Dropping Angles: Creative's Short Term Memory

We gather here today in memoriam of the wrestlers and angles that the WWE has completely given up on: 

#1. The Nexus 

Yes, this event happened several years ago (2010), but it bears repeating in light of recent events. The Nexus was a group of aspiring wrestlers from the original NXT, back when it was a competition to get a contract from WWE. Wade Barrett led the rookies onto Raw and they proceeded to demolish the set. Afterwards, the Nexus began targeting veteran wrestlers for vicious attacks. One frequent target was John Cena. 

The brutality and relentlessness of the Nexus led to a showdown at SummerSlam, with The Nexus (Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield [Ryback], Michael Tarver, and Darren Young) taking on Team WWE (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Bret Hart, John Morrison, and R-Truth) in an elimination tag team match. The match came down to John Cena against Barrett and Gabriel. Cena pinned Gabriel and, not even 30 seconds later, made Barrett tap out to the STF. 

Jericho and Edge have both gone on record saying it was a poor booking decision to have Cena so easily overcome the leader of Nexus, but they also said that Cena pushed ahead with it. In fact, they say the original plan had Barrett going over Cena, but Cena pushed for a change in the outcome. Jericho and Edge were both okay with putting over younger talent. Cena, apparently, was not. And as you’ll see, it’s a trait Cena has yet to drop. 

#2. Bo Dallas 

Bo Dallas appeared and entered the Royal Rumble in 2013. He was the NXT representative in the match and actually eliminated Wade Barrett. He returned to NXT and honed his character as a heel who thought he was a babyface. He won the NXT Championship, proving his ability to carry a title and work a main event program. He returned to the main roster as an inspiration character, telling other wrestlers that they could do better in life is they simply “BO-lieve.” 

He came back on a long winning streak. In wrestling, a winning streak typically means you are being built for a title run. Dallas carried a long streak that actually helped to grow his heel character status. That is, until he lost to R-Truth in a random match on Raw. Dallas proceeded to beat down Truth after the match. He lost again to Truth on the next Smackdown. What was a great heel character slowly became relegated to lower and lower places on the card. He’s now pestering Jack Swagger, saying Swagger is disappointing America by losing to Rusev. 

Dallas is a good wrestler. His character is utterly annoying, which is great for a heel. He’d make a really good Intercontinental or United States Champion. Instead, it looks like he’s going to feud with Jack Swagger for a bit. 

#3. (Antonio) Cesaro 

Antonio Cesaro is one of the most gifted athletes to enter the WWE in a long time. He’s naturally strong, as evidenced by much of his in-ring work. His early run as the snobby Swiss wrestler who won the US Title provided glimpses of what he could be. 

Cesaro joined Zeb Colter’s Real Americans team, a heel tag team. His moveset, though, is suited to a babyface. The high impact European uppercut, the Alpamare Waterslide, and the Big Swing really bring the fans to their feet. Which is bad, since WWE is dedicated to keeping Cesaro heel. At WrestleMania XXX, Cesaro entered the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and won. The match came down to Cesaro and Big Show. Cesaro scooped up Big Show in a move reminiscent of Hogan and Andre the Giant. He dumped Big Show out of the ring to win. 

The next night on Raw Hulk Hogan presented Cesaro with the battle royal trophy. Colter took the mic and started to talk about how he was the reason Cesaro was doing so well. Cesaro took the mic from Colter and said he was not a Zeb Colter guy, but rather he was a Paul Heyman guy. The teaming with Heyman didn’t last long, as Heyman used every available minute of screen time to promote Brock Lesnar. Cesaro was relegated to low-level heel. The most impressive athlete in WWE can’t catch a break. 

#4. Damien Sandow 

What happened to Damien Sandow? Two words: John Cena. I could go on for days telling you how Cena is responsible for the failures of WWE to build better superstars (and I will in the Wyatt Family section). 

