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John Cena vs Brock Lesnar … stop me if you’ve heard that one before. (Actually don’t because I know you’ve heard that one before and I would like you to keep reading!)

Yes the WWE has told us that once Brock Lesnar does come back to TV we will get him and Cena locking up for the third time since SummerSlam. Taking a deeper look at it though, it is hard to have too much of a problem with it.

When Lesnar beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, the initial reaction was that it just didn’t make sense to have a part-time guy like Brock be the one to end the streak rather than a guy that could use it to further his career like a Daniel Bryan or Bray Wyatt. It turns out, though, that this was the start of building Brock as the seemingly unstoppable beast that they want him to be – which in turn has actually brought a little more relevance back to the WWE Championship. In the immortal words of Ric Flair, “To be the man you’ve gotta beat the man!” … … … … WOOOOOOO! (I tried not to!)

A third straight successful title defense against the standard flag-bearer for the WWE over the last decade is just a way to further the “unbeatable” character of Brock Lesnar. Not even John Cena can beat The Beast – making it that much more meaningful when someone actually does beat him.

So now it’s the same concept but a different character. Instead of using the end of The Streak to further enhance a rising star’s career, it’s beating the guy that ended The Streak. There are a lot of guys on the roster now that are ready to take that step by beating Brock or even just benefit from having a program against him.

The big rumor that has been floating out there for months now is that Roman Reigns, even with the recent injury, will be the guy to take on Brock at WrestleMania. If you’re reading this, you probably have heard that already, so you’ve thought about Reigns in the spot for months now, so I won’t bother going any further with him. But who are the others? Let’s take a look, shall we?

Cesaro

Remember him? He’s the guy that, about nine months ago, was ready to step up to the main event level. Cesaro won the inaugural Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania by carrying the Big Show over the top robe making it look like he was picking up a stack of pillow. The next night he lets the world know that he is a Paul Heyman guy!

Well that didn’t last long! Shortly after that Cesaro was back on his own and has basically been a jobber to an extent this summer. The latest example being a two straight falls loss to Dolph Ziggler in a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Hell in a Cell.

Loss after loss after loss may be the angle to start the rise of Cesaro. He is so upset that he keeps losing that he just takes out anyone who gets in his way. The story with Brock writes itself. After some time, Cesaro crosses paths with Paul Heyman and, in so many words, tells Heyman that joining him was the start of his downfall and threatens to take him out. Enter Brock to save the day.

Some writers have said that Cesaro is good enough in the ring to have a world title match at WrestleMania. With a little mic work, he can very easily be one of the top stars. He has the following, he has the charisma, he has the look. A program with Brock could give WWE a main eventer for the next decade.

Dolph Ziggler

Dolph has the same type of problem that Cesaro has in terms of a push, but Dolph’s push has been due for years! It does look like they are going to be using him in a top level story now with his participation in the Authority vs Cena Survivor Series match. Hopefully this will just be the start for Ziggler.

A run through the members of The Authority could culminate with Triple H and Stephanie once again bringing in the hired gun in Brock Lesnar to stop Ziggler. Dolph wouldn’t have to beat Brock to get the career boost he needs, but a strong showing against Lesnar would be a strong building block for a main event character for years.

Bray Wyatt

Bray is a main-eventer now, but he’s not in main-event’s yet. The time is now!

It seems inevitable that Wyatt will, at some point, turn face. It’s just like Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1997 – he wouldn’t have to change his character at all he would just be booked differently. To say that Wyatt is golden on the mic is an understatement and he backs it up in the ring.

I can see Heyman and Brock in the ring a Monday after a pay per view show saying something along the lines of “nobody can slay this beast!” This brings out the odd two-second Wyatt video and Bray on the big screen saying that he has been slaying beasts all his life. Bray needs a program with the champion to help the sustainability of his character. This business should still revolve around wanting to be the champion. Wyatt is due for his shot.

