– As noted earlier, the final Money in the Bank participant will be determined tonight on RAW. John Cena makes his big return on the show, but it won’t be him. No word yet on Cena’s next feud, but United States Champion Rusev would be a natural fit.
– A big factor in SmackDown going live on Tuesdays (and the subsequent brand split) was the USA Network’s dissatisfaction with Smackdown ratings. The show’s viewership was settling into a range that network executives weren’t thrilled with and additional live programming should help that. There is a feeling of optimism behind the scenes regarding this change, despite the last brand split eventually fizzling out. Last time, RAW (being the live, flagship show on USA) was the top priority. WWE caved and brought the big SmackDown names to RAW in an effort to stack those shows, but killed the longterm potential of dream matches between stars who had been kept apart. Now that SmackDown is also on USA and is going live every week, there’s more incentive to keep both shows strong and treat SmackDown on par with RAW. Time will tell, but that’s the optimistic spin heading in to this summer.
