Matt D

It's a way to set the stage for the HOF next year.

The difference between that and let's say The Beautiful People is that people in and/or around the industry were talking up the Beautiful People relative to what WWE was offering in a comparable area.

It's weird to me that they're not using Cesaro (maybe with a secondary belt) as the Heyman guy stand in for Brock while he's off Raw. He could be the herald of galactus, basically.

I made it to the start of the Ambrose stuff and Dylan being wrong about the gimmick before I had to stop listening due to time constraints. BUT I want to call out Kris on something. Re: Rusev. It was a great performance. It was very good selling. It was especially good due to the fact he's got so little in the way of main roster experience. The problem I have with overhyping it is that i feel that a huge majority of the roster could probably have done a comparable job if they were put out there by the agents and told to do so. It was so one-dimensional a match in that regard that it was less challenging than managing that selling as part of a broader whole. It stood out because they don't do it much but I don't know how much that has to do with Rusev being somehow special or whether he was just lucky to be put in a situation where he got to show off something that most guys usually don't get to show. I loved it but I do think you have to keep that in mind.

If the match is Rene Goulet vs SD Jones, for 13 minutes, then it is his job. Less so for Santana vs Savage.

I had to hit refresh once during Swagger's entrance. That was about it.

The flip side is this: What the hell will they give us in Brock's absence in the meantime? Part of me thinks that hilariously Cena wins it back at NOC.

You weren't watching last year after Summerslam, Charles. Were you watching when the Nexus angle hit, or during the Pipe Bomb angle? The answer is that they'll fuck it up within a month and a half. I wish it wasn't, but yeah. The only saving grace is that maybe they don't have enough dates with Brock to fuck it up immediately.

I'm not sure I want to see Bryan in a match even half that brutal.

After this, they have to do Cena again, basically. If it had been more even then it would have been another story but they have to let Cena get revenge now

The animated gif back and forth between Lesnar's grinning ogre face and Cena's beat up face in the corner will be amazing.

So he actively defied a stip that he chose that lead to him losing . Kinda makes him a dumb babyface. He's freaking nuts! He's Dean Ambrose!

I still think there was a relatively big Total Divas following in the crowd. The cool part about that is that while we all saw the turn coming, none of them did and there was a sense of huge surprise in the reaction.

But this way they put Ambrose over for actively defying the stip. It wasn't just haphazardly that they broke it. It was with purpose.

She was really smart to stop doing the Yes motion after it was obvious they were chanting Steph.

Maybe they should have worked in a few more hope spots at least?

Why does Stephanie think she's part of the Four Horsemen? EDIT: Is it just me or is there an audible female pop for Brie?

Normally I agree, especially the way they handle cage matches. This one worked because the idea is that Ambrose wants his hands on Rollins. He should he was willing to fight anyone and everyone in his way to make that happen. We are going to just have to disagree on this. They had it. The lumberjacks tried to enforce it. It's like having cage and then having Big Show rip the side off the cage. The fact that Ambrose defied the nature of the gimmick to get his hands on Rollins means something. It's not that they were just ignoring the gimmick. They were acknowledging it and they went well out of their way to show how effective it was in the beginning of the match. The end result of this put over Ambrose, Rollins, AND the gimmick. Ambrose, because he was insane enough to dive not at Rollins but at the other lumberjacks, Rollins, because he used his brains and won despite that, and the gimmick because now people will be way more excited the next time they announce a lumberjack match than they ever would have been before.

1. They earned the stip breaking. The stip was working and then Ambrose went nuts and I think that got Ambrose over and used the stip as a way to do so. What's the harm in that? 2. I think we'll see more and more delayed satisfaction and 3 month feuds due to the network.

They should have had someone else in Jericho's jacket and had him in the ring for an ambush.

I love the pop that Goldust, locker room leader got.

That Rusev match was a blast. The fans were completely irate when he got out of the long ankle lock because they knew that was it.

There's no one in the world I'd rather have announce a boring crappy match. I'm less high on him announcing a great match though.

Terrible fantasy booking ahead: In the age of the network, I don't think there's any harm putting the belt on Brock, even if he's part time. That said, if they wanted to have Cena win but Brock destroy him post match so that Rollins could cash in, with Ambrose trying to stop it but meeting Brock on the ramp back and the two of them going at it, they could set up a few month chickenshit Rollins reign, Ambrose beating him only to then lose to Brock at the Rumble to set up Reigns or whatever. Rollins and Ambrose could then have a blowoff match at Mania.

I look forward to your heel character in the new year, especially when Will and Johnny Sorrow attack you with a beer truck.