Fastlane Tonight - in Cleveland!

[Jack Brickman]

Speaking of Cena... I know his character may be the stalest thing in wrestling history, but I have to say, he has turned out some excellent matches this year. Putting him the mid card against some of the younger guys (Rusev, Owens, Cesaro) has done wonders.

It's not that Cena lacks talent, though. When you put him against good wrestlers, he usually puts in a good match. It's just the way the WWE books him. He inevitably ends up burying the young guys because the WWE refuses to let him lose feuds. Rusev's supposed dominance became a total joke by the third time Cena beat him. I'm really worried they'll do the same thing to Owens. They really need to let him win the belt, but I have my doubts that the WWE would actually let that happen, or at the very least that they won't just give Cena an immediate rematch and give him the belt back. Either way, it hurts Owens when he should be (deservedly) on the rise.

Also, as I've mentioned before, what really makes me hate Cena is just that his finishing moves are so fucking terrible. The STF is the worst submission hold in the business. It's absurd how fake it looks. The AA isn't much better, as most guys have half a dozen non-finishers that look more painful. Hell, Owens drops about a dozen moves a match that look more convincing than the AA. He really needs to ditch the STF, or at least commit to locking it in in a manner that doesn't look so damn pathetic. At the very least, no one should ever tap out to it if he's going to keep doing it the way he has been.

 

[Jack Brickman]

It would be nice if they'd let Kevin Owens hit that senton bomb at least once. I can't remember a single time someone hasn't gotten their knees up when he tried to hit it. It'd also be nice if he'd be able to hit the AA on Cena at least once. Cena always counters it.

Also, the crowd is just booing the hell out of Cena in this match.

Edit: Well, at least they let Owens hit the AA for once.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Wow...what a fucking awful ending to that match.

By the way, yet another fresh face gets buried by repeated matches with Cena. Seen that shitty movie before. Is Cena allowed to lose feuds? Jesus.

 

[Jack Brickman]

The Undertaker was a lot scarier when he didn't look like my dad.

Also, what happened to the ref and Rollins?

 

[Real Deal]

The whole entire arena inlcuding vendors were chanting UNDER-TAKER !

 

[elcheato]

Taker is 50. I have no interest in seeing him in the ring anymore, let alone wasting one of Brock's extremely limited dates on him.

 

[Jack Brickman]

So everyone else noticed that the title match didn't actually end, right? Like, at least have the ref ring the fucking bell.

I agree about Taker, @elcheato. Wasting one of Brock's appearances on a rematch from Wrestlemania two years ago is really disappointing. Why did Taker wait until now to get his revenge when he has been back in the ring since that loss? This angle just doesn't make any sense. Even hype-wise...Brock doesn't need to fight the Undertaker to build hype. He does that on his own.

Overall, decent PPV. The tag match was fun, as was the women's triple threat match. Owens and Cena was great until that godawful ending (if Owens was gonna lose, it should have been from the middle rope AA, not the worst submission hold in the business). Lesnar-Rollins was about what you'd expect it to be (read: Rollins getting his ass beat). Still not sure what happened to the ref or Rollins.

Really sucks how they botched the finale of Cena-Owens. That could have been another match of the year candidate if the ending hadn't been absolutely terrible.

 

[Tornicade]

I think the Undertaker angle was about Kanes Ankle.
The storyline set up the undertakers return with constant name dropping and such. They dont appear to want to give Lesnar the title so they will bring in the undertaker in for a non title thing.
theres rumors about Rollins reforming the shield
It wouldnt surprise me if Cena Loses his title on one of these open challenge nights and goes after Rollins or Orton
I agree about the Owens thing.. Kicks out of the Super AA and Taps out to that
Lame

perhaps Owens will get the NXT title back against Balor during Takover Brooklyn
so they holding off on him getting a WWE title

Owens needs a big win really badly now perhaps they have him take it on monday night raw and buck the trend of Cena ruining another young talent.

 

[TheLand1287]

I really think we could see Owens-Cena again at Summerslam in some sort of stipulation match, and THIS time Owens wins the title. It's probably the only way we see Owens at SS because he wrestles Balor the night before at the NXT PPV, so I don't see him being thrust into a new feud right now.

Great match between him and Cena last night, but I share the same feelings as everyone else that having him tap to the awful STF was extremely weak. The tapout didn't even look that legit. I had to rewatch it again a few times to see if he even truly tapped.

