10 Observations From Attending WWE SummerSlam 2016 Live
3. Bait And Switch
The supposed de-push of Roman Reigns has, effectively, turned into little more than a temporary push for the United States Championship. Despite the fact that the idea behind the storyline was to endear fans to Reigns by (briefly) not shoving him down their throats, "The Guy" has still been racking up main events and dominating TV.
At SummerSlam, he was scheduled to challenge Rusev for the secondary title on the Raw brand - right after the match for the brand's top title. It was strange placement, but the match never got underway - Reigns beat up Rusev before the bout started, and he did so much damage that the contest couldn't take place.
The crowd reaction was largely apathetic. Reigns has been gaining support on TV, but that wasn't the case in Brooklyn. Fans chanted "Rusev Machka," "CM Punk," and other distractions, but by this point - several hours into the show - nobody seemed to care that the match wasn't happening. The sole pop came when Reigns speared Rusev outside the ring, and even that led to boos when he ignored "One more time!" chants.