As a free agent, John Cena is forced to carve his Wrestlemania path on Smackdown Live. Will the Raw transfer lead to a spot in the Showcase of the Immortals?
How will the mega star arrival of John Cena impact the Wrestlemania plans of Smackdown Live? The Smackdown Live tag team championship stage is set while the main event scene undergoes some serious shuffling.
Smackdwon Live comes to us from Los Angeles, CA this February 27th, 2018.
Cena lands in Smackdown
Cena continues his promo from Monday night in the opening segment of Smackdown Live. In the opening moments of the program, Cena announces he “wants in” the fatal-five way at WWE Fastlane.
Both Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan quickly made entrances while John Cena addressed a responsive crowd.
The WWE Smackdown Live management held true to their convictions even in the face of WWE’s hottest commodity. Daniel Bryan articulated to Cena that opportunities are earned on their show. Bryan would stipulate that Cena would need to defeat WWE Champion AJ Styles in order to compete in the Fastlane main event.
Hopefully it is not the intention of WWE creative to insert John Cena into the WWE Championship picture.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agx7ISbNWSA]
Cena would overshadow the drama Smackdown Live has created with the current Fastlane main event. The blue brand has made the absolute best of a crowded fatal five-way match. They have successfully developed each participant who look like credible threats to AJ Styles.
Cena is also worthy of his own match. Apparently the Undertaker is not an option for Big Match John this year. We will have to see if there are any last minute swerves that can launch a more exciting story line.
Corbin and Ziggler look strong
Sami Zayn would take on Baron Corbin in singles competition while Kevin Owens provided color commentary. Smackdown Live utilized mid-match backstage segments featuring Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon.
McMahon criticized Bryan for allowing Kevin Owens on commentary, claiming it would inevitably lead to interference.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2irS0uuqB1g]
Owens and Zayn seem to be on the same page in spite of recent ups and downs. Owens put Zayn over and cheered him on from the annoucner’s desk. That is until he was super kicked out of nowhere by Dolph Ziggler who emerged from the crowd.
Baron Corbin would finish off Sami Zayn but fall victim to another attack by Ziggler post match.
It is very important that Corbin and Ziggler gain momentum here. Only last week have they seen any sort of push ahead of their marquee match at Fastlane. With the looming specter of John Cena it would be a shame for these two to get lost in the shuffle. Again, this is a huge reason to keep Cena away from the fatal five-way.
After the match Daniel Bryan would advise Shane McMahon that he was leaving to see his family.
Riott scores a win
Ruby Riott accompanied by her squad faces Naomi with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch at ringside.
The early moments of the match saw a hostile exchange between both competitors. The Riott Squad has been a thorn in the side of the Smackdown Live women’s roster, Unfortunately at this point they should be much more. WWE creative have not yet booked the Riott Squad in a way that convinces audiences they are indeed a threat to the Smackdown Live Women’s roster.
Ruby Riott would pull and upset over Naomi in a clean victory. This is definitely a step in the right direction for Ruby and her friends but it should feel a little dirtier. It would be better to have an unsavory element to Ruby’s victory to draw heat.
Unfortunately, all those involved in this segment seem doomed to a six woman tag team match at Wrestlemania. Perhaps WWE will mercifully sort out credible feuds for these superstars in time for the Show of Shows. At least Charlotte needs a singles match to showcase solid women’s wrestling and great storytelling in a high profile match this April.
The Usos prevail on the mic
The Usos officially found themselves as characters during a confrontation with the New Day. According to the Usos this year will see their first Wrestlemania showcase. They absolutely silenced any of their doubters with a perfect, impassioned promo. When the brothers were finished their was no question they were the hottest, hardest working tag team on the Smackdown Live roster.
The New day would fire back with their successes as the longest reigning, potentially five team WWE tag team champions.
The Bludgeon Brothers would make an appearance to demoralize both teams with mere stare downs. Without any force necessary, Harper and Rowan would clear the ring and stand dominant over the current and former tag team champions.
English vs Nakamura
In accordance with the previously sanctioned match, Shinsuke Nakamura would battle Aiden English. It is amazing that the most over superstar in this match is not Nakamura and not even involved in the match.
The WWE Universe is firmly behind the Bulgarian Brute, Rusev. The Rusev Day chant increases in popularity, even at event ins which Rusev does not appear. Could Rusev Day a new Yes! Movement in the making?
As one would expect, Nakamura would prevail over English with little effort. John Cena would make an early appearance, passing Nakamura on his way to the locker room. Once again, it would be a tragedy to see John Cena compete for or take away a spot from AJ Styles at Wrestlemania.
Legends Square Off
John Cena would make a seemingly last ditch effort to defeat AJ Styles and find his path to Wrestlemania. Of course this means in the process he would shatter Ric Flair’s 16 time championship record. John Cena may be worthy of these accolades but the build up to now certainly falls short of warranting these events. The question is will Cena be involved in the Fastlane match?
Styles and Cena were able to recreate their previous in ring collisions in a spectacular match for the likes of Smackdown Live.
Both men would fire their best shots during their match. In shocking move, Cena would perform a suprise Attitude Adjustement through the announcers table and leave AJ Styles to be counted out. This would have been a huge heel victory for Cena but Styles would make it into to the ring before the count of ten.
Cena would eventually triumph over Styles but soon all six participants in the Fastlane main event would fill the ring and brawl until the end of the show. Before Smackdown live went off the air all WWE superstars were able to hit big moves leaving AJ Styles with one last Phenomenal Forearm to Cena before the close of the show.
Congestion in the Fastlane
John Cena should be in his own match at Fastlane. The only way WWE can involve a strong Cena in a six-way match for the WWE title while having Styles retain is have some sort of shenanigans lead to a Wrestlemania feud or match. Cena is high profile enough to warrant his own story arch in New Orleans and the WWE Championship picture will clearly feature Nkamura and Styles. It seems as though WWE having referenced the Dead Man via Cena earlier in the week would potentially still have loose plans for an eventual showdown later on down the line. There has to be more in store for John Cena for everyone’s sake.
At least WWE has publicly acknowledged the fact that fans want to see an Undertaker vs John Cena match.
