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This week's SmackDown will be an interesting show for multiple reasons. For one, John Cena is making his return to the blue brand and more importantly, new Universal Champion will address his victory at Super ShowDown.
Smackdown saw some weird glitched taking place last week, which looks like the build for a new Superstar to debut. As per reports, this Superstar could be none other than recently signed former Impact Wrestling Superstar, Killer Kross. While it is doubtful that he will debut anytime soon, WWE will likely continue to build him up this week on the blue brand.
We have 5 more such interesting rumors which could affect SmackDown in store for you today. So without further ado, let us take a look at them:
#5 Goldberg to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania
Goldberg shocked the world after he made short work of The Fiend Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown. Winning the Universal Championship for the second time, Goldberg managed to destroy the one-year-long build of The Fiend.
WWE has made it clear that Wyatt will not be heading into WrestleMania 36 as the Universal Champion - something most fans would have truly wanted. It wasn't difficult to figure out that the reason for having Goldberg win was so that Roman Reigns could dethrone the Champion at WrestleMania without drawing the fans' ire.
As per Dave Meltzer of WON, the company has plans for Roman Reigns to face Goldberg at WrestleMania 36:
Because the Elimination Chamber match is going to determine who faces the Champion. So most likely, Bill Goldberg wins and Roman Reigns wins the Chamber, or if Bray Wyatt somehow retains the title then John Cena is going to end up in the Chamber match, unless they change everything again. But, you know, that would be the deal.
(H/T: Sportskeeda)
#4 Daniel Bryan to face Sheamus at WrestleMania 36
The current plans as per WrestlingNews.co suggest that Daniel Bryan is set to have a rematch with his former rival Sheamus at this year's Wrestlemania. So we could be seeing the feud start this week is some manner.
Sheamus has been on a roll ever since he made his return to WWE. As his feud with Shorty G seems to be over, The Celtic Warrior will be looking for a new target to pick on.
“Bryan appears to be in a holding pattern right now as he is currently not in a major storyline. There has been talk of having him face Sheamus at WrestleMania to play off of Sheamus’ 18-second win at WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012.”
(H/T: WrestlingNews.co)
Daniel Bryan had faced Kofi Kingston in a WWE Championship match last year at WrestleMania which saw Kingston pick up his first WWE Championship win.
Sheamus will be a perfect pick to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania given the past rivalry between the two Superstar's and the match will give Bryan a chance to avenge his humiliating loss in 2012.
#3 John Cena to face The Fiend at WrestleMania?
With Goldberg picking up an easy win over Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown, it is essential that Bray Wyatt be booked intelligently by the company. So the question arises: who will The Fiend face at WrestleMania?
As per WON, the answer to that question is John Cena. While it was initially assumed that Cena will be facing Elias, there are reports that those plans have been changed and a Cena vs Fiend match is more likely to happen.
There is a high chance that John Cena's return to SmackDown this week may lead to an altercation between the two. As per SportsKeeda's Tom Colohue, John Cena has been very keen on being part of WrestleMania this year.
John Cena is a late addition. He’s been arguing, well not arguing, he’s been campaigning to get himself onto the card and I didn’t confirm last week whether or not the match with Elias was definitely the plan because I hadn’t got confirmation that it was the plan. And here we are hearing that it might not be the plan after all. I’m still confident that John Cena will not be involved in a championship affair.
#2 Otis in line for a push?
Even though Tucker and Otis made their debut on SmackDown as part of the team Heavy Machinery, Otis has started emerging as a singles star thanks to his ongoing storyline with Mandy Rose.
Otis has unexpectedly become one of the most popular acts on SmackDown and the fans have been rooting for him in his ongoing 'love triangle' involving Mandy Rose and Dolph Ziggler.
While some fans may find the angle a bit outlandish, WWE has no plans to stop it anytime soon. In fact, as per WON, Otis is set to compete against Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania 36.
While speculating John Cena's possible opponent for WrestleMania 36, Dave Meltzer of The Observer stated that it won't be Ziggler as 'he is with Otis.' This means that the two will be possibly involved in a match at WrestleMania.
Dolph Ziggler lost to Mansoor at Super ShowDown and will be looking to get back his momentum this week. As both Otis and Ziggler continue to try to woo Mandy Rose on SmackDown, we will surely have some interesting segments in store for us on this week's episode of the Blue brand.
#1 More screen-time for Drew Gulak and Heath Slater
Daniel Bryan has proven time and again that not only is he a ring general, but is also one of the most brilliant minds in the company. Last week we saw Drew Gulak and Heath Slater involved in a segment with the former WWE Champion.
As per WrestlingNews.co, Daniel Bryan is behind the push for Gulak and Heath Slater as he believes they are underutilized. Although Bryan may be heading towards a clash with Sheamus at WrestleMania 36, his support to these two Superstars will ensure that they get more screen-time and presence on SmackDown.
I am told that this is Daniel Bryan’s idea and the reason why Gulak and Slater have been appearing on SmackDown lately is that Bryan suggested for them to be used in a storyline with him since he is friends with them and knows that they are underutilized.
It will be ininteresting to see what direction Bryan's program with Gulak will take this week on SmackDown. The former Cruiserweight Champion will look to solidify himself as one of the top performers on SmackDown.