Damien Sandow won one of the Money in the Bank briefcases back when there were two championships. He won the chance to go after the World Heavyweight Championship. Apparently, Sandow was a pet project of Triple H. Like Sheamus, Triple H saw potential in Sandow and brought him in as a snobbish heel with a high level of intelligence. Sandow won the briefcase and held it for a quite a while, even feuding over the case with Cody Rhodes, his former teammate. 
Then John Cena came back early from injury and defeated Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. On Raw, as Cena was talking up his victory, Sandow came out. He claimed he was not going to cash in, but he then proceeded to beat Cena down with the briefcase, targeting Cena’s surgically repaired arm, rendering it useless. 

Sandow turned to the referee and cashed in his title shot. And then SuperCena appeared. John Cena cleanly defeated Damien Sandow with only one arm. He even hit his finisher, the Attitude Adjustment. It was the beginning of the end for Sandow. The running theory was that Sandow angered someone within the WWE’s hierarchy. 

#5. Xavier Woods / Kofi Kingston / Big E (Langston) 

A few weeks ago on Raw, Kofi Kingston and Big E teamed up to take on Ryback and Curtis Axel. Rybaxel won the match, leaving a stunned Kofi and Big E standing in the ring. At that point, Xavier Woods came walking down to the ring dressed in a suit. He grabbed a mic and delivered a cryptically awesome promo about how they could not wait for things to be handed to them, but instead had to start taking. The next episode of Raw featured the group in the backstage area watching the Usos match. They came to ringside for the end of the match, though they did not get involved. 

On Main Event, Kofi and Big E teamed up and displayed a level of aggression they’d not shown in…well, ever. But, in what has become standard operating procedure for WWE Creative, the angle was unceremoniously dropped. The closest thing we’ve come to seeing the trio together was on Raw for Hulk Hogan’s birthday celebration, where they were all standing to the same side of the stage wearing similar colors.

There’s still hope that Creative will bring this angle back up. Kofi was on Raw Monday night in a losing effort to Bo Dallas, but he was wearing the red and black that the group had taken to wearing. Maybe these little clues are left behind as a bread crumb trail for anyone hoping the group will survive in a world desolate due to Creative’s neglect. Maybe we’ll see Kofi, Big E (hopefully with Langston reattached to his name), and Xavier Woods pop back up to start a solid new stable. 

But I’m afraid we’re at a point where, if an angle or wrestler doesn’t get over immediately, Creative simply drops their angle. There was rumor that the idea of teaming up three black wrestlers would be considered offensive or racist. But most hardcore fans wanted to see the group. 

#6. The Wyatt Family 

Basically, this is what Cena did to the Wyatts...

The WWE has apparently decided that the Wyatt Family doesn’t deserve a good story. Spoiler Alert: Bray Wyatt will lose twice on SmackDown. I don’t know who in WWE hates the Wyatts, but they obviously have a lot of pull. Wyatt’s downward slide began with Creative deciding that he didn’t need to look like a threat against John Cena. The “poop joke promo” superstar needlessly won at WrestleMania XXX in a match that could’ve established a new monster heel. But no, it was more important to the John Cena Toddler Fan Base that good triumph over evil. 

At the next pay-per-view, Cena once again took on Bray Wyatt, this time in a cage match. The point of a cage match is to stop the wrestlers from getting out of the ring, to stop other wrestlers from getting into the ring, and to basically force a resolution to a match. But at this PPV, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan constantly interfered. Even with that, Cena was about to escape the cage and win. He was stopped by a small child with a sore throat (and a poorly distorted voice). This simple trick apparently scared Cena so much that he stumbled backward into Wyatt’s waiting arms for a Sister Abigail. It was the only time Wyatt would win in this feud. 

The next PPV witnessed a resolution to their feud. Their Last Man Standing match was actually quite good. No, it wasn’t on par with the Triple H vs Chris Jericho Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded in July 2000, but it was still good. The match ended with John Cena literally burying Bray Wyatt to stop him from getting back up. Why Cena had to win the feud is beyond me. The only thing I can figure is that Creative was afraid if Cena lost that toddlers would stop guilt-tripping their parents into buying neon-colored crap. 

