What's next for Dean Ambrose?

[AegonTargaryen]

I've been reading numerous Wrestlemania 32 review articles across the internet and the comments sections in particular- and most of them echoed just what my sentiment and reaction was- that being- It was one of the shittiest PPVs I've ever watched(endured, more like), and PROBABLY THE TOP 5 WORST Wrestlemanias ever.

One of the factors for the aforementioned stance is that the Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar match was variously "an utter failure", "the ultimate letdown", and if you are me, "Brock Lesnar just doesn't care. What a fucking douchebag". Some of them criticized it mildly however, calling it "disappointing" and "underwhelming", which is really what I felt when Dean just lost after the first F-5. Hell, it ended so soon(13 mins), even the DIVAS match was longer than that for chrissakes. It doesn't even compare with the Lesnar-Punk match because not only was that match LONG but had psychology to it.

Who is to blame here?

My instinct says that it's Brock Lesnar's fault and the creative/bookers' fault.

Some of the critics/commentators are blaming Dean. Josh Isenberg has this say about it :-

"A Street Fight between Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose was forgettable. Sadly enough, this was the biggest disappointment for me. I cannot blame Brock Lesnar for a second. His match with CM Punk a few years ago was great and the size differential was not really an issue. WWE has a guy that the crowd loves, but his matches are less to be desired for. I have said this needed to be Dean’s coming out party, but he will easily be forgotten from WrestleMania. " Read more at http://www.wrestlezone.com/editoria...aron-brock-bumps-and-boos#R83kB4e9r8wLLMeD.99

I blame Brock because everything about the guy screams "apathy". Yeah the suplex city chants were cool and all, but what does the guy really do anymore, in the ring? His match against Seth Rollins was a fucking disaster.
And the same thing repeated here. We knew that Dean had very little chance to come out the victor, even with the weapons (and if he did win, ONLY ON ACCOUNT of the weapons), but the entire match felt like a joke. 12 German suplexes, a snap suplex and a belly-to-back is all Lesnar did. Besides a few kendo stick strikes and a steel chair, Dean couldn't really employ any really deadly weapons. Moreover, the part where Lesnar put his foot onto the stick and asked Dean to "come and grab it" (on two separate occasions) made him look like an abusive father and Dean like a complete...ineffectual little kid. What else did it look like?

Finally, on the ramp post-victory, Lesnar sort of mocked him when he played with the fire extinguisher(or whatever it was) and sprayed it in the ring. Now I understand that Lesnar's character/persona is just an extension of his real life self, in that he is a sort of a "I don't care about Wrasslin' and the fans. I simply kick ass" guy, but how does it do justice to a rising star when Lesnar's actions only convey "I'm the real deal. This kid with his fire extinguishers and sticks doesn't have what it takes" ?

I'm not even a huge Dean Ambrose fan. Character-wise, he is just okay. I never bought his grimaces and mannerisms and "I'm crazy" schtick because quite frankly, he is nowhere close to being as original or impressive as Brian Pillman or Steve Austin, or Bryan or Punk. In the ring, he is not even AS GOOD as Punk, and Punk himself was really just slightly better than average. (Though GOD on the microphone).

But where does he go from here?

Do you blame Dean, or Brock, or the creative for their "underwhelming" match at 32?

Bring it on.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

It really should have been Dean Ambrose's big moment with Brock Lesnar. It ended up being the worst match on the main card. I'm not Dean's biggest fan because of his lack of good matches in WWE. Now after this blown opportunity to make Dean look like gold, I've pretty much lost hope that he can put on a good match with anyone. Throw him in a tag team so his in ring short comings won't be so obvious.

 

[MyndZero]

It's the bookers fault.

I don't care how you look at it, Brock should of been in the main event regardless. Dean shouldn't of been facing Brock at all, because Dean is FAAAR below Brock.

No matter how many times they fake push Dean, he will never win a big match and they don't see him as the guy obviously. I think his character needs a bit more work, same with his ring style. I feel like Dean's time was back at HIAC I think it was when he was versing Rollins for the title, it was his time to win the title on that night, but he didn't, and his gone no where since.

 

[MERPER]

Had a similar conversation with a friend today. We are very confused where Dean goes from here.

Wrestlemania didn't help him at all. Not only did he not win (though that was always unlikely and isn't a big deal) but the match failed miserable for a variety of reasons.

