Talking Point of the Week: The Lesnar/Reigns "face-to-face"
 

I thought it was dull considering Heyman said Brock loves beating up people that try to take his title then Reigns takes it and they just tug a war over it. Brock fixing to be live on sportscenter and the only footage of him they have played is him in UFC.

I thought "This isn't going to go down well with the (non-casual) fans".

I got the symbolism of it, and I understand why they didn't want to do a big brawl, but it looked so, so silly. Like two kids fighting over a toy.

They could have had a bit of a shoving match and flood the ring with referees, security, agents, even other superstars holding both men back (and not doing that whole "They keep getting free" deal).

It was fucking retarded.

Like the entire feud. If you can even call it that.

It was bullshit. If they planned on taking the title off of Lesnar they need to do it in such a way as to not making him look weak. Having Reigns spearing Lesnar, re injuring his ribs from his last defense, after a serious beat down by Lesnar would at least make it interesting. Two bitches fighting over a shirt at a Black Friday sale is an embarrassment.

I think it looked kind of silly. Would have been much better to just go off on a STAREDOWN.

Trying to steal the belt doesn't really mean jack... you haven't earned it, so it doesn't really mean anything....

You stare him down, though, that shows that you have "no fear" and that you are coming for that belt.... etc...

Either of these would have been great. Flooding the ring with officials makes both guys look strong, especially if Reigns flies in with a Superman Punch, then a small brawl (for it all), and final seperation with Lesnar telling Reigns that he'll see his ass at Wrestlemania.

Always thought those staredowns where the opponents mouth off to one another, sans mic, worked well too. Seems to create a genuine "dislike" for one another, like they are talking shit just to one another rather than for cheers/boos.

The tug of war was silly. A few moments it looked like Lesnar was actually trying to hand the belt to Reigns while pulling it away at the same time to make it "believable".

I didn't like it.

4/10 not very good at all

Off topic... what did Afterlife say during last week's podcast that ended up being censored during the Lesnar/Reigns discussion?

It showed me that Roman has graduated from nursery rhymes to the possessive phase of growing up. He thinks that everything is his and sharing during this phase is challenging. Usually the child will grow out of it within a few months.

Watching a child grow up is amazing.

This really is a lifeless, awful angle for the WWE Championship heading into Wrestlemania. I just sat back and tried to think if there has been a less vibrant top feud for the company heading into their biggest show, and really I'm at a loss to come up with one. Lesnar wasn't there for most of the build up, and when he was they did this?

It all comes down to credibility. When you see two guys in a WM main event you automatically see two performers at the top of their game, or at least guys who know what means and takes to get to the top of the mountain. Lesnar has that gravitas, but Reigns is nothing. There was no prior relationship between either of them, and half of the build since the Rumble featured Reigns "proving" himself while Brock was gone. This confluence of events has led to heatless World Title feud that has more intrigue behind the screens than in front of the cameras, and that is a sad thing to consider for the company.

I completely agree with this.


I can't help but wonder how much hype this feud would have if Cesaro was facing Lesnar instead? (and Cesaro had been hyped and pushed in the manner that Reigns was pushed post Wrestlemania 30).


I feel that the WWE has kind of thrown Reigns to the wolves so to speak. He's going to be heavily booed against Lesnar I believe.

Also - the WWE should keep Lesnar heel/tweener despite the crowd's reactions from here on out.

Was pretty bad considering the lead up from the amazing Heyman promo that even got Lesnar surprised from it.

If the idea was to not make either guy look weak before Mania, it did a bad job since they looked more like kids fighting over a toy. A small back-and-forth brawl getting quickly broken up or Heyman trying to defuse a heated situation to prevent giving away a free brawl would have been a way better ending.

I never really considered this match, even within the context of a Cesaro push (although it did cross my mind), but given that he's working another match at WrestleMania -- Cesaro vs. Undertaker would have been fucking epic. Cesaro may not have been ready for a top face spot against Lesnar, but as an emerging heel against Taker? That would have been fucking sweet.