Randy Orton

To be clear, in no way do I think Orton should be the one to beat Brock. That would be a HUGE mistake and a waste of the last 23 years of The Streak. But the pot on Orton turning face is heating up and is ready to boil over. We were teased a Brock/Orton program with an RKO on Heyman recently.

Just a quick one month program with the two would go a long way to getting Orton over as a top face – which is something the company could really use right now.

Ryback

The Big Guy is back! It appears that they are giving him another run as a single face. I watched some of the shows during his run as a top face in 2012 and the crowd was electric! Ryback is a guy that could be successful with a run with the belt!

My prediction for months now was that Kurt Angle was going to be the guy to beat Rusev when he finally comes back to WWE this year. Well, that’s not happening unfortunately. Here is the order that I could see things going : Rusev beats Sheamus for the US Title at Survivor Series – Ryback beats Rusev for the US Title at TLC – Ryback wins the Royal Rumble and goes on to feud with Brock and win the title at WrestleMania. If the crowd gets behind Ryback in the next few months the way they did in 2012, the atmosphere at Levis Stadium would be incredible!

What do you think? Who do you agree with? Who do you disagree with? Who did I forget? Follow me on Twitter @Tadigity24 and let me know!

First and foremost – Happy WrestleMania season everyone!

FastLane is now in our rearview mirror and WrestleMania is now just on the edge of the horizon. These next few weeks are set to be the most exciting of the year.

The excitement doesn’t seem to be contained to inside the ring. With so much going on, and potentially going on behind the scenes, I just wanted to take some time to throw my two cents in on some of the topics that have made their way to the public.

THE BUSHWHACKERS ENTER THE HALL OF FAME

For a few years in the late 80s-early 90s, Luke and Butch marched and whacked their way into the hearts of the WWF fan base. When their music it, almost everyone in the arena, and probably some watching at home, would join the two superstars from down under in waving their arms…which symbolized whacking bushes I guess. Those who are my age might also remember their performance on an episode of Family Matters as well (A CAWP??? WE HATE CAWPS!!!!!!). Simply put, The Bushwhackers were one of the more memorable teams of that era.

That being said, I could blink and come up with three teams more deserving of the Hall of Fame call off the top of my head – and if you give me a few minutes I’m sure that I could come up with a few others!

The Bushwhackers are no Fabulous Freebirds, no Demolition, and no New Age Outlaws – all teams that are clearly more deserving of a Hall of Fame bid. It’s decisions like this that have me starting the question the legitimacy of the Hall of Fame.

I understand that there are some wrestling legends that just have a problem with WWE and/or Vince McMahon in particular and just don’t want to be associated with the company. That’s fine. I personally don’t agree with them. Why not be recognized for your achievements?

That’s not the case, though, for at least two of the previously mentioned three teams. Both of the Outlaws, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, along with the last living member of the Freebirds Michael Hayes work for company. Hard to think they have an issue with Vince now. I don’t know for sure what the mindset of Demolition is, but I can’t say I have heard a negative interview given by Ax and Smash.

At least Koko B. Ware now has some company in the “Most Undeserving Member of the Hall” conversation.

HOPE FOR CESARO?

At FastLane, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd long and eventful journey in the tag team division finally culminated with a win over The Usos and capturing the elusive tag team titles!

OK, that’s not the hope that I’m talking about for the Swiss Superman – but at least it’s something.

I was thinking of the situation that Cesaro has been in since WrestleMania 30 and was trying to think of a comparison of such an epic drop off after what seemed to be the start of a star in the making.

Then it hit me – and THIS is where the hope for Cesaro comes in. This situation is very similar to that of a situation we saw play out in 2008.

Figure it out yet?

This could be CM Punk 2.0.

At WrestleMania 24, Punk won a very entertaining Money in the Bank match. A few months later, he cashed in and pinned a nearly knocked-out Edge to become the World Heavyweight. To say that Punk’s first title run was uneventful was an understatement. He never headlined a pay per view as champion and ended up losing the belt by being knocked out before the match started.