I thought they'd turn Roman Reigns full heel and have Dean challenge him immediately but that's out the window now with Styles. So, what does he do?

It won't be a feud with Owens because you'd think he's going for Zayn. Wyatt's are out of the picture, been there and done that.

What about Jericho? Not sure the angle but I suppose it could work.

Maybe he takes a month or so off to get better (he did say recently he's always hurting but wrestles through injuries) so maybe take time off and have a big shocking return at the next PPV to go for Roman?

 

[OYDK]

They were never going to have Dean Ambrose go over, and I'm quite shocked that so many people were expecting that. Ambrose got the match with Lesnar largely because of the injuries and because WWE saw an opportunity to create a more compelling Mania main event than Brock/Bray but either way the result was always going to be the same... Suplex, F5, 1.2.3. I'm of the belief that they don't view Ambrose NEARLY as high as everybody thinks they do and it's a damn shame because he really has something special going with the crowd right now, but if they didn't have Cena and Reigns go over Brock, no way in hell they were going to let Dean Ambrose.

As for why the match was so short and weak, it's quite simple. If these guys put on a 25 minute war, how does that make the Taker/Shane match look? They were really hindered by the fact that one of the co-main events was going to be booked largely the same way, they couldn't really give us everything before the Cell because that would have left nothing but the table spot for Taker/Shane, which I find ridiculous. If any of those matches should have been short and sweet, it should have been that one.

Still, I think Isenberg's a big tool and that Ambrose was great at Mania. It's not that he didn't "step up" or whatever crap he said, WWE just treated this as a damn throwaway match, but Ambrose did the best he could to make this at least a tad bit memorable. I find it amazing that throughout a nearly 7 hour show, they couldn't find more than 12 minutes for Brock/Dean. WWE makes me shake my head every fucking day.

I have no clue where Ambrose goes from here. He could very well get involved in the main event picture, he could go against The Authority, or he could drop back to the mid-card. The problem is, I don't know what WWE thinks of Ambrose and until he shows up, it's difficult to say. Obviously they had nothing for him on Raw so I think it's safe to assume there were no plans for the guy following Mania... bad sign.

 

[xRob13x]

I'll start out by saying I am a big fan of Ambrose. I think he's an all-around solid performer in the ring and I am a big fan of how he handles himself on the mic, especially when interacting with someone else. "Hunter...thanks!" was beautifully timed.

Now, I never expected he would actually win against Brock, even though I think doing so would've been absolutely huge for him. What infuriated me was how weak the finish was. Like others have said, it was basically a throwaway Raw match. I mean, how much more would it have helped his character to kick out of at least one F5? Instead it was just a typical Brock match, which I'm pretty well sick of seeing at this point, personally, and it hurt Ambrose's standing far more than it helped Brock, who doesn't even need help at this point.

So I blame creative entirely. An Ambrose victory gives them a huge face with some legitimate star power, because like him or not, nobody can deny that Dean is over big-time as it is. Instead, we get status quo b.s. leaving everyone completely underwhelmed.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

I think they sold it as a Lesnar suplex on the chairs then an F-5 on the chairs was enough.

I agree that the match lacked a little bit and could have been better.

If they did have Ambrose go over, the next step is the title for Ambrose which means him up against Reigns. And I don't think the WWE want that, certainly not yet.

I really think they are trying to keep Ambrose down a bit right now, and build him up when Rollins comes back to set up a triple threat

 

[yourdamnluck]

Worst Ambrose match ever. Hated the build even more.
It was pretty clear Dean was going to job out but didn't expected a squash match.
Seems like he's going to be the next Mankind/Dude Love/Cactus Jack.
Still better than a sandow kind of jobber.
Lets face it, stars without the right looks aren't going anywhere.

 

[roipdh123]

For now it looks like he is going to be a top player in the upper mid card scene.
If you see the top guys available now we have:
Roman Reigns
AJ Styles
Kevin Owens
Dean Ambrose
Sami Zayn
Chris Jericho

Owens - Zayn and Styles - Reigns are locked, so logically he needs to go into a feud with Jericho now.

 

[Navi]

I was so looking forward to this match and came away so disappointed. I knew deep down Dean probably wouldn't win, but at least being able to use weapons would have given him a fighting chance.

