Fastlane Tonight - in Cleveland!

[Jack Brickman]

I really just wish the WWE would take the hint from the crowd and push someone other than Reigns.

 

[Tornicade]

well it made sense from the standpoint that both Ambrose and Reigns was fighting their 2nd match of the night and I dont believe sheamus had any.

I would like to see Sheamus lose the title on Raw or smackdown before the next Sunday event.

 

[Jack Brickman]

well it made sense from the standpoint that both Ambrose and Reigns was fighting their 2nd match of the night and I dont believe sheamus had any.

I would like to see Sheamus lose the title on Raw or smackdown before the next Sunday event.

Sheamus was in that elimination tag match. You know...the one where they could have booked him strong but instead had him get destroyed?

 

[Tornicade]

Time to say goodbye to r truth, jack swagger and Adam Rose.
Bring up Baron Corbin, Samoa Joe , Gable, Jason Jordan Maybe even Cassidy and Amore.

WWE is also lacking charismatic faces who weigh more than 150 pounds so I wouldnt mind seeing some heel vs bigger heel rivalries for del rio

 

[Tornicade]

Sheamus was in that elimination tag match. You know...the one where they could have booked him strong but instead had him get destroyed?

WWE seems to like having guys get beat by everyone in order to get a title.

 

[Jack Brickman]

It'll be interesting to see who Sheamus' feud is with going into TLC. I hope it's someone besides Reigns, because a Sheamus/Reigns feud just sounds godawful to me.

Is Reigns entitled to a rematch under WWE rules even though he was only champion for like two minutes?

 

[Jack Brickman]

I also like how the WWE tried to get us to sympathize with Reigns after the match by showing him crying in the ring, but not realizing that it was completely undermined by the fans jeering and booing him.

 

[kookoo]

I feel like the wwe is going to be unbearable over the next few months. NXT is all I'm probably going to watch at this point after that pathetic PPV.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I feel like the wwe is going to be unbearable over the next few months. NXT is all I'm probably going to watch at this point after that pathetic PPV.

I was trying to figure out which would be worse on Raw tomorrow...an Authority/Sheamus opening or Roman Reigns giving a twenty minute recap of his path to the title. I think Reigns wins that battle, because at least Triple H and Steph can talk.

 

[kookoo]

I was trying to figure out which would be worse on Raw tomorrow...an Authority/Sheamus opening or Roman Reigns giving a twenty minute recap of his path to the title. I think Reigns wins that battle, because at least Triple H and Steph can talk.

Either would have been awful. But I feel horrible for Ambrose. Such a short match for him and getting pinned by a single spear in the main event.

 

[Tornicade]

I was trying to figure out which would be worse on Raw tomorrow...an Authority/Sheamus opening or Roman Reigns giving a twenty minute recap of his path to the title. I think Reigns wins that battle, because at least Triple H and Steph can talk.

Well you see. I was fighting brock lesnar for the title and Rollins.. who is now injured and not able to wrestle cashed in his money in the bank which he got at money in the bank a long time before. so i had to win a ladder match and Bray Wyatt then grabbed me and sheamus got the mitb. Bray did this cause he didnt like the shield and he kept saying anyone but you. Then I won the number 1 contender match which made me number 1 and Rollins got injured so Triple H decided to have a tournament and Imagine being the number one contender and to sell out to be the number one guy. so i had to wrestle my bro Ambrose who beat Owens to face me after i beat del Rio. Owens is the intercontinental champ and Del rio is the us champ but him and zeb coultre call themselves mex america and says he is the mexamerican champ.why are you guys boooing. you dont understand. I am the hero. I walk through the crowd when i come in.

 

[Jack Brickman]

The more I think about it, the more that ending just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. They've tried the Sheamus experiment before and it hasn't worked. There's no reason to think it will work this time. He's a decent enough worker, but he just doesn't connect with people. He's boring. I get that he's just a transitional champ because the crowd still refuses to get behind Reigns no matter how momentous WWE makes his wins feel.

Still, if the goal was to walk out of Survivor Series with a new heel corporate champ and a refusal to turn either Ambrose or Reigns, why not go with Owens? He's young, one of the better workers in the company, and over with the fans despite being a heel. More importantly, he's fresh. There's a sense of possibility there that doesn't exist with Sheamus. Even if you don't intend for Owens to hold the belt until Wrestlemania, at least with giving him the belt you can see what happens and react to it accordingly. Maybe he has a great run as champ and you decide to stick with him, or at least keep him in the main event picture. I can't imagine that happening with Sheamus.

Beyond that, it's an easy story to tell. Owens beats Ambrose, which wouldn't surprise anyone seeing as Owens is the Intercontinental champ and has been on a hot streak, whereas Ambrose has mostly been carrying Reigns' jock for the past six months during his feud with the Wyatts. During the finals, Triple H comes out during the match, hits Reigns with the sledgehammer while the ref is distracted and costs him the match.

Sheamus comes out, kicks Owens, and then acts buddy-buddy with Triple H while he cashes in the briefcase. However, as the ref goes to count for three, Triple H yanks him out of the ring. While the ref is yelling at Triple H, an NXT guy (Corbin would make sense here) slides into the ring, delivers a finisher to Sheamus, and Owens pins him for the three fall. Triple H gets back into the ring and holds up both Owens' and the other guy's hands, thus establishing a new version of the Authority.