After that, Punk went back to having nothing to do for a long time until he had a cup of coffee with the Intercontinental Championship and the tag belts with Kofi Kingston.

A year after winning his first Money in the Bank, Punk went into WrestleMania 25 was won the Money in the Bank match for the second year in a row. This time, Punk cashed in on top face Jeff Hardy and very quickly became one of the most hated men on the show. Punk never looked back and became one of biggest names in the business before his unceremonious departure in early 2014.

I’m not saying that Cesaro will be as big a name as CM Punk became, but the road traveled has been pretty similar to this point. Cesaro won the Andre the Giant battle royal last year – had a run as the new “Paul Heyman Guy” until he seemingly fell off the face of the wrestling Earth. The tag title win with Kidd is similar to Punk and Kofi.

Now with WrestleMania right around the corner, with WWE recently announcing that the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will indeed be an annual event much like the Money in the Bank match was, having Cesaro win the match for a second year in a row and a character turn for Cesaro much like Punk saw in 2009 could be the start of a new star.

That is as long as Cesaro realizes that there are only three ropes, not four.

THE BIGGEST FREE AGENT IN THE BUSINESS

TNA, or Impact Wrestling (whatever they are this week) has never really been seen as stiff competition for WWE. A majority of the success that they have seen over the course of the last decade has come from aging WWE and WCW stars such as Sting, Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle.

However you have to give them credit where credit is due – TNA has been able to help build a few stars whose only claim to fame is from their time in the Asylum and the Impact Zone. Guys like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian and Chris Saban rose to the top of a TNA card but never really seemed to be a fit for WWE – at least not during their prime run.

One guy that had always stood out to me as someone I would like to see in WWE has recently hit the market – Samoa Joe. Joe has been a staple down in Orlando for the better part of the last decade and has created a strong fan base.

The reports are out there that Triple H is interested and Vince is not. Now may be a perfect time for a “let’s see what he can do” situation. With the recent wave of Indy stars that have been added to the NXT roster as of late, Joe could fit right in with that group without Vince worrying about bringing him on to Raw right away.

The decision is ultimately his, but if the WWE has ever been in Joe’s 5-year plan (and why wouldn’t it be) it may be now or never.

THE FUTRE OF THE BEAST

Well this is just something that keeps getting more interesting by the minute.

When I first started writing this piece my intent was to just talk about Brock Lesnar, contrary to every report that had been out there for the past year, was thinking about staying with WWE and not go back to UFC once his contract was up around WrestleMania.

That news in itself was big. To me, that opens up the main event for WrestleMania. Ever since the articles started coming about Lesnar leaving, the assumption was that whoever he was facing for the title would win. The thought of Lesnar still being with the company post-WrestleMania adds, and really creates, the element of the unknown of the match outcome which just leads to a more exciting finish for the show of shows.

Since then, the reports have come out that Lesnar walked out on Raw before the show ended and before he was supposed to make an appearance on the show. Word is that there was a backstage meeting with Lesnar that left the WWE World Heavyweight Champion with a bad taste in his mouth and he just left.

Word is that it is a business situation and not a creative situation. Unfortunately the narrow-minded internet bookers that I have talked about before decided to start a rumor that Lesnar was upset that Vince had decided not to suspend Roman Reigns for a failed drug test.

Thankfully those whose opinions and insights matter in the business quickly dismissed and thought of Reigns failing a test – but the question remains, what was Lesnar upset about and will it have an effect on this year’s WrestleMania main event?

Ah you have to love the drama before the drama!

What do you think? Did The Bushwhackers deserve the Hall of Fame nod? Does Cesaro still have a chance? Will we see Samoa Joe in WWE or NXT? What the hell is going on with Brock? Let me know on Twitter @Tadigity24.