Also read in a couple of interviews that Ambrose had argued to use everything he could, but the WWE shot that down, so he was stuck using the keno sticks, chairs basically anything that wouldn't really have hurt Lesnar.

I like Lesnar as well, but his matches are so predictable with all the suplex's which quite honestly have lost their appeal. I mean shit just how many can we see in one match. Fans complain about Reigns using 4 Superman punches, but it's okay for Lesnar to use 13 German suplex's. Now I'm finding Lesnar matches pretty boring to watch, and I feel so sorry for Ambrose that the WWE seems to have no faith in the guy.

Where does he go from here? I have no idea. He keeps on being booked to lose all these big matches, and one day that will catch up to him and the WWE overall. He moves a lot of merchandise, but fans will stop backing what they see as a loser when the next big thing comes along.

With his popularity they could have done so much with him, but they way he's booked tells me they just don't care. Vince said on Austin's podcast that he listened to the fans, it was never about him. What a load of shit. If he listened to the fans then Ambrose would be winning. Yes he still get high profile matches and is on TV time, and I'm not saying he should win every match or feud, but the way he and the Wyatt's are booked is just atrocious.

 

[GOOZEKING]

1. terrible street fight.. Looked like a raw match
2) they let reigns kick out of 3 f5(1 more than taker btw) and Ambrose can't even kick out 1
3) they couldn't even have Ambrose look strong even a little. He isn't better than he was before the match.

- I just hope that dean can come back From this. He needs a really good feud to have looked in positive light again.

 

[hitking100]

Truth be told, Ambrose was one of the few reasons i was still watching WWE. After WM i just don't care for the guy anymore, i know that's either WWE's little master plan or them being utterly clueless, but the result remains the same.

Little spoiler : i read he got an amazing pop on Smackdown for his match against Tyler Breeze, so a lot of people will love him no matter what. Him being nothing but a glorified jobber over the last year seems ok to them...oh well, Koko B. Ware always got a pop as well, maybe Dean should be looking for a parrot soon.

And now he's going to be booked against Y2J...the Fan Daaaan Go jobber. People are trying to build this up as "promo heaven"...to those is say : remember the Bray Wyatt feud.

So what's next for Dean Ambrose ? Nothing.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

The match wasn't Brock's fault. Dean took a lot of offense against Lesnar and had him in the corner a couple of times. The match was entirely the booker's fault. They didn't give that match a peak.. it just ended. Just like that. There was no story in it. I think it needed at least 5 more minutes.

As to where Dean goes from here? Who knows. I think Dean vs Jericho might be coming next. Styles is going to feud with Reigns. The League will probably feud with the Wyatts. Corbin will get it on with Ziggler and Owens will feud with Zayn. So the only other heel left, is Y2J.

 

[Azane]

Street fight where they just use a few chairs in the ring will ruin any match, even if it was a 5 Star wrestling match.

They continue to insult fan intelligence with things like the Chainsaw and barbed wire bat spots.

Remember random RAW Hardcore title defenses where they would fight in the back and wrestling to the parking lot? That's what I think a Street Fight should signify. Brock vs Dean was a No DQ match, that ended up with no real weapon spots. You had a couple Kendo attacks (The kind where they break the sticks and show us how fake they are, never understood that.), and you had an F5 on the chair.

That entire match disappoints because they didnt book any spots to the stipulation, especially with weeks of build up with Mick Foley and Funk etc... All so we could see an F5 on chairs. Reminds me of when Brock ripped the Ring mat and F5'd undertaker on 10 feet off that spot to make it seem like he landed on the plywood.

Dean still has fans, a following, and one of the biggest pops from the crowd. He's legit over as a face, no piped in chants, and he has personality. People were comparing him to Stone Cold a year ago, now, I think the closest I can compare him with is Mankind, just because he is showing a lot of personality and character.

