"I would have popped" - Dutch Mantell disappointed a major WWE star didn't save John Cena on SmackDown (Exclusive)
WWE SmackDown had an enthralling ending this week as John Cena was laid out by The Bloodline, and nobody came out to make the save. During the post-show review on Sportskeeda's WrestleBinge channel, Dutch Mantell admitted he was expecting LA Knight to assist Cena.
Dutch seemingly wasn't the only person hoping for Knight to appear on SmackDown, as many fans also wanted the same. Interestingly enough, WWE reportedly had also planned for LA to be the equalizer during the blue brand's final segment but had to nix the plan due to the 43-year-old testing positive for COVID-19.
The show-closing angle involved Cena coming out to sign the contract for his Fastlane match against Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa. The Cenation Leader's partner, AJ Styles, was subjected to a backstage attack, potentially ruling him out of the upcoming match.
The Bloodline took advantage of the situation and attacked John Cena, and Dutch Mantell said he would have "jumped out of his seat" had LA Knight's music hit:
"As Sid said, I was waiting for LA Knight to hit that ring for Cena because they had taken us one way with AJ. And now you wait for AJ to hit, but he ain't coming. I'm waiting somehow when they started beating his a** and then for LA Knight to hit. I think the crowd would have popped big. I was waiting too. Hell, I would have popped! I would have just jumped up in my chair in the living room and just screamed out loud. It was actually genius how they let you believe it was AJ, but then all of a sudden, they would change." [32:01 - 33:00]
I'm not getting bored with it: Dutch Mantell on the status of WWE's Bloodline saga
With Roman Reigns nowhere to be found, the Bloodline storyline has branched out to focus on The Usos and Solo Sikoa. John Cena's return has allowed WWE to book him alongside the Samoans, and it's a creative decision that might seem like a detour from the original Reigns-centric direction.
Dutch Mantell said that while he wasn't fed up with the story yet, WWE should be cautious about delaying the next big arc and possibly losing all their momentum.
He explained:
"I'm not getting bored with it. I'm sitting there thinking, okay, something is coming out of it. And if they don't take six months to do, they do it the next month or so; it would work. If they take it too long, people can get pissed off at it. But I'm not bored with it. I'm really fascinated by Solo, to see where he is going. It's interesting to me." [31:30 - 32:00]
What about you? Are you bored with one of WWE's most successful storylines ever? Sound off in the comments section below.
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