Bobby Lashley def. Rusev (Tables Match)

MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes, the good guys don’t win. Injustices aren’t answered, humiliations go unanswered and payback will have to take a back seat to a battle well fought.

It’s just the way things go, and for all the momentum — emotional and otherwise — Rusev had walking into his Tables Match against noted wife-stealer Bobby Lashley at WWE TLC, The All Mighty left the pay-per-view victorious, thanks in no small part to an assist from Lana that handed her new man the win over her old man.

What Rusev earned was the satisfaction of beating Lashley so badly that he needed Lana to help him win. The Bulgarian Brute made good on his opportunity to dismantle his opponent, brutalizing Lashley with his fists, his feet and a guardrail before The All Mighty finally turned the tide with a Kendo stick to Rusev’s back. The Super Athlete begged a laughing Lana to help him on the outside, but his estranged wife only stood back while Lashley continued his assault.

At the last second, Rusev fought back, seizing the stick from Lashley’s hands and turning it against his tormentor in ruthless fashion. Sensing disaster approaching, Lana climbed Rusev’s back and raked his eyes, setting him up for a Spear from Lashley into a table in the corner. Miraculously, the table didn’t break, and Rusev had life in him yet, but The All Mighty followed up quickly with a suplex into a table mounted in the opposite corner, ending the match and earning the win. So Lashley leaves TLC with the W and the woman. Rusev, now finally free of Lana’s entrapments and deceptions, will have to settle for addition by subtraction and call it a day.