Last night SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan booked a match that once was thought to be impossible. Next week, John Cena will face Shinsuke Nakamura for the right to face Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship.
Most fans are elated at this opportunity to see parallel universes collide as these two titans of their respective worlds will clash. However, some feel that it’s a waste of an opportunity to do something special. They fear Cena will easily beat Nakamura and march to SummerSlam where he’ll thwart Mahal for his record breaking 17th championship.
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However, a recent poster for August’s SummerSlam suggests a much different match for the WWE Championship:
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If you’ll notice, every face on that card already has their match, barring Cena and Nakamura. However, both are prominently featured on the poster right below the Universal Championship’s foursome. If this poster is any indicator, WWE will work their way into a triple threat for the WWE Championship.
That means that next week’s “Dream Match” between Shinsuke and Cena could have some shenanigans. Maybe someone interferes, ruining a fair outcome and Daniel Bryan has no choice but to put all parties in the championship match.
So did WWE just let one slip?
It kind of looks that way. But considering there’s still nearly a month until the big show, a lot can change.
Fans were utterly shocked that WWE pulled this Cena/Shinsuke Nakamura trigger. However, unlike some people, I’m very excited for this match. Some sects of fans can’t believe WWE is giving this match away for free and without a proper set up of narrative. These people are miserable and should be avoided at all costs.
How could we possibly blame WWE here? Yes, it is a WrestleMania caliber match, but who’s to say we are getting robbed of that moment? We have no idea how long Cena will be around. All signs point to him fighting Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34 and even that is speculation. How could we possibly assume that we were going to get Cena/Nakamura at WrestleMania 39?
My advice: Enjoy this. Let WWE do the decision making and you just be a fan.