10 Booking Steps For WWE Raw (Aug 8)
8. Stephanie McMahon Says Roman Reigns Must Earn WWE United States Title Shot
Slightly less irritated than he was before, Braun Strowman doesn't smile at Stephanie or return fire. Instead, he makes a point by nodding his head and walking off. Sticking around, McMahon then turns her attention to the situation developing between Roman Reigns and Rusev over the WWE United States Title.
It's pretty clear that Reigns will challenge the Bulgarian for the belt at SummerSlam, which may pose a problem. Rusev is doing wonderfully well as champion, meekly losing to Roman would make him look vastly inferior to Reigns. On the same note, fans really don't want to cheer Reigns, so making him a patriotic good guy won't fool anyone.
Addressing what happened last week, when Roman fought off Rusev and stared him down in possession of the title, Stephanie says Reigns must earn a shot at the gold. Therefore, he will face Rusev in a non-title bout tonight.
Should he emerge victorious, SummerSlam and a title shot beckon. Should he lose, he'll just be another victim of Rusev's path to redemption.