Yeah, I didn't love the whole "there were no rules" thing as a way to address it. But that's always the difficulty with buried alive, Paul Bearer getting covered in cement, etc. Its hard to acknowledge it later, in any meaningful context.
I kinda like Pureplayer's approach, understanding you can't sell the details too much.
Could you imagine Cena trying to come back a week after the Firefly funhouse?
"This time Fiend I'm ready! Your time travel mind control won't work a second time. I've prepared for your dark magics!"
And there's a video package of him training with Dr. Strange, Professor X, and Doc Emmett Brown.
I don't know, maybe acknowledge the gravity of the situation and gain a new outlook on life. This was the perfect opportunity for AJ to change up his personality instead of just going ahead like nothing happened. He was brought back sooner than planned, so maybe they would have put more thought into it if they had more time.
This empty arena era is doing irreparable harm to the company, I feel. The shows are that dull and inconsequential that even the absolute die hard fans are switching off, and they won't be coming back. Lowest ratings in history, despite zero live competition. The pops determine the star. If none of these people are getting pops for another 6 months, none of them will remotely feel like stars at all. Can you imagine how bad the ratings will be come October when football and basketball are back on the box, if the no fans policy has to continue? Yes, they're fulfilling a contract, but there simply won't be another one after this. All these TV companies have done their absolute conkers. There won't be billions to spend on a product that less and less people watch a week. More importantly, beyond the financial aspect of it, the product won't be appealing enough by the end of this to appease even the most dedicated of fans. They should be commended for pulling a rabbit out of the hat with 'Mania and tying up the loose ends, but that should have been that. It's silly now.
I don't think it's crazy. He's not there and they're trying not to draw attention to that fact. There's a Roman shaped hole in their programming and they don't want to highlight that by mentioning/showing him. Simple as. Of course, the "news" sites want to stir shit up and create a story that there's some bad relationship going on but I don't buy it.
I'll admit, it might be a bit much but Vince it's known for being a "bit much" kind of dude...