As if that wasn't bad enough, on last Monday’s Raw, John Cena was fed Bray Wyatt. Cena was coming off the most humiliating defeat of his career, a 16-minute squash match in which Brock Lesnar simply destroyed Cena. So on Raw Cena interrupted a “Hall of Fame” Forum featuring Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels. Hulk Hogan was so slobberingly adoring of Cena that I was actually waiting for him to pull a Frank Caliendo and say “John, I wrote you a poem…” 

Cena was advertised to fight Bray Wyatt. Cena won by disqualification, setting up a six man tag match with the Wyatt Family taking on Cena, Big Show, and Mark Henry. The good guys once again won, with Cena simply brushing Wyatt off like a cow swatting at gnats with its tail. At the Smackdown taping Tuesday night, Bray Wyatt was advertised to take on Roman Reigns, or, as we should probably call him, Samoan John Cena. Reigns won the match to open the show, then he was set to team up with Show and Henry to take on the Wyatt Family. Of course, the good guys won again. 

During all of this, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan had engaged in an epic feud with the Usos over the Tag Team Championships. For reasons unknown to anyone except Creative, the Usos continually won the matches in which the titles were on the line. Finally, the Creative team simply removed the Wyatt Family from title contention. The Usos were out of opponents, but Creative still took away the Wyatts. It’s forced Creative to turn Goldust and Stardust heel. Having Harper and Rowan win the titles would’ve created multiple new feuds. But apparently Creative would rather have the babyfaces continually rise above. 

I’m not sure what Bray Wyatt did to anger WWE Creative, but they have done a brutally fantastic job at destroying the Wyatt Family’s momentum. These guys were pitched a monster heels on their arrival. They took out Kane. Wyatt demolished Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. He entered a prolonged angle with Daniel Bryan, leading to Wyatt winning cleanly at Royal Rumble. But, for whatever reason, Creative decided that the audience didn’t need a new heel in the upper tier of the roster. No, it was more important that SuperCena overcome the odds and win. Heaven forbid that the John Cena Toddler Fan Base ever think that the forces of good can be defeated by the forces of evil. 

The Myth of Brock Lesnar

WrestleMania 31 is still 219 days away. That’s all of September, October, November, and December of 2014, plus January and February of 2015, all the way to March 29, 2015, when WWE invades Levi’s stadiums in Santa Clara, California, for its biggest show of the year. Everything that the WWE does features WrestleMania as the final goal. From the blatantly obvious, like the winner of the Royal Rumble receiving a berth in the WrestleMania main event, to the mundane, like a title change in late August of the year before. 

That’s where we stand. John Cena was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He’d held the belt since the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in June. His “inheritance” of the title, for lack of a better term, was greeted with enthusiasm by the younger, casual fan, while the older, more-invested fans simply gave an exasperated sigh. Cena was nothing more than the “safe” choice. He’s a proven, reliable wrestler who can carry a long program. But a change was needed. Sure, the younger crowd loves John Cena. I typically (jokingly) refer to his fans as the John Cena Toddler Fan Base. 

But the fans of the WWE have been longing for change at the top. This year has, in effect, been the year of the fan’s voice. It started at Royal Rumble, back in January. The fans in attendance were solidly behind Daniel Bryan, who was scheduled to open the show against Bray Wyatt. Bryan lost his match, but it was not uncommon for wrestlers to pull double duty at the Rumble. 

Returning “babyface” Batista was in the rumble match, and was projected to win. He had a movie coming out (the wildly successful Guardians of the Galaxy), and WWE loves to promote superstars with movies. So as the match wound down, and only one participant was left to enter, the fans began to chant for Daniel Bryan. When the clock hit 0:00, though, it was not Daniel Bryan, but Rey Mysterio, who came out. 

Mysterio is a fan favorite, beloved by almost any fan of wrestling. But on that cold January night in Pittsburgh, Mysterio received more boos than he probably had in his entire career combined. It wasn’t that the fans hated Mysterio. They like him. Still do. But he’s an aging superstar with a knack for injury, and he was taking away a slot from the fans’ chosen one, Daniel Bryan. The audience applauded loudly when Mysterio was eliminated. 

