Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena will be facing each other in the squared circle for the first time ever, a match WWE hyped as a ‘Dream Match.’ The winner of the match between the King of the Strong Style and the Cenation Leader in the main event of SmackDown Live this Tuesday will have the right to challenge reigning WWE champion Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam 2017.
What’s the buzz?
SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan announced the match last week after Cena confronted Mahal and subsequently challenged him for a title match at SummerSlam. Bryan asserted Nakamura, who defeated Money in the Bank winner Baron Corbin in an earlier showdown, also deserved to have a title shot against Mahal.
This prompts the SmackDown GM to book a no.1 contender’s match between Nakamura and Cena this week.
Rumors heading to the showdown:
John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura showcase deserves to headline any PPV event, but SmackDown is actually doing it on their ordinary show. It’s an intriguing decision from WWE creative headed by Vince McMahon to book this fight on an ordinary SmackDown Live TV date since this match has all the potential in the world to shake the WWE landscape.
A loss to Cena or Nakamura would be a momentum-breaker for both superstars, who have been on a tear the past few weeks. Cena had a triumphant return to the ring after beating Rusev in a flag match at Battleground while Nakamura settled his score with Corbin.
According to latest rumblings coming from insiders, the match will not end up with a clean win by either participant because of outside interference.
Jinder Mahal, being the defending champion that he is, is expected to be present along the sideline during the match, doing commentary works. Also, there’s no better timing for Singh Brothers to return from a one-week injury layoff, and this sets the stage for a likely interference.
With no clear winner, Daniel Bryan would be compelled to set up a triple threat match featuring Nakamura, Cena and Mahal for the WWE championship at SummerSlam.
Betting Odds for John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
For the first time ever, Oddsmakers are taking bets on a match set to be aired on free television. Bookies are making a big deal out of the first encounter of Cena and Nakamura to the point of setting betting odds for this particular showdown. So far, Cena is a -160 betting favorite to the underdog Nakamura’s +120. This match marks the first big match in Nakamura's WWE career after his feuds with Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, Corbin.
