WWE SummerSlam 2017: Assessing The Potential Quality Of All 12 Matches
9. John Cena Vs. Baron Corbin
There's scope for something fairly good here.
Baron Corbin became the third man to fail to cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase on this week's SmackDown. It came as a widespread relief to many. He isn't particularly over. He's wrestled just one blow-away match - the Triple Threat WWE Title bout with AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler on the December 27, 2016 SmackDown - one elevated by his opponents and the stipulation. He simply isn't WWE Championship material, and his winning it from experimental former jobber Jinder Mahal may have had a disastrous effect on the belt's prestige (certainly its lineage).
His match with John Cena on Sunday now becomes a tense affair laden with stakes - much more appetising than the filler affair promised on Tuesday afternoon. If this was a change of heart on WWE's part, you'd expect Corbin to approach it with a reactionary motivation. Cena's reduced schedule renders it unpredictable, too. It's still a midcard attraction and should go no longer than 12-14 minutes, hopefully necessitating a dramatic match low on Corbin's ponderous brawling and high on Cena's latter period hiccup pace - or, in the best of both worlds scenario, a psychologically rich yet exciting combination of the two.
Based on past form, that might be optimistic. But Corbin certainly needs to make his case.