WWE Advertising John Cena's Return For July Live Event
John Cena's current SmackDown hiatus may last even longer than expected.
According to WrestlingInc.com, Cena isn't advertised to return to the blue brand until July 4th:
WWE will be returning to the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, AZ for RAW and SmackDown on Monday, July 3rd and Tuesday, July 4th, respectively. Cena is advertised for the July 4th SmackDown Live show. It is currently the only upcoming WWE event that Cena is advertised for.
WHAT'S IT MEAN FOR WWE?
Cena has been gone from WWE since WrestleMania 33, and in the aftermath of the post-Mania lull and the "Superstar Shakeup," SmackDown has generated its lowest rating of the year (not once or twice, but three times) without "The Champ."
On the other hand, Cena has actually had some success while gone, with the limited release of his movie The Wall giving him yet another Hollywood role to add to his resume. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, "The Wall, with Cena as one of the lead characters, had a more limited opening doing $898,013 in 541 screens in its first weekend out." It's unlikely, however, that Cena's busy non-WWE schedule will allow him to return to the ring anytime soon, meaning that the blue brand will have to fend for itself for another couple of months as it attempts to turn around its ratings woes.
SmackDown actually is trying to move on without Cena (for the time being), as he was removed from the show's new opening video and the brand has continued to build up new names like Jinder Mahal and Shinsuke Nakamura during his absence. Still, with Cena taking the cake as WWE's biggest draw, the company is undoubtedly looking forward to his return at a time when ratings couldn't get much worse.
Potentially huge feuds for Cena, like Kevin Owens or Nakamura, await "The Champ" upon his return.
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https://t.co/odw3nVPkV1 via @sportskeeda
— Ayush Gupta (@Ayush24x7) May 16, 2017
Latest On Brock Lesnar's Return To WWE Raw
WHAT'S THE DEAL?
Brock Lesnar is slated to return to WWE next month to build to his first Universal Championship defense at the inaugural Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view event.
According to the May 22 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lesnar is advertised to return on the June 12th episode of Raw:
Lesnar’s bookings related to his 7/9 PPV show in Dallas will be a Raw return on 6/12 in Lafayette, LA, then 6/26 in Los Angeles, 7/3 in Phoenix for the go-home show and 7/10 in Houston he’ll appear on the day after.
WHAT'S IT MEAN FOR WWE?
Raw's viewership has trended well under three million for three straight weeks, hitting a 2017 low twice during that span, making Lesnar's return more critical than ever.
Lesnar is, along with Cena, WWE's biggest draw, and as such, he's often proven to be a ratings hit on Raw over the years. He'll be that "quick fix" that WWE often uses at times when viewership sinks so dramatically as, according to Cageside Seats, he's expected to feud with Finn Balor and/or Seth Rollins upon his return before moving into a SummerSlam program with Braun Strowman.
Those are three major matches that would go a long way toward solving Raw's ratings problem, and at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view, we'll find out exactly which direction WWE is headed. The Observer also reports that a DVD on Rollins is slated for a May 30th release, meaning that WWE could be tempted to push Rollins as Lesnar's No. 1 contender in order to boost sales of the DVD.
Regardless of exactly who he feuds with upon his return, however, Lesnar almost assuredly will increase interest in a WWE product that is rapidly losing viewers and needs a big boost in the quality of its programming. "The Beast" figures to be that boost, so let's hope his upcoming return ensures that he's around more frequently between Great Balls of Fire and SummerSlam.
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Major Update On Favorite To Compete Against Brock Lesnar At WWE ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ https://t.co/W89TNt6Dtd
— Inquisitr Sports (@InquisitrSports) May 18, 2017
What's Planned For Randy Orton And The WWE Championship?
WHAT'S THE DEAL?
Randy Orton may have a lengthy run with the WWE Championship.
According to Sportskeeda, Orton is expected to hold the most prestigious title in pro wrestling for at least a few more months.
Orton is 'Vince's (Vince McMahon) guy' and...he will not be losing the WWE Championship anytime soon.
The site reports that Orton is a virtual shoo-in to defeat Jinder Mahal at Backlash and hold the WWE title until SummerSlam at the least. It's also noted that it's possible, though not a lock, that Orton will face Rusev at Money in the Bank and successfully defend his title at that show as well.
WHAT'S IT MEAN FOR WWE?
Orton has had a rather lackluster championship run thus far, one highlighted by an underwhelming feud with Bray Wyatt and then another with Mahal.
