seth Rollins, top notch.

Cena and Heyman on the mic, WWE could have those two teach a master class for many other talents.

After the final bell:

Probably a notch or three down from last week…but arguably still plenty of notches above RAW.

Still curious how things unfold over the next few weeks, especially as WWE (RAW and SmackDown and NXT) go up against prime time (recorded) Olympics coverage.

Not a bad Nutshell…but in the next few, there is plenty to be done as we get closer to SummerSlam.