Deans wrestling is limited, or WWE limits it, take your pick, so the dude has to be over for comedy or story telling, which he's good in both aspects from what I've watched. Feuding with Brock was pointless for how his character acts, you need a Cartoony gimmick vs Cartoony gimmick to play him off, so have him wrestling midcarders like the Social outcasts, and bounce the comedy back and forth, keep that to the first couple hours of RAW and it will suit him more than trying to play serious fighter with Bork Lazer


The Match was doomed before it even began though, WWE kept putting Brock over on RAW, when the right way to book a match like this would be to keep letting Dean Ambrose get little 1-up's on Brock to frustrate him, I would have seriously just had Dean Ambrose booked like Bugs Bunny for the month before this match, with everything from trapping Brock in a hole, to Literally sending him a cross-dressing Goldust to try and mess with his head. Just having Dean walk up with a Carrot in his mouth and saying "meeeeh, What's up Brock?" would of made the feud more interesting than Brock never losing step.

 

[Prince Vee]

Dean Ambrose doesn't need to be established or put over any other sorts. What he does need right now is, a formidable feud or a championship! I seriously am looking for him to win the MITB Briefcase. I really don't like seeing him feuding with some of the mid card talents or with the likes of Chris Jericho to be put over or to get established. He's over with the crowd, all he needs now is a prize for it!!

 

[boozinjedi]

What's next for Ambrose...I think it's a SHIELD reunion...the time is ripe for it.
A face turn for a returning Rollins followed by an eventual heel turn for either Dean or Roman.

 

[Harthan]

I think my approach to Ambrose at this point would be to make him top priority for a star making moment as soon as possible - perhaps Mania 33, but I think sooner.

The WWE is well aware of a major problem right now - with Daniel Bryan retired, CM Punk long gone, Lesnar expensive to book for more than a SummerSlam or WrestleMania appearance, Undertaker and HHH down to a few matches a year if that, and now, coming off of major injuries, their biggest main event mainstays in John Cena and Randy Orton much likely to start looking more like part-timers than regular stars, the WWE is desperately in need of building reliable top stars who drive ratings, move merchandise, and send people home from live events feeling like they got their money's worth. In general, guys who would be, in the classical sense, "draws".

The good news for the WWE is that they have two guys who approximate that and should be able to work full schedules for some time, in Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Definitely and legitimate qualms can be had about both guys in terms of how much of a "draw" they are (a major reason perhaps being that the term draw is so vague in modern times as to be nearly useless) - in the case of Roman, it has to be concerning that the Raw after WrestleMania did comparatively terrible ratings than it did last year, and in the case of Seth, it has to be concerning that post-SummerSlam ratings for the twilight of his title reign were also fairly bad. Still, the crowned princes of the last two WrestleManias running are now the WWE's biggest stars, and I don't think it's particularly necessary to focus too many more years putting them over. I think the WWE needs to avoid the mistake they made with John Cena many years ago - crowning him not just at WrestleMania 21, but also at WrestleMania 22, and again at WrestleMania 23. There's no need for us to spend WrestleMania 33 (or, heavens forbid, 34) putting over Roman Reigns again (nor Seth Rollins, but that feels less likely anyhow), and hopefully the WWE also recognizes (and I'm sure they do) that the Shield was the best thing they've come up with in ages, that it endures in hearts and minds, and that Dean Ambrose can and should benefit from it as much as Reigns or Rollins.

WrestleMania 32 was deeply unkind to Dean - his match with Lesnar came off as a glorified squash, in a lot of ways. It lacked the brutality or physicality it needed for Dean to look like he was truly hanging with the beast. It lacked Dean kicking out of anything credible from Lesnar. It just lacked the impression that Dean ever stood a threat against the Beast, and that was a major problem. I think what the WWE has been trying to do here is pretty clear - they want Dean to be Bryan 2.0, the constant underdog who can't get a break, who comes so close, only to lose. It goes back to his fake WWE title win over Rollins, as well as his recent fake title win over HHH - the bait and switch, in theory, just makes you that much more hungry for him to finally win - all the makings of a huge WrestleMania moment. The most generous I could possibly be to his match with Lesnar is that it in some way echoes the moment Bryan and Sheamus had when Bryan lost in all of 18 seconds, triggering the fury of the audience and launching Bryan to stardom. I really don't think it was as thought out as that, and if it was, it didn't work, because the major emotion I feel about Ambrose right now isn't anger, it's pity.