But as evidenced by the fact that Orton has been among WWE's 10 highest paid wrestlers the past two years, according to FORBES (2015) and (2016), it's clear that WWE has a lot of faith in him, especially at times when the product is struggling. Orton has virtually always been the No. 2 guy at best, usually behind the likes of John Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan or Roman Reigns on WWE's pecking order. However, with Reigns on Raw and those other names not currently around (for varying reasons), Orton is, not surprisingly, WWE's go-to guy.
Orton is the best "sure thing" on the blue brand's roster because WWE knows it will get consistently good in-ring performances and strong crowd reactions from him. On the other hand, a star like Mahal, Rusev or Baron Corbin is largely unproven in terms of being a long-term top star.
Whether we agree with this philosophy or not, WWE often goes back to tried and true traditions at times when it's struggling, so keeping the WWE title on Orton until SmackDown can get back on its feet is something we can probably expect to happen. Expect Orton to hold onto the title for the foreseeable future, perhaps until a white hot challenger (maybe AJ Styles?) steps up to the plate.
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IMPACT Wrestling's Low Ki hits back at Randy Orton's 'irresponsible' comments | @NeilDocking https://t.co/p3FSLblDKa pic.twitter.com/dWueslPyDV
— Mirror Fighting (@MirrorFighting) May 19, 2017
CM Punk Offered $1 Million For Pro Wrestling Return
WHAT'S THE DEAL?
Although CM Punk is still trying to find his footing in UFC, he has a standing offer to return to pro wrestling.
According to The Sun, 5 Star Wrestling, an independent promotion based out of the United Kingdom, has offered Punk a cool $1 million to return to the ring:
The company’s creator Daniel Hinkles confirmed the news today that he had made the offer for Punk.
He wants him to compete in the world’s first 128-man wrestling tournament that will begin on June 10 in Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
WHAT'S IT MEAN FOR WWE?
Punk reportedly banked $500,000 for his lone UFC fight, not including pay-per-view bonuses, but his fighting future is still up in the air, which begs the question: Would he actually wrestle again for $1 million?
It's widely believed that Punk, after taking quite the beating in his lone UFC fight, is in MMA because of a legitimate passion for the business and a desire to prove his doubters wrong rather than for financial gain. Therefore, it seems Punk is content with continuing his pursuit of his first career MMA win, whether that's in UFC or a different organization.
For Punk, the option to return to pro wrestling, and to do so for big money, will virtually always be there.
Pro wrestling, and particularly the WWE, has a long history of stars leaving the industry to pursue something else and ultimately returning to the place where they were most successful. Punk doesn't need to return to wrestling and would probably tell you that himself, and any offer he receives right now or in the near future may not even be considered at a time when he's still trying his hand at MMA.
But as long as Punk is physically capable of wrestling, we can expect the offers for him to return to the ring to continue. Whether they're made public or not.
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12 CM Punk Matches (and Feuds) That Would Be Fantastic If He Was In WWE Today
Details Here: https://t.co/l70u3LxwvE pic.twitter.com/XSd37BEbBC
— IWNerd.com (@InnerN3rd) May 18, 2017
What Else Is New?
- This week's SmackDown hit a 2017 low with just 2.175 million viewers, a sharp drop of nearly 200,000 from the previous episode. With the blue brand's ratings continuing to slide, don't be surprised if WWE does something desperate as a result.
- According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, NXT TakeOver: Chicago is expected to have a strong crowd of about 8,000 while Backlash was a near sellout before any matches were even announced (and is now indeed sold out), which is good news because the card is somewhat weak overall.
- The WON also reports that "Adam Cole appears to be WWE-bound based on this weekend, and the fact he’s expected to say Goodbye at PWG this week as well." NXT is in desperate need of another top star or two, and Cole certainly would give the brand that.
- SmackDown will soon begin using a picture-in-picture strategy to attempt to prevent viewers from changing the channel during commercial breaks. It's expected that this will help the blue brand's ratings improve, even if only slightly.
- The New Day is expected to "debut" on SmackDown early next month, and given the show's recent ratings downfall and the trio's popularity, their return couldn't come at a better time.
- According to Cageside Seats, "Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss are all apparently being strongly considered for Total Divas now that Eva Marie is out." As three of WWE's most marketable women, any of those superstars would be a great choice for the show, which could use a new character or two.
- Current creative plans for Rusev still seem to be up in the air, which is why he didn't appear on this week's episode as planned. The show needs all the star power it can get, and Rusev would certainly be a welcome addition. Does a feud with Shane McMahon await him?
- Dean Ambrose says he'd fight in UFC for $500,000. Here's the thing, though: Who wouldn't?
Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to the Forbes @SportsMoneyBlog, where he focuses on the WWE, NBA and NFL. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.