The match came down to the “babyface” Batista and a then-heel Roman Reigns. Reigns had set the record for Rumble eliminations during the match, and the Shield, while villainous, was incredibly over with the fans. The audience in the arena began to chant for Roman Reigns. Even though Batista won, it was an empty feeling, especially for one of the traditional “Big Four” pay-per-view events. It was a sound rejection of what the front office in Stamford, CT though the fans would want. 

As the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania XXX, drew near, it began to look as though WWE was going to plow ahead with their own corporately-suicidal plan. Batista had won the right to main event WrestleMania, but because of the fans’ reception of him, he had turned heel. Randy Orton was the holder of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but he was the Authority’s hand-picked champion, also a heel. The last time a WrestleMania main event featured two wrestlers with similar character alignments was 2001, when Stone Cold Steve Austin faced The Rock at WrestleMania 17. Austin famously turned heel at that event, joining with Vince McMahon. 

No such turns appeared evident for this ‘Mania. But a glimmer of hope shown on the horizon. Daniel Bryan and some obviously planted fans executed an “Occupy” Raw event, taking over an episode of the WWE’s flagship show. Given that the “Occupy” movement had largely vanished from the public memory already, it was a bit untimely. But Bryan’s actions brought out Triple H, who had served as the key heel figure of the Authority. Triple H agreed to face Bryan at WrestleMania, with the stipulation that if Bryan won he would go on to the main event. Triple H eventually amended the stipulation to give himself the right to main event WrestleMania XXX if he won. 

Bryan won their match, and in the main event of the biggest WrestleMania in years, Daniel Bryan accomplished the fans’ dreams. He ended the show standing tall and holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. And all was right with the world. The underdog had overcome. The Authority had been silenced. The hated Batista had been defeated. John Cena was nowhere close to the title picture. 

And then Daniel Bryan got hurt. He’s been out of action for months now with a neck injury. The Authority stripped him of the title, an obvious heel move that put even more heat on them. The title was put up for grabs in a ladder match at the Money in the Bank PPV. Cena won. The old guard was re-established. Vince McMahon’s chosen order to the universe was restored. The Authority was basically in full control. Triple H had ended the Shield by turning Seth Rollins on his brothers. Rollins would win the Money in the Bank briefcase, guaranteeing him a title shot anytime within the next calendar year. For all intents and purposes, the WWE in early August 2014 looked very similar to the WWE of several years ago. 

And then came SummerSlam. 

With the Authority needing a challenger for John Cena, Triple H turned to a man that is, for lack of a better term, his protégé: Randy Orton. Orton, though, lost his chance at the title because Roman Reigns, now a babyface and carrying a lot of support from the crowd, took him out. As Orton and Reigns battled their way out of the arena, a loud screech came over the speakers and a famous guitar riff started to play. Paul Heyman appeared on the stage, followed by the Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar. 

Lesnar hadn’t been on WWE programming for quite some time. He was still riding high after becoming the first man to ever hand the Undertaker a defeat at WrestleMania. Heyman had cryptically told Triple H that, while Orton might be “Plan A,” and Rollins was his “Plan B,” that it might be time for the Authority to enact “Plan C.” Triple H nodded, shook their hands, and gifted a title shot to the Beast. 

At SummerSlam, Lesnar and Cena met in the main event. Within the first 30 seconds of the match, Brock Lesnar hit an F5 on Cena. After that, it was a fully one-sided contest. Lesnar hit 16 german suplexes on Cena. He hit another F5 on the champion. The announcers began to wonder if the referee would stop the match to save Cena. Finally, after 16 minutes of beating, Lesnar pinned Cena. It was almost merciful. Never, in all the years that I’ve watched wrestling, has John Cena been so thoroughly dominated from start to finish in a match. 