So, they still have a massively over guy in Ambrose, and they should be on a campaign to put him over in a major way, but they also should tread carefully - if he goes over too much, too often, without a world title win, some of the novelty will wear off. But if the bait and switch is pulled too many times, fans will lose faith as they have before. So, it's a fine line to walk. In the short term, I would be looking to set Dean up with something legit but winnable - a program with Chris Jericho, perhaps, or even a program with the Miz - he never did get a rematch for the IC title, right? For me, ideally, this would be a match at Payback which Dean could either win, leading to a beatdown on Raw, or be screwed out of a win blatantly; in either case, leading to a gimmick match at Extreme Rules, which he can definitely win. In either case, the more I think on it, after this re-legitimization, is anyone more perfect for MITB than Dean Ambrose? His gimmick of being insane and unpredictable could lead to some really amazing stuff, especially with Roman - Roman trying to remind Dean that they're brothers, but the veneer slipping as he flirts with being a heel more and more, Dean refused to commit to anything, and perhaps faking Roman out from time to time. Something that could be fun - Dean faking out Roman often enough that Roman is so stressed, he throws down the gauntlet for Dean to face him one on one at, say, SummerSlam, and Dean agrees - but only if it's some variety of extreme rules match. That seems like the perfect kind of campaign to get Dean to SummerSlam with just enough winning to look legit, but not so much that the fans aren't eager for the big one. Brooklyn would be hugely favorable to Dean against Roman. They could finally deliver on the promise of their matches - so far, I don't think any Dean vs Roman match has quite lived up to the hype - and finally put Dean over at SummerSlam, a stage that has been notoriously kinder to the "underdog" (Bryan over Cena, Lesnar over Cena, Undertaker over Lesnar, etc).

An alternative is to stretch things out longer - maybe that's too fast for Reigns to lose the belt, maybe they want to put Reigns over Lesnar at SummerSlam, no big deal. Dean trading wins at alternating PPVs is probably enough to keep the balance. Maybe he and Seth make a campaign as tag team champions, since both will presumably be face. The same essential storyline can be built if Dean wins the Royal Rumble - and perhaps a similar setup as the one used for WrestleMania 24 could be done to concoct a Shield triple threat. Namely, suppose Ambrose wins the Rumble, challenges Reigns for Fastlane, not Mania, the match ends in a Dusty finish, and meanwhile Rollins wins a #1 contender's match. The perfect setup to the mythical Shield triple threat, where again, they would have a huge chance to put over Ambrose - and this time, they could do it without him even having to pin the golden boy.

One way or another, I really think this next year has to be about getting Dean to true superstar level, or else he's going to wither away, and the WWE will have blown a chance to add to their desperately lacking ranks of true stars.

 

[MERPER]

What's next for Ambrose...I think it's a SHIELD reunion...the time is ripe for it.
A face turn for a returning Rollins followed by an eventual heel turn for either Dean or Roman.

If they want a real shake up they should really start dividing things into more factions than they have...

1 group comprised of a renited Shield as you talk about.

2nd could be "the establishment" of big show, kane, cena when he returns, orton when he returns, sheamus, rusev, del rio, jericho, cesaro, ziggler

3rd could be "NXT, etc" of Styles, Corbin, Apollo, Owens, Zayn, etc.

4th could be Wyatt's if you keep them together, add to the group.

Not saying to do this immediately as you have some rivalries within these groups that need resolution and Orton/Cena/Rollins are still a bit away from returning but this would be a shake up.

 

[Gallops77]

If they want a real shake up they should really start dividing things into more factions than they have...

1 group comprised of a renited Shield as you talk about.

2nd could be "the establishment" of big show, kane, cena when he returns, orton when he returns, sheamus, rusev, del rio, jericho, cesaro, ziggler

3rd could be "NXT, etc" of Styles, Corbin, Apollo, Owens, Zayn, etc.

4th could be Wyatt's if you keep them together, add to the group.

Not saying to do this immediately as you have some rivalries within these groups that need resolution and Orton/Cena/Rollins are still a bit away from returning but this would be a shake up.

That's too many guys in too many stables.

I thought the match between Lesnar and Ambrose was promising.... until it just ended. They needed to make Ambrose look like he had a legit shot at winning. Take a few F5s from Lesnar before finally being put down for good in the match. It did NOTHING to build him because he didn't even take as good of a beating as Reigns did last year.

I think Ambrose can be a big star, but he needs the right feud at the right time. A heel Reigns or a heel Cena or Orton or even a longer feud with Triple H could go a long way for him.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

The thing about Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose match was the lack of psychology. Given their build up, one would assume that the best match for them would've been a Last Man Standing - they were pretty much hinting that with the "Ambrose can go down, but he will always come back up". It was a story that needed to be told in the ring more so than a physical brawl for the sake of it.

