Bully Ray criticizes Brock-Cena finish at WrestlePalooza

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray criticized the company’s handling of Brock Lesnar’s decisive victory over John Cena at WrestlePalooza, saying the postmatch presentation undercut the apparent severity of Cena’s beating. Lesnar dominated the match on Saturday’s pay-per-view, delivering six F5s during the bout and a seventh after the bell, then allowed Cena to stand and walk away. On the Busted Open Radio podcast, Bully Ray said that choice weakened the storyline impact.

"If you’re going to go that far with a decimation of somebody, why not put the icing on the cake? Why not put the cherry on top?" Bully Ray said. "If you want to build to that last match, why not put John Cena in a position that we never thought we would see him in? And yes, in my opinion, stretcher him out, because that lends to the destruction from Brock Lesnar." He added that allowing Cena to exit under his own power made the beating seem less consequential.

Former WWE performer Bishop Dyer, speaking on the same program, proposed alternative staging to sell the attack and heighten emotional stakes. He suggested allies and recent opponents such as Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton or AJ Styles could have assisted Cena to the...