Return on Smackdown? Reigns’ Contendership on the Line at GBOF?

PWInsider has reported that Smackdown star Rusev is in Dayton, Ohio tonight, and will be backstage for tonight’s Smackdown show. He was traded to the show as part of the Superstar Shakeup earlier this year, but has not yet arrived. Rusev did appear in a series of videos wherein he demanded that Shane McMahon award him a title match or he would quit the company. After Jinder Mahal ended up winning the belt though, any plans to have Rusev fight for the championship were dropped. Whether “The Bulgarian Brute” will appear on the show or not is unknown, but it is possbile that he could be making his return to wrestling tonight.
As seen on last night’s Raw, Braun Strowman returned from injury and attacked Roman Reigns. The two of them will be facing off in an ambulance match at the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view. Earlier in the show, Roman announced that he would be facing whoever won the main event of Great Balls of Fire for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. Samoa Joe will be challenging Brock Lesnar for the title at that show, and it is being said that that rivalry will likely conclude after that sole match. Despite the announcement, fans who may be looking forward to seeing Roman Reigns headline the biggest show of the summer shouldn’t get their hopes up just yet.
Sportskeeda reports that the ambulance match between Roman and Strowman will likely have Reigns’ number one contendership on the line. Rumors have been circulating all year that Roman would be facing Brock Lesnar for the belt at Wrestlemania next year. On the other hand, Samoa Joe just defeated Roman Reigns decisively on Raw this past Monday night. By that logic, it doesn’t seem likely that Reigns would be facing either man at the show. If Strowman wins and becomes number one contender to the title, it would set up the rumored Brock Lesnar/Braun Stowman match for SummerSlam. We should know soon, but as of now, the match between Reigns and Strowman is strictly an ambulance match.