Loss

It was, but Hogan took a bump last night, which he couldn't get clearance to do at all when he came in.

Between paydays for everyone who did a run-in, HHH's entrance, Sting's entrance and HHH and Sting's payoffs, I can't imagine the expense of that match.

That must have cost nearly 7 figures. I bet Kevin Dunn was loving every minute of it. I'm glad you mentioned this. They were spending money like it was going out of style last night. The production budget was just massive. If anything, the show was an extended announcement that they are no longer cost cutting.

With Hogan taking a bump last night and seemingly moving around better, is it possible they'd do the Cena match?

Really though, Rusev's entrance.

While I had less problem than most with Cena going over, I do think Rusev laying him out post-match to signify that this is far from over (and give Rusev the last laugh) would have been appropriate.

Dear Raw crowd: Go easy on Reigns, please.

They actually spent one whole episode of Raw built around the idea of Rollins cashing in and making it a Triple Threat. It was heavily teased. That changes my perspective. If the idea that this just might become a Triple Threat match was part of the hype, then I don't have that criticism anymore.

I kinda hate that I've taken this off topic, especially on a show that I really enjoyed. This was a great show overall, and not because any of the matches on their own were particularly great, but because overall, it felt like WWE had a direction I could get behind. Some matches were better than others and I disagreed with some of the finishes, but even in those, I saw where there was potential to make something out of it, and I don't feel that way often watching a WWE show. The ladder match I don't think was great, but the crowded nature of it was working against it anyway. The right guy won and the finish with Bryan and Ziggler was incredibly dramatic. With the segment later in the show with Bryan and the legends, I really got the feeling they are going to rebuild the IC title. We'll see about that, of course. Orton vs Rollins was a solid match, but didn't feel particularly special. The finish *looked* spectacular and the timing of it was perfect, but the body of the match was missing something. I was chatting with soup during the show and told him when Orton won that I could see Rollins being champion very soon. Sting vs HHH was good camp, with the Flair-Sting cosplay at first before all the run-ins. Going over the top I think was totally the right route here, and seeing where they are going next year at Wrestlemania, I see why HHH won. I don't necessarily agree with the logic, but I at least see the logic. It would be nice if this was the end of WWE's obsession with an era that was almost two decades ago, but we thought that when The Shield squashed the New Age Outlaws last year too, and that turned out not to be the case. So we'll see. Bella Twins vs AJ & Paige was there. Nikki Bella has improved so much. Rusev vs John Cena had two phenomenal entrances and a match almost but not quite at the same level of Fastlane. I think Rusev had the GOAT Wrestlemania entrance actually. Cool to see Cena pull out the new move right when I thought his formulaic comeback was dragging the match down a little. The Rusev entrance ... seriously. The Cena one was good too, but Rusev really came across as a superstar. I know people are upset about Rusev losing, but I don't really see a new heel being built up for a year to set up a Wrestlemania program with John Cena as being a bad thing. You could certainly argue that the time isn't right for him to lose, but I would be surprised if Rusev doesn't beat him in the rubber match at Extreme Rules that I'm anticipating. The HHH-Rock-Ronda Rousey angle was money, and something that I think will be remembered as an all-time classic angle. I'm so glad they're going in the mixed tag direction which has tons of potential to get mainstream coverage and help set the attendance record instead of putting Rock over Brock or one of the roster regulars. Stephanie was excellent in this, and I'm hoping we get a public workout angle, a weigh-in angle and vignettes of HHH training Stephanie in an attempt to help her hold her own. SO much they can do with that. It's self-contained and it will help make WM a big deal next year, so I won't complain. Undertaker vs Bray felt like a Smackdown main event from 2007-2008, which meant it was better than I expected. Undertaker looked far more lucid than he was last year when he was working with a concussion. The match was nothing special and I wish Bray had won because it would have revitalized him. That finish bothered me far more than Cena-Rusev actually. Undertaker's aura has definitely taken a hit since the streak ended. The crowd was more divided than they would have been otherwise, and he didn't seem as special as he usually does. The main event was on its way to being the best Wrestlemania main event of all time before Rollins interjected himself. I think Roman Reigns should have won over skeptics with his performance tonight if anyone is being honest with themselves. He was fantastic here and really worked like he had something to prove. Awesome, awesome match. All in all, I'm cautiously (very cautiously) optimistic about WWE's direction coming out of this show. Of course, the same was true last year and then everything fell apart within a few weeks, so hopefully that doesn't happen again.

