Fastlane Tonight - in Cleveland!

[Jack Brickman]

Oh yeah, also worth noting that Sheamus holding the MitB briefcase basically makes me not even remotely give a shit about it. Was there anyone more underwhelming than Sheamus to give that case to? Is there anyone out there that would list Sheamus in the top five of guys they'd like to see in the main event scene?

They should have just given the briefcase to Reigns. At least he has room to keep improving, and they could have waited six to eight months to have him cash it in when he's more polished and has earned it (him not earning it was why people were pissed about his Rumble win, after all). Sheamus is who he is at this point, and that's a mid-carder.

 

[TheLand1287]

After researching it looks like you're right, it's storyline injury. Really thought it was real given that I assumed they would have a match at Battleground with both guys healthy. Also, given Ziggler's "luck" with injuries it wouldn't be too surprising.

 

[Jack Brickman]

After researching it looks like you're right, it's storyline injury. Really thought it was real given that I assumed they would have a match at Battleground with both guys healthy. Also, given Ziggler's "luck" with injuries it wouldn't be too surprising.

Maybe they just want this to be a one match feud?

 

[Andrew]

I saw some stupid video thumbnail of the Undertaker before I watched Battleground and, surprisingly, didn't care. That main match was boring, same move after same move. I knew some how Rollins was going to retain the belt so not much of a shocker he did. While you have to disregard belief while watching, I couldn't get into the "surprise" because in real life Lesnar would OWN Taker, hands down. Too unrealistic.

 

[Tornicade]

I have no idea what their doing on raw now. they got cesaro Cena and Orton in a match against owens, rusev, and sheamus.

be interesting to see owens and orton lock up though

I wouldnt be surprised if Cena loses his title or "vacates" it before Summer slam and they have Rusev,Cesaro and Owens do another three way for it.


I dont mind three way matches. but they shouldnt mean anything

 

[Tornicade]

Spoiler: Its On

And now at Summerslam, Lesnar faces Undertaker. Heyman then reminds Taker, repeatedly, that Lesnar broke the streak. This of course brought out Undertaker, who did the mysterious “hey I’m here in the ring” entrance. Heyman begged off, and then Lesnar appeared and charged the ring. They brawled and then Triple H sent out security to get murdered. Well he sent them out to break it up, but they failed and got beat down. The locker room geeks then appeared, leading to a big pull apart in the ring. Lesnar escaped and attacked again before they were pulled apart. The crowd loved this, and just as it looked as if Lesnar was being pulled to the back he escaped again and charged in to fight more. Taker then escaped and they brawled, Lesnar yelled, “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU” and Taker responded, “YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO!”

http://411mania.com/wrestling/click-here-to-join-411s-live-wwe-raw-coverage-316/

UFC fighting I have no doubts Lesnar would destroy the undertaker... but wrestling Undetaker is like old man foreman lumbering along

 

[Real Deal]

This pussy persona of Seth Rollins is beyond stale and quite boring. Better writing when it comes to a talent of Seth Rollins, please.

Probably why I quit watching Raw months ago in the first place, wasn't excited to find out what section of the crowd will Seth run in next.

But WWE just possibly teased a champion vs champion match in Cena and Rollins.

 

[Jack Brickman]

But WWE just possibly teased a champion vs champion match in Cena and Rollins.

Just what everyone wants...Cena being insufferable with two belts instead of just one.

 

[Tornicade]

Just what everyone wants...Cena being insufferable with two belts instead of just one.

The six man match was just a crowd pleaser with Sheamus owens and rusev not getting along.

Owens might as well be Bo Dallas at this point.

Also whats with these guys always walking off.

 

[jlegg21]

Cena is fun to bitch about, but the more I read this, the more it made sense.

http://deadspin.com/is-john-cena-the-best-wrestler-of-2015-1719278089

 

[Jack Brickman]

Cena is fun to bitch about, but the more I read this, the more it made sense.

http://deadspin.com/is-john-cena-the-best-wrestler-of-2015-1719278089

The main reason I don't like him is because his character never changes. Every feud is the same fucking thing, and he always wins. It's boring. His in-ring ability has improved immensely, but he's still Super Cena, and he's terrible at pretending to be hurt. When it's finisher time, he's magically 100% regardless of the beating he took the rest of the match. And, as I've mentioned many times before, he has two of the worst finishers in the entire business. The AA looks less painful than dozens of regular wrestling moves, and the STF (at least the way Cena applies it) is a fucking joke. It's hard to take a guy seriously when his finishers don't look like they'd even put me away. Maybe that's why people always kick out of ten of them a match?

It's hard to fault the dude's work ethic or, finishers aside, in-ring work of late, but he's still the same boring, generic character and his next feud will be identical to the last five. That's why people don't like him. If WWE booked him better and actually let him put over some young guys, he'd be great. But they won't, and so we'll continue to hate him for burying up and comers with talent.

 

[jlegg21]

The main reason I don't like him is because his character never changes. Every feud is the same fucking thing, and he always wins. It's boring. His in-ring ability has improved immensely, but he's still Super Cena, and he's terrible at pretending to be hurt. When it's finisher time, he's magically 100% regardless of the beating he took the rest of the match. And, as I've mentioned many times before, he has two of the worst finishers in the entire business. The AA looks less painful than dozens of regular wrestling moves, and the STF (at least the way Cena applies it) is a fucking joke. It's hard to take a guy seriously when his finishers don't look like they'd even put me away. Maybe that's why people always kick out of ten of them a match?