And now Brock Lesnar is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The rumor is that Triple H wants Lesnar to retain the belt until WrestleMania 31, which is, as I wrote at the opening of this article, 219 days away. That’s a long time, especially when your champion is a part-time wrestler who might not even be on Raw again for over a month. Lesnar is already booked to face Cena in a rematch at Night of Champions in September, but I can’t see Lesnar losing the title that quickly. 

The problem is, I believe, WWE has almost made Lesnar unbeatable. His last two PPV victories are at WrestleMania over the previously 21-0 Undertaker, and SummerSlam, in what was effectively a squash match over John Cena. Every wrestler on the roster has struggled against Cena, and only a few have ever scored victories over him. The mythical status of the Undertaker at WrestleMania has now transferred to Brock Lesnar. It may take Lesnar's often-prolonged absences to weaken that mythology in order to allow someone else on the card, likely a Roman Reigns or Daniel Bryan, to overcome him in the future and take the title.

This table represents the current title picture in the WWE (current as of noon, 22 August 2014). I’m listing Dean Ambrose as a “should be” contender for the Intercontinental Championship, though Ambrose is currently written out to film a movie. I’ve also listed Roman Reigns as a contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, even though he’s not fully to that level. It’s obvious that WWE plans for him to contend for the title soon enough. 

WWE World Heavyweight Champion:	Brock Lesnar
Contenders:	John Cena (#1)
	Randy Orton
	Roman Reigns
	Seth Rollins (MITB)
	Daniel Bryan (injured)
Intercontinental Champion:	Dolph Ziggler
Contenders:	The Miz
	Dean Ambrose (should be)
United States Champion:	Sheamus
Contenders:	???
Divas Champion:	Paige
Contenders:	AJ Lee
Tag Team Champions:	The Usos
Contenders:	Big Show & Mark Henry
	Goldust & Stardust
	Luke Harper & Erick Rowan

What's Happening in the WWE?

SummerSlam, the second biggest show for the year for WWE, has come and gone. The post-PPV Raw has come and gone. Here’s what we learned:

The Brie Bella – Stephanie McMahon story line just got confusing.

The tag team scene is confusing.

Creative’s weird booking is confusing.

Bray Wyatt is confusing.

Seth Rollins is becoming a great heel.

Brock Lesnar demolished John Cena.

Those are the high points. I’d like to talk about each one, in no particular order. Let’s break it down.

Twin Magic & Heel Turns

Brie Bella challenged Stephanie McMahon to a match prior to SummerSlam. Stephanie carried the workload of the match, which is surprising. She’s not been in the ring in over 10 years, yet she carried Brie Bella through the action. Then the confusion began. Nikki Bella, whom Stephanie McMahon had tortured for weeks, turned on Brie, allowing Stephanie to win.

On Raw, Nikki claimed that she hated being in Brie’s shadow, and so she wanted out. Brie came to the ring to confront her, and Nikki slapped her. Now we have the Bella Twins in a feud. Think about this, Nikki Bella, a third-tier performer in the ring, actually turned heel before her boyfriend (John Cena). The Bella Twins, possibly the worst actors on the roster, have shown more character range than the company’s “golden boy.”

Tag Teams That May or May Not Make Sense

The tag title picture is confusing. The simple truth is that the Wyatt Family should’ve won the tag titles long ago. Luke Harper is one of the best big men in wrestling today. His partner, Erick Rowan, doesn’t have the range of Harper, but he makes up for it with insanity, intensity, and pure strength. He scoop-slammed Big Show with relative ease on Raw. Beyond that, the Wyatts have great chemistry with the Usos.

Instead, WWE has decided to move the Wyatts away from the tag titles. Leaving the belts on the Usos is an okay move, as the Usos are good champions. But it now requires Creative to build up new threats to them. The Dust Bros. (Goldust and Stardust) are not yet being fully pitched as title contenders. The Ascension is still at NXT, though they’re expected to be called up soon. And now we have the team of Big Show and Mark Henry.