Hey, Brock-Roman will mean more when they run it later in the year. Now Seth-Brock is also an issue and Seth-Roman and Seth-Orton (and even Seth-Bryan, since Bryan has defeated him a few times) can be used to fill time. As a booking choice, it was excellent and makes perfect sense. Had everything happened exactly as it did after the match, I'd have no objections at all. I still really don't, but I do think they crossed a line in a way that would have been a much bigger issue in a different time.

Yes. Think about Hogan getting inserted in that match by Jack Tunney and how much worse that would have been.

I am making points about ethics and I'm getting responses about booking.

Who said anything about good or bad? I'm talking about people getting what they paid for.

No. Summerslam 2013: We got John Cena vs Daniel Bryan and it reached a conclusion. Then Randy Orton cashed in. The advertised main event was delivered to a conclusion and there was a bonus angle. This: We got Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns and it did not reach a conclusion because they didn't want either guy to do a job. They used an angle to get out of jail. I don't want to die on this cause. I just think it's inconsistent to think this is great and have a problem with Nash vs Goldberg being advertised at the Georgia Dome and Hulk Hogan walking out as champ. A lot of people had a problem with that it turns out. I'm not debating the merits of the booking. Seth Rollins has three potential opponents as heel champ and there are more directions they can go now. I am debating the ethics of not delivering a finish to the advertised main event on the biggest show of the year. This is the only time someone has cashed in by inserting themselves in an ongoing match instead of letting that match conclude and then acting as an opportunist.

I'm not even saying more than 50 fans wanted to see that (just throwing out a number). I'm saying that you can't claim people who wanted a victor in that match are somehow wrong for wanting that. That's what the show was advertised to be, for better or for worse.

They bought a ticket to see it this time.

No, I don't. But I think people are being hypocritical because they like the outcome. What do you say to fans who wanted to see a winner and loser in a Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns match?

On a more positive note, Roman Reigns proved himself in a major way tonight, and I hope that fans will get off of his case now. He absolutely belongs as a main eventer, and really worked like he had something to prove (and he did).

So lying to fans about what matches are going to be on a card is okay if people like how it turns out? My issue is an ethical one in terms of false advertising, not so much a criticism of the booking itself.

I tried to make this point on Twitter, but that's awfully tough with the character limits. I really see that main event as a case of WWE failing to deliver a finish to their promised main event on the biggest show of the year. The booking felt like a similar fan ripoff to the Fingerpoke of Doom or Orton-Bryan at Night of Champions 2013 with the Dusty finish. Cashing in after the main event has concluded is a booking choice. Cashing in via insertion into the match is dishonest promoting of what the main event is. It left a sour taste in my mouth at the end of an otherwise terrific show.

I've never understood this line of thinking, even though it is prevalent. Yes, it wouldn't last forever, but absolutely nothing in wrestling can last forever. Focus on *having* to end Goldberg's streak at some point seems analogous to focusing on Hogan's four-year title run in the 80s the same way -- by saying he has to lose at some point so why bother. The focus shouldn't have been on how they end the streak, it should have been on coming up with more scenarios and opponents to keep him red hot. I feel like *that's* the conversation I wish we had when we talked about Goldberg's what-ifs. They should have just run with the streak as long as fans would accept it, and there were no signs at all that they weren't accepting it anymore. If that's one year, five years, or another week, it's all about timing. It worked for Goldberg, but it also worked for Andre for a long time. There was an era where lots of guys were protected and almost never did jobs and there were far more stars when that was the predominant way to book people who were over.

When Jim Ross goes back and gets treated miserably, he deserves no sympathy.

Somewhere along the way, HHH decided to stop fighting the perception of him and instead embrace it.

I think that was the intent. This guy is this full of himself, basically.

HHH's entrance last year was a brilliant self parody. Add in the obnoxious Stephanie in the ring with the spotlight on her while dressed like Baby Doll at Starrcade.