I was really disappointed by it, mainly because there was no real carnage in it. Sure, 12 suplexes is a lot, but as far as storytelling it's not that big of a wheel to create drama. I was really expecting Ambrose to come out looking like a million fucking bucks and it was EASY to do so and, somehow, WWE fucked it up.

Ambrose should've been given a lot of hope spots, make him really believable as the one to get the win - hell, talk about Ambrose's heart and never give up attitude cliché - because in this case, it was totally the point. Have Lesnar F5 him, at least three times until he could go over and, capitalize on Ambrose's popularity. People would go insane if he kicked out the third F5 and it would tell a story that his will is stronger than anything Lesnar could throw at him. And, then, finally Brock acknowledges that he met someone who's worthy to fight him and, gets the inevitable win. After that, a show of respect would make Ambrose look like a fucking star and the loss would mean shit.

Instead, jesus, it looked like Lesnar put an end to the match when he wanted to. Seriously, Heyman said to finish it and Lesnar gave an F5 and that was it. They really dropped the ball with Ambrose vs. Lesnar, and I'm pretty sure it was their original idea as I don't really believe WWE sees any money on Ambrose - but that's just another thing that WWE lacks - in this case, vision.

 

[kadroan]

1. terrible street fight.. Looked like a raw match
2) they let reigns kick out of 3 f5(1 more than taker btw) and Ambrose can't even kick out 1
3) they couldn't even have Ambrose look strong even a little. He isn't better than he was before the match.

- I just hope that dean can come back From this. He needs a really good feud to have looked in positive light again.

Ambrose seems to lose the big matches in the weirdest ways. I don't understand why.

 

[mancini999]

Dean was never going to win. Even if he did he still would have no where to go. Only way they would get the real payoff from it is if they were going to make him champ shortly after such a monster win.

 

[bjarvis]

A little of column A and a little of Column B. I'm really starting to get over the Lesnar façade. Ever since that SummerSlam match against John Cena, where he suplexed the hell out of him, Lesnar has become progressively worse and worse, and less interesting in the ring. The guy will always be marketed like crazy and be at the top, even if he moved like The Great Khali. Look at him - there may be no one who has been like Lesnar. Apart from being massive, the guy used to be able to do a Shooting Star Press. Plus he has the single best mouthpiece in the business with him.

Side note though, as much as I dislike everything about him in the ring, I thoroughly enjoyed Reigns' Mania Main Event with Lesnar (even though since about 2013, I've disliked Lesnar's matches). And maybe that's why the guy (Roman) is where he is.

As for Ambrose, I've never really enjoyed Ambrose, I've never really bought what he was selling and I always felt he was an overrated wrestler. Granted, I've only ever seen his WWE stuff but apart from some of the Shield tag matches, I've never enjoyed Ambrose. If I were a booker (and like everyone, I've booked fantasy cards) I would keep Ambrose around the AJ Styles-Cesaro level cause the fans love him. But based on ability, and bringing that Main Event feel to a match, Reigns can do it... Ambrose just doesn't.

 

[Hem]

He can just float around for a while and cut promos that get a bit darker and crazier each and every week. From what I understand John Cena is very close to returning so I think as John is cutting a promo about the champ being back and coming straight for Roman and his title but out comes Ambrose and walks straight into the ring and beats John Cena up.

The story played is that after losing to Brock Lesnar, Dean has completely snapped. He needs to go over a big name of his popularity is to be sustained and at first I thought Y2J was a good choice but a win over him wouldn't mean as much.

After going over Cena over the course of 2 PPVS and winning the feud, Dean should go after Rollins who would be champion AND the biggest babyface by then.

 

[BaconBits]

Dean will be in roughly the same spot in the card as he is now. Rumors have him feuding with Jericho going forward. As for the Mania match, I see a lot of folks blaming creative and blaming Brock, but the blame actually lies with all the injuries and the fact that The Rock wasn't able to work a full length match. The injuries and lack of Rocky fucked the whole card.

Before all of that, it was going to be Roman vs. Brock, Trips vs. Rock, and Dean vs. Seth. It would have been much, much better for everybody involved.