A little less than two weeks remain until the next WWE Pay-Per-View, "WWE Payback" in Chicago, Ill.,on June 16, but WWE Smackdown has a huge card lined up for WWE fans on Friday.
Ryback, looking to keep up the pace in his war with WWE Champion John Cena heading into their Three Stages of Hell match at Payback, will be in action against former U.S. Champion Kofi Kingston. Seth Rollins, one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions The Shield, will take on the other half of the former tag champs, "the Big Red Machine" Kane. The other half of Team Hell No, Daniel Bryan, will face the Shield's enforcer, Roman Reigns. Big E Langston will be scheduled to take on Alberto Del Rio, the No.1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Curtis Axel, the newest "Paul Heyman guy," goes one-on-one with the high-flier Sin Cara while Chris Jericho takes on Cody Rhodes. And in the main event, U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose goes one-on-one with "The Viper" Randy Orton.
Cena and Ryback's match was originally scheduled to be an Ambulance Match for the WWE title at Payback, but there is a reason the company is going in a different direction. According to Lords of Pain.net, WWE owner Vince McMahon has different plans for Cena, who is coming off an Extreme Rules draw with Ryback from their Last Man Standing match. McMahon reportedly wants to do something "epic" with Cena that could be remembered as a turning point in his career. However, the website adds "they have nothing specific in place" for their long-term plans on Cena.
In other news, Mark Henry reportedly has some heat on him backstage from WWE creative following his decision to take time off due to injuries. Prior to his injury, Henry was enjoying a bit of a renaissance, having defeated Ryback at WrestleMania 29 and having his most successful stretch since his world title run in 2011. Mark Middleton reports that there is a feeling from Creative that they put a lot of work into re-pushing Henry only for him to take an extended leave without undergoing surgery.
Meanwhile, another WWE superstar that has been out of action for an extended amount of time may be close to coming back. Evan Bourne, a former Tag Team champion, hinted Friday on Twitter that he was coming back soon.
"I'm healthy enough! It'll be soon!" he wrote in response to a Twitter follower asking him when he would return.
Bourne was popular in the WWE as an innovative high-flier, but was suspended for 30 days in November 2011 after violating the company's Wellness Policy concerning drug use. He returned but was suspended again in January 2012 for 60 days for the same violation. A foot injury that he sustained in March 2012 further left Bourne's future in doubt. There are any number of ways Bourne could be used, whether to be inserted into the mix for the Intercontinental or United States titles or another tag team title run, possibly with Kingston, whom he enjoyed a successful run with as the tag team title-winning tandem "Air Boom."
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
