WWE Rumors: Buzz on Road to WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017 for Week of July 3

Goodness gracious! WWE Great Balls of Fire just keeps getting better.

The card is so stacked, so laden with matches to look forward to, that it could be the stand-in card for SummerSlam. Brock Lesnar versus Samoa Joe. Roman Reigns versus Braun Strowman. And WWE recently announced that the Raw tag team titles match between The Hardy Boyz and Cesaro and Sheamus will be a 30-minute Iron Man match. These four athletes have been dynamite in the ring together, and this contest should be a fitting blowoff to their feud.

Here are the latest, best rumors that have been circulating this week. Strangely, none of them have anything to do with Great Balls of Fire, at least directly. Instead, they're all about SummerSlam, which is oddly reassuring. The company is already chattering about the future rather than what's in front of them. Long-term booking is always best.

'Big Match' John Has Big Plans

Credit: WWE.com

On Tuesday's SmackDown Live, John Cena made a big return. He'll be fighting Rusev in a Flag match at WWE Battleground—a rehash of their Russia versus the U.S. angle from two years ago. There is, however, something much bigger in the works.

According to Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats, this bout is a mere stepping stone to a bigger contest at SummerSlam. What that match will be, however, remains to be seen.

An educated guess would pit Cena against Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship. It would be yet another retreading of the evil-foreigner schtick, but it would also be a surefire crowd-pleaser and would likely give Cena a record-breaking 17th world title reign.

Wrestle Kingdom Rematch?

Credit: WWE.com

Speaking of SummerSlam, it looks like WWE will make a lot of indy fans happy this summer. Ortman reports that WWE Creative is considering a match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at SummerSlam.

This feud is inevitable. The two men have a well-documented history with one another, the highlight of which was their epic showdown at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 10. The two men even teased a match at this year's Money in the Bank, staring each other down in the center of the ring near the end of the main event.

But is it too much too quickly? As incredible as this showdown would be, a month might be too short a time to do the sort of buildup this feud deserves. Hopefully WWE doesn't rush things—a WrestleMania showdown would probably work much better and give this angle some time to breathe.

When the Big Dog Meets the Beast

Credit: WWE.com

The Lesnar vs. Joe match at Great Balls of Fire has gotten an incredible response from the fans. But don't expect a rematch at SummerSlam. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Jeff Whalen at Rajah.com), Lesnar will face Roman Reigns in the main event at SummerSlam.

Once again, it seems WWE is set on pushing Reigns into the title picture. Lesnar and Reigns know how to work a great match—their main event at WrestleMania 31 was a stiff, bloody highlight of the evening. But that will hardly matter because SummerSlam is in Brooklyn, New York, again this year. And WWE can expect the borough's smark fans to boo this one out of Barclays Center.

Mamma Mia, Mauro!

Credit: WWE.com

Lastly, Mauro Ranallo, the best announcer in the business, the "Bipolar Rock 'n' Roller," is back behind the commentator's desk in WWE. He's fitting in smoothly in NXT, as if none the nastiness from earlier this year ever happened.

Apparently, that is entirely by design. According to Meltzer (h/t Ortman of Cageside Seats), Ranallo's new contract, which replaces his old one, specifies that he reports directly to Triple H and Michael Cole.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestle Zone) reported Triple H has vouched for him in the past, so it's safe to say Ranallo is insulating himself from any potential negative influences. And for numerous WWE fans who look forward to Ranallo's unbridled excitement and creative metaphors, this new agreement will ensure he continues commentating with the company for some time to come.