Sure, the pairing has revitalized their careers, but truthfully they’re just two aging superstars who don’t belong in the main event scene anymore. Pairing them up as a tag team gives them something to do, provides Creative with a reliable draw, and means fans will always see a well-worked match.

But it could all be better. And it’s all Creative’s fault. Why?

False Starts

For some reason, WWE Creative has gotten into a rhythm of beginning a story line, only to abandon it within a couple weeks. They might give it a little longer, but they’re still going to abandon it.

This could've been really awesome...

About three weeks ago, Kofi Kingston and Big E lost a tag team match. Afterwards, Xavier Woods showed up in a suit a delivered a solid, if cryptic, promo. On Main Event, Big E and Kingston teamed up and displayed a much more vicious side. They were shown back stage watching other matches. They came to ringside to watch matches. And the fans were behind it. It was hailed as the second coming of the Nation of Domination. An all-black stable of mid-carders fed up with their role.

And then it stopped. No explanation. It just stopped. Kofi came to the ring by himself and he was once again happy-go-lucky Kofi Kingston. Big E came to the ring by himself. No one saw Xavier Woods. Sure, at Hulk Hogan’s birthday celebration last week the three were standing on the side of the stage wearing similar colors. But the new stable was dead on arrival. Creative just gave up. And no one knows why.

Sheamus, the stalest character in the history of modern WWE, was supposed to turn heel. Defeating Dean Ambrose in the battle royal for the US Title was supposed to be the start of his heel turn. And we all know Sheamus needs a character re-invention. A heel turn is perfect for him. He was better as a heel, anyway. Instead, Creative halted the heel turn and Sheamus is still the always-smiling FELLA!-shouting guy he was. I’m sure we’ll get another 1-800-FELLA commercial soon.

If this happens again, we riot...

Cesaro was one of the most “over” guys in the company. Fans loved him. He had a move-set that most babyfaces would kill for. His “giant swing” brought everyone to their feet. He was primed for a babyface turn. He won the Andre the Giant Memorial battle royal at WrestleMania 30, lifting and body-slamming the Big Show out of the ring to win.

On the next Raw, as Hulk Hogan presented him the trophy, Cesaro announced that he was leaving Zeb Colter, a solid heel at the time. Fans erupted. Then Cesaro announced he was joining Paul Heyman. Heyman was/is the heel to end all heels. He manages Brock Lesnar, who had just ended the Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania. But Heyman is good enough to manage a babyface with Cesaro and a heel with Lesnar. But Creative forced Cesaro back into the heel role and it has absolutely halted any momentum the guy had.

His teammate with Zeb Colter, former Wolrd Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger, has been the victim of so many false start pushes that fans no longer view him as a credible threat to anyone. Even when Swagger and Colter turned babyface to feud with Rusev, Creative refused to allow anyone to go over the monster heel, and so Swagger’s sudden babyface push has been halted. He not only lost at SummerSlam, but Cesaro beat him on the next Raw and Bo Dallas came out and mocked him. Talk about kicking someone when they’re down.

And it’s all Creative’s fault.

The Curious Ordeal of Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt should be a monster top tier heel by now. He should be. Instead, Creative entered him into a feud with John Cena. At WrestleMania, in a match that would’ve served to bring up a new frontline heel, without damaging Cena’s reputation, Cena took the win. The feud wasn’t over, but it was starting to look bleak. At Extreme Rules, Cena faced Wyatt in a cage match. This was supposed to stop outside interference, but Harper and Rowan were involved the whole time. Cena was poised to win this match, when a small child with an oddly distorted voice came out and sang to him. Yes, that happened.

Bray Wyatt...whom Creative is confused about...

Wyatt won the cage match, but his reputation was suffering thanks to Creative refusing to allow Cena to lose cleanly. At Payback a month later, Cena faced Wyatt in a Last Man Standing match. Anyone thinking that WWE would look to establish a future star needed to turn the TV off. John Cena was not losing a feud to Bray Wyatt. Cena won the LMS match by, literally, burying Bray Wyatt. It was a great match, but the outcome proved that WWE wasn’t really serious about a new heel threat to the top of the card.

