There was a tweet from WrestleVotes making the rounds today stating an objective WWE had for Friday Night SmackDown this week was to “amp up the rivalry” between John Cena and Roman Reigns ahead of their match for the Universal championship in the main event of SummerSlam on Aug. 21, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tweet claimed that while the match will sell on the names alone, “some feel the build has been lackluster.”
Fair enough.
So what did we get on SmackDown?
They went right to the meta phase of the feud, of course.
Here’s Reigns:
Oh that's right, @WWERomanReigns w/ @HeymanHustle went there....again! pic.twitter.com/uw9CCcTtOi
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) August 14, 2021
And here’s Cena:
"You almost ruined @WWERollins. You ran Dean Ambrose out of @WWE." - @JohnCena to @WWERomanReigns w/ @HeymanHustle #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/m4ZUUNQ11U
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) August 14, 2021
The point, of course, is instead of building a compelling storyline in and of itself, they would just reference some issues rooted in reality and allow the shock value of that to carry the day. I’m not sure it made it feel any more personal — it felt more like simply referencing reality for the sake of it — but your mileage may vary.
Any more excited for the match now?
Get full SmackDown coverage here.