The next night on Raw, Owens deliberately drops his IC title to the guy who helped him the night before as a reward for services rendered. Meanwhile, Triple H pokes fun at Sheamus for suckering him into cashing in his briefcase, thus removing that wildcard from the equation altogether. Trips recalls about how he's constantly saying that NXT is the future, and so he's allied himself with some of NXT's top talent.

That is instantly more interesting than what happened earlier tonight, and it pushes a couple of younger, newer guys rather than a guy like Sheamus who doesn't belong in the world title picture any more. It would also reestablish the Authority as a dominant heel group, and possibly pave the way for an NXT invasion story down the road. It also keeps Reigns strong, as he was screwed out of the title by interference rather than losing legitimately.

 

[MoFlo]

Problem with putting it on Owens (especially if they wanted a heel champ) is:

A) The fans would've popped huge for him, and not just at Survivor Series. He's a fresh face and a great worker, he would've been cheered.

B) You know fans would've been pissed when he were to lose it in a month or two.

 

[kookoo]

The more I think about it, the more that ending just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. They've tried the Sheamus experiment before and it hasn't worked. There's no reason to think it will work this time. He's a decent enough worker, but he just doesn't connect with people. He's boring. I get that he's just a transitional champ because the crowd still refuses to get behind Reigns no matter how momentous WWE makes his wins feel.

Still, if the goal was to walk out of Survivor Series with a new heel corporate champ and a refusal to turn either Ambrose or Reigns, why not go with Owens? He's young, one of the better workers in the company, and over with the fans despite being a heel. More importantly, he's fresh. There's a sense of possibility there that doesn't exist with Sheamus. Even if you don't intend for Owens to hold the belt until Wrestlemania, at least with giving him the belt you can see what happens and react to it accordingly. Maybe he has a great run as champ and you decide to stick with him, or at least keep him in the main event picture. I can't imagine that happening with Sheamus.

Beyond that, it's an easy story to tell. Owens beats Ambrose, which wouldn't surprise anyone seeing as Owens is the Intercontinental champ and has been on a hot streak, whereas Ambrose has mostly been carrying Reigns' jock for the past six months during his feud with the Wyatts. During the finals, Triple H comes out during the match, hits Reigns with the sledgehammer while the ref is distracted and costs him the match.

Sheamus comes out, kicks Owens, and then acts buddy-buddy with Triple H while he cashes in the briefcase. However, as the ref goes to count for three, Triple H yanks him out of the ring. While the ref is yelling at Triple H, an NXT guy (Corbin would make sense here) slides into the ring, delivers a finisher to Sheamus, and Owens pins him for the three fall. Triple H gets back into the ring and holds up both Owens' and the other guy's hands, thus establishing a new version of the Authority.

The next night on Raw, Owens deliberately drops his IC title to the guy who helped him the night before as a reward for services rendered. Meanwhile, Triple H pokes fun at Sheamus for suckering him into cashing in his briefcase, thus removing that wildcard from the equation altogether. Trips recalls about how he's constantly saying that NXT is the future, and so he's allied himself with some of NXT's top talent.

That is instantly more interesting than what happened earlier tonight, and it pushes a couple of younger, newer guys rather than a guy like Sheamus who doesn't belong in the world title picture any more. It would also reestablish the Authority as a dominant heel group, and possibly pave the way for an NXT invasion story down the road. It also keeps Reigns strong, as he was screwed out of the title by interference rather than losing legitimately.

It's sad that something like this, which probably took you 5 minutes to come up with, would be the best thing the WWE has done in a decade...

 

[Jack Brickman]

Problem with putting it on Owens (especially if they wanted a heel champ) is:

A) The fans would've popped huge for him, and not just at Survivor Series. He's a fresh face and a great worker, he would've been cheered.

B) You know fans would've been pissed when he were to lose it in a month or two.

They would have popped, but is it really bad to give the people what they want? It's clear the people do not want Roman Reigns, so the WWE should go in a different direction. I'd also argue that, while Owens gets a pop, he's also great at antagonizing a crowd and drawing heat. He'd be a great heel champion in my opinion simply because of that. It's no different than Rollins, really. Rollins got a huge pop when he cashed in and won the title, but he was still able to draw heat from the crowd and get them to boo him on a nightly basis.

As for B, I don't doubt that the fans would be pissed when he lost the belt, but the thing with going with Owens that is different than Sheamus is that he wouldn't have to necessarily drop the belt in a couple of months. With Owens, you get a new guy and, thus, a new chance to see how well he draws viewers and sells merchandise. Maybe he does better than expected, in which case you can call an audible and keep the belt on him. You don't really have that option with Sheamus, who they already know isn't going to work as the top guy for an extended period.

I find my main issue with the WWE as a product is that they virtually never give the people what they want, which is absurd for an entertainment company that makes money off of fans. Contrast the main WWE with NXT, which frequently gives the people what they want. Not always, of course, as you have to subvert expectations sometimes, but enough to create an understanding that the people running the show actually appear to give a fuck about us. There's a reason basically anyone who watches both would call NXT the better product by a mile, and that's because the people running NXT understand that you need to feed the fan more often than you need to let them down.

NXT is essentially a perfect mix of rewarding the performers who deserve it and also the ones who get over with the fans. Often those are the same people, naturally, which is the way it should be.

It's sad that something like this, which probably took you 5 minutes to come up with, would be the best thing the WWE has done in a decade...

I basically thought that up while I was taking my dogs out after the show.