Wyatt entered the WWE World Heavyweight Championship ladder match at Money in the Bank, but was basically a non-factor. He entered a feud with Chris Jericho that saw Jericho win at Battleground. Wyatt evened the series at SummerSlam, but most of the damage has already been done. So much damage has been done to his momentum that he basically has to start over.

If I told you a guy that, since Royal Rumble, had singles victories over Daniel Bryan, John Cena, and Chris Jericho, and had competed in the MITB ladder match for the WWE WHC, would basically be starting over, you'd have to realize just how bad Creative has screwed up.

Seth Rollins: Heel

Rollins, the man holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, has the full protection of the Authority. How do we know? Because he’s yet to face his nemesis, Dean Ambrose, cleanly. Their first potential match was a bit of bait-and-switch by WWE. The match was advertised, but it was canceled under the pretense that Triple H threw Ambrose out of the building. The two brawled several times that night.

Rollins trying to rip Ambrose's head off...

At SummerSlam, they finally fought. Ambrose had won a “Beat the Clock” challenge to name the stipulation for the match. In their infinite wisdom, WWE Creative decided that the best bet for this feud was a Lumberjack Match. Most fans scoffed at the notion, but once in the ring, Rollins and Ambrose delivered a fantastic show.

Of course, even with the ring surrounded by other wrestlers, the two fought into the crowd, they brawled outside the ring, and they took out several of the lumberjacks. And, of course, Kane interfered in the match, allowing Rollins to win.

At this point, Seth Rollins is one of the most protected stars on the roster. Sure, he recently lost to Heath Slater, but even that was used to further elevate his feud with Ambrose. Rollins and Ambrose once again fought on Raw, and once more Kane interfered, but this time it was more vicious, and it probably means we’ve seen the last of Ambrose for a while.

Dean Ambrose is due to film a movie, which means WWE had to write him off of weekly programming. They probably did this by having Rollins hit Ambrose with the Curb Stomp while Ambrose’s head was lying on a pile of concrete blocks. It was a vicious assault that makes the audience sympathize with Ambrose while realizing that Rollins is now one of the top tier heels on the roster.

Brrrrrrrrrrrock! Lesnar!

John Cena was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Was. He was not on Raw. Brock Lesnar gained a shot at the title on Raw a few weeks back. He entered the ring at SummerSlam and basically destroyed John Cena. It was the single most lopsided victory I think I’ve ever seen anyone score over Cena.

Former enemies, now (apparently) friends

It’s rare that John Cena puts over anyone cleanly. Actually, to be more accurate, it’s rare that Creative allows someone to go over John Cena cleanly. The fact that Lesnar not only went over clean, but truly demolished Cena speaks volumes. What it says, though, is confusing. Is the Cena era over? If so, why replace Cena with a part-timer who is the same age?

We now have a WWE World Heavyweight Champion that is only contracted to work a few days per year. It will be up to Paul Heyman to build any feud Lesnar is in. But who challenges him? Sure, John Cena will get a rematch, probably at Night of Champions in September. But it’s unlikely Cena regains the title. That would cheapen Lesnar’s build. After ending the Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania, the only thing left for Lesnar was to challenge for the title. Destroying Cena the way he did further builds the myth of Brock Lesnar.

WWE is in the process of building Roman Reigns into a main event challenger, but I don’t think Reigns will actually main event a pay-per-view until WrestleMania 31. Daniel Bryan is an option, but he’s still out with an injury. Randy Orton is an option, but most fans are as tired of him being in the main event picture as they are with Cena.

We'll see where this goes. Rumor is that WWE is already discussing Brock Lesnar's role in WrestleMania 31. According to this rumor, Triple H is pushing for Roman Reigns to take on Lesnar. Vince McMahon, however, wants Lesnar to face The Rock. While that will draw in the casual viewers, having Rock vs Brock as a main event of WrestleMania will do nothing for the future of the industry. Reigns may be ready for a main event by then. Right now, he simply isn't.