Business Decisions

More surprising? How respectful AJ was of Nikki Bella during commentary or how they’ve not resorted to the usual tact of punishing the significant other of someone they have issues with.

It has been been previously established — in past episodes, in the preceding match and even during this segment — that Rusev only listens to Lana (and presumably, Vladimir Putin) so his face gives a clear picture of his what’s going on in his head. He seems uneasy, almost as uneasy as Lana appears to be. Which, when tied into the larger context of the scene — where Lana tells Stephanie “they’ll get back to them” — feels as though this may be leading to an untenable relationship between Rusev/Lana and the Authority. Of course, “overthinking”, but it’s important to remember that while Rusev has been booked like a monster in terms of finishes and promos, he’s worked as a babyface with the series of monsters he’s come up against. This, along with the idea that Lana knows preciously how big of a meal ticket she has in Rusev, the fact that her character feels a great deal of concern for his character (or at least acts like it during his matches) and would like to maintain the level of control she has over him now for as long as is humanly possible, sets up a very interesting couple of months for Rusev going forward. And, while it’s not exactly a Wes Anderson or Stanley Kubrick movie, the fact that one can pick up on that in individual scenes and screenshots means that they are continuing to do better by this Rusev story than they have done in a long, long time with anything.

Official Request from JMS HQ to WWE: If you insist on continuing to do distraction finishes, they should –by WWE bylaws — be required to involve the Mizzes from now on.

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