Angry Andy’s Payback Recap

I Quit Match for United States Championship

John Cena vs. Rusev

Lana keeps Rusev from cheating, and encourages Cena not to give up. Rusev snaps on Lana, Cena takes advantage, and Rusev taps. Cena leaves with the title. Then, tomorrow night on Raw, Lana begins her transition from fake Russian to real American.

So, not quite, but kinda. Lana throws in the towel, so to speak, since Rusev refuses to quit in English. Later, we see Rusev tell Lana, in no uncertain terms, to GTFO. She’s definitely on her way to becoming an American citizen. My question is whether that spells the death of Marc “Rusev” Mero, Lana “Sable” Last-Name-Pending, or both. I think Rusev will be alright, but babyface Lana comes with a limited shelf life. I know WWE sees a big star in her, and they’re right – but she may just take that star power elsewhere.

What made me happy: These guys beat the hell out of each other, and had a pretty creative brawl around the building. They improvised well when things didn’t go to plan. And they delivered an ending that gave Cena a satisfying win, protected Rusev, and gave both Rusev and Lana a big injection of legitimate human character. Rusev looks like a beast who is too bullheaded to admit when he can’t win, Lana looks like sympathetic, because she was just trying to protect her man, and then Rusev looks like a giant dick for blaming Lana for his loss, when he quit in an I quit match.

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