It's hard to fault the dude's work ethic or, finishers aside, in-ring work of late, but he's still the same boring, generic character and his next feud will be identical to the last five. That's why people don't like him. If WWE booked him better and actually let him put over some young guys, he'd be great. But they won't, and so we'll continue to hate him for burying up and comers with talent.

Totally agree, and in a perfect world he would turn heel, remake his image, unveil a new finisher and reel off an epic Hollywood Hogan run. It would be a refreshing boon for his career and his cred with hardcore wrestling fans everywhere. And he could absolutely sell better than he does, no question.

But that's not his lot in life, nor is it his role in the money making machine/corporation he works for. He's typecast and that's that. The Make a Wish stuff, the merch, the goodwill ambassador crown he wears trumps the corny story lines and the less than believable finishes. The company loves the heat he generates, the way kids gobble up his merch the same way they gobbled up the red and gold, and the way hustle/loyalty/respect sounds alot like prayers/vitamins/24" pythons. To the WWE, he's formulaic in the best way possible.

And I gotta admit, every chance I get to tune in he's putting guys over with great matches, regardless of whether they pin him or not. He makes guys like Owens and Cesaro look even more impressive than they already are, especially Owens. Putting the US Title on him was a stroke of genius.

Cena's act is tired, but so was Hogan's after a decade. Eventually one would think the well is going to dry up the same way, but for now it's going too well to change anything, and it's no fault of Cena's that the longtime fans are bored with his schtick. The WWE is doing what any smart business would do in their situation, ride the horse to the bank.

 

[Tornicade]

I dont get the thing with KO walking out of matches.
He walked out of the rusev match and now Cesaro is feuding with him.
so Owens is feuding with
Cena
Rusev
Cesaro
It doesnt make any sense and if thats the way they wanted to do it.
Sheamus laid owens down in the Raw 6 man tag team match.
Why not have him face Sheamus on Smackdown and then have Cesaro or Rusev interfere
Owens has been pinned twiced and walked out of 3 or 4 matches in the last month

 

[Jack Brickman]

What I want to see is Owens/Sheamus for the MitB briefcase.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Totally agree, and in a perfect world he would turn heel, remake his image, unveil a new finisher and reel off an epic Hollywood Hogan run. It would be a refreshing boon for his career and his cred with hardcore wrestling fans everywhere. And he could absolutely sell better than he does, no question.

But that's not his lot in life, nor is it his role in the money making machine/corporation he works for. He's typecast and that's that. The Make a Wish stuff, the merch, the goodwill ambassador crown he wears trumps the corny story lines and the less than believable finishes. The company loves the heat he generates, the way kids gobble up his merch the same way they gobbled up the red and gold, and the way hustle/loyalty/respect sounds alot like prayers/vitamins/24" pythons. To the WWE, he's formulaic in the best way possible.

And I gotta admit, every chance I get to tune in he's putting guys over with great matches, regardless of whether they pin him or not. He makes guys like Owens and Cesaro look even more impressive than they already are, especially Owens. Putting the US Title on him was a stroke of genius.

Cena's act is tired, but so was Hogan's after a decade. Eventually one would think the well is going to dry up the same way, but for now it's going too well to change anything, and it's no fault of Cena's that the longtime fans are bored with his schtick. The WWE is doing what any smart business would do in their situation, ride the horse to the bank.

The problem is that Cena isn't putting anyone over. Having a good match but still winning in the end is the opposite of putting someone over. Letting a younger guy win is putting him over. What Cena is doing with his repeated feud wins against young guys (who almost invariably win the first match, then lose several follow ups) is burying them. They start out the feud strong, but then just keep losing and losing and losing until they look weak.

Owens losing by tapping out was the epitome of this. When he started his feud with Cena, he looked like a total badass. He beat Cena clean and just looked like the better wrestler while he did it. Then he lost clean. Then he fucking tapped out, which made him look like a bitch. Owens was on the perfect path to being a great heel. A guy who could be a total dick on the mic but back it up by being dominant in the ring. Then he ran into John Cena and, as Cena is wont to do, he made him look like just another guy.

The same thing happened to Rusev. He was being booked very nicely, then he feuded with Cena. Now Rusev is lost in mid-card hell in some terrible love story feud with Dolph Ziggler that he's basically destined to lose. Rusev went from being a dominant up and comer to a guy no one gives a shit about any more. They even removed the valet who helped make him into a great heel and turned her into a face even though she's spent the past year talking shit about America and praising Russia.

And the problem here is that Cena is in a position where he can afford to take a loss, but he never has to. If Cena loses a feud, it means absolutely nothing to him. The kids will still love him and they'll still buy all of his terrible t-shirts. Cena could lose ten matches straight and he'd still be able to headline PPVs. That's why it's so insane that the WWE protects him like they do. Hell, if he had lost the belt to Owens, he could have changed the US Title open challenge to the John Cena open challenge and never even skipped a beat. Cena can take that loss and still believably win any match for the next five years, but to Owens it was devastating.

Cena is at a point in his career and status where the WWE should be using him to put over the next generation of talent. Obviously he shouldn't lose every feud, but he should certainly lose some of them, especially to guys like Owens who could easily be main event talent right now. The issue is that he never loses any of them, and they're all the fucking same.

I saw someone joke that Cena should be called the Undertaker, because he's buried more guys than anyone in the business.