More About The Roman Reigns SummerSlam Opponent Market

Bill Goldberg's odds to be Roman Reigns' WWE SummerSlam 2017 opponent have been cut from 15/1 into 8/1 in a market that was published yesterday afternoon.

Triggered by the news that Roman Reigns will announce something for SummerSlam on this Monday's edition of WWE Raw, the traders from Kambi put up a market where sports bettors could have a punt on who they believe will meet Reigns inside the ring at SummerSlam.

Reigns' most recent nemesis - Braun Strowman - was at the top of the pile at EVENS, but it was Bill Goldberg at 15/1 that appeared to be the early birds' pick as his price has been cut into 8/1.

As a result of Goldberg's number being cut, the odds for Seth Rollins have moved up to 8/1 from 6s.

In the post where I first wrote about these odds, I noted that I believe this Monday's announcement will lead to Braun Strowman interfering to set up a Roman Reigns versus Strowman match at Great Balls of Fire.

There are reports that Strowman has been cleared to return and it was also noted in this week's Wrestling Observer that Strowman is booked for Great Balls of Fire. Whether it's to be in a match or to interupt another bout hasn't been determined yet. We'll get a better idea on what it could be as the weeks progress.

What should be worth noting is the belief that Brock Lesnar was due to face Braun Strowman at Great Balls of Fire before the latter suffered his injury. Most reports from there suggested that Strowman's Universal Championship challenge would occur at SummerSlam instead.

Another thing that leads me to believe that Strowman will face Lesnar at SummerSlam is that, when Kurt Angle announced Strowman as being out for 'up to six months', he used the opportunity to mention that Strowman had set his sights on the Universal Championship. This led to Angle setting up the fatal 5-way for Extreme Rules to determine Lesnar's opponent for Great Balls of Fire.

In this week's issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that WWE is short of options if Reigns' announcement on Monday really is a set up for his SummerSlam opposition.

The two names the editor brought up were John Cena and Brock Lesnar. Meltzer was told that it isn't going to be John Cena, but also noted that Lesnar would only make sense if Reigns challenges the winner of the Great Balls of Fire main event in the segment set for Monday night.

Meltzer didn't rule out Brock Lesnar being Reigns' opponent for SummerSlam but did write that - if it is Lesnar .vs. Reigns on August 20th - this would be because of a change in a long-term plan for WrestleMania 34 or there will be a Lesnar/Reigns rematch in April. I guess a redemption story with Reigns losing at SummerSlam, but finally getting the W in the spring.

Monday's announcement being a set-up for Strowman's return and for Reigns .vs. Strowman at Great Balls of Fire was also thrown out as a possibility in the issue.

Meltzer pointed out that - as of last week - Brock Lesnar versus Braun Strowman was still penciled in to be the SummerSlam main event. If this is still the plan, that should rule Lesnar and Strowman out of this market and strongly hints that Monday's announcement is what I believe it'll end up being - to set up Reigns .vs. Strowman at Great Balls of Fire with the winner moving on to challenge Lesnar at SummerSlam.