Glad to see Wyatt beat Reigns and Harper come back to help him. With Rowan injured he was wasting away on shows like Main Event and Superstars anyway.

I could definitely see this Lesnar-Taker angle being a springboard for Sting to come out at SS to confront Taker and set up their WrestleMania match. The storyline might not make sense at this moment with Taker coming back after Lesnar a year and a half later, after Taker already had a match with Wyatt at WM, but I'm willing to see what story WWE goes with it. Regardless of age I'm not mad about seeing Taker come back mid-year for a match. He's still a draw and generates a lot of interest.

My question is where does Rollins go from here with Lesnar no longer in the title picture (for now)? Reigns surely isn't done with Wyatt, you would think. Ambrose and Orton cant be options. Please, just not Kane. Anyone but Kane.

 

[Real Deal]

Heyman and Brock been trashing Taker since he lost, then Brock dropping the stairs on Kane's ankle was just another reason for him to come out and play in his yard.

50 or not, that was good entertainment when the gong hit.

 

[Jack Brickman]

If the Cena/Owens feud is over, it becomes abundantly clear that WWE has no idea how to build up its young talent. I mean, they just made this exact same mistake with Rusev. They build him up like this unstoppable badass, then Cena came along, repeatedly stomped him, and now no one gives a shit about him any more.

Hopefully they give them one last match at Summerslam and give Owens the win. He's the one who needs it right now.

 

[TheLand1287]

If the Cena/Owens feud is over, it becomes abundantly clear that WWE has no idea how to build up its young talent. I mean, they just made this exact same mistake with Rusev. They build him up like this unstoppable badass, then Cena came along, repeatedly stomped him, and now no one gives a shit about him any more.

Hopefully they give them one last match at Summerslam and give Owens the win. He's the one who needs it right now.

True, and not only did Rusev just lose his feud to Cena, but he lost 3 straight times and lost Lana at the end of it too. Now he's out there with no direction and Summer Rae as his valet. The more I think about it... the more I see the U.S. Title being a 3-4 man match with Cesaro and/or Rusev added in. That way Cena can't take the pin. Because god forbid right...

 

[Jack Brickman]

True, and not only did Rusev just lose his feud to Cena, but he lost 3 straight times and lost Lana at the end of it too. Now he's out there with no direction and Summer Rae as his valet. The more I think about it... the more I see the U.S. Title being a 3-4 man match with Cesaro and/or Rusev added in. That way Cena can't take the pin. Because god forbid right...

I think it'll be a triple threat with Owens and Cesaro. Rusev is basically locked into a Summerslam match with Ziggler at this point. I also imagine they don't want to rehash the Cena/Rusev feud again. Maybe Rusev will end up feuding with whoever wins the belt after Summerslam? Assuming it's not Cena, of course.

I'd love to see a Cesaro/Owens feud. Those are two of the best wrestlers in the WWE right now, and Owens at least has the mic skills to make the feud compelling. A Cena/Cesaro feud would be boring because Cesaro can't talk and Cena can talk but never says anything interesting.

 

[TheLand1287]

I think it'll be a triple threat with Owens and Cesaro. Rusev is basically locked into a Summerslam match with Ziggler at this point. I also imagine they don't want to rehash the Cena/Rusev feud again. Maybe Rusev will end up feuding with whoever wins the belt after Summerslam? Assuming it's not Cena, of course.

I'd love to see a Cesaro/Owens feud. Those are two of the best wrestlers in the WWE right now, and Owens at least has the mic skills to make the feud compelling. A Cena/Cesaro feud would be boring because Cesaro can't talk and Cena can talk but never says anything interesting.

That and we've already seen a few long Cena-Cesaro matches on TV for free the past couple weeks, so having them go one on one at Summerslam wouldn't be anything special.

Yeah, Rusev-Ziggler would make sense, but I know Ziggler is hurt right now. Didn't know if he would be healthy by SS.

 

[Jack Brickman]

That and we've already seen a few long Cena-Cesaro matches on TV for free the past couple weeks, so having them go one on one at Summerslam wouldn't be anything special.

Yeah, Rusev-Ziggler would make sense, but I know Ziggler is hurt right now. Didn't know if he would be healthy by SS.

Is he hurt for real? I thought that was just a storyline injury from when Rusev smashed his throat on his crutch.