REVIEW: Experience Crush Hour in WWE #8

All roads lead to Money in the Bank in the final chapter of Dean Ambrose’s saga.

Picking up where the previous issue left off, Dean and Sasha Banks lead the Wyatt Family on a wild goose chase. As the two try to outrun the Eater of Worlds and his minions, Charlotte and Dana Brooke rejoin the fray much to The Boss’s chagrin. After losing their tail and their car in the process, Dean and Sasha manage to make it to Las Vegas in time for Money in the Bank with a little help from Bayley. And although Brock Lesnar tries to give the Lunatic Fringe a last-minute detour to Suplex City, Dean incapacitates the Beast Incarnate in the parking lot and goes on to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

Right off the jump, this issue was a trip (no pun intended). If I had to compare this to the end of Seth Rollins’ arc in WWE #4, Dennis Hopeless manages to make this a little more entertaining. The multitude of tricked out rides Serg Acuña and Tim Lattie came up with here were nods to Mad Max, Death Race, and Twisted Metal… at least from my perspective. Of course, it wouldn’t be the last part of an arc if it isn’t filled with a bunch of cameos. Throwing Bayley into the mix as their ride to Vegas was a nice touch while Brock’s cartoonish KO moment may have just been a tad extra. But the absolute icing on the cake was the fight between Dean and Bray Wyatt on the hood of Sasha’s SUV.

The side story for this issue is Lan Pitts’ soft retelling of the Undertaker’s message to Kamala prior to their casket match at the 1992 Survivor Series with the help of Kelly Williams (not the Fil-Am cager for TNT). While virtually unchanged from the story’s base, this also incorporated “future” details about the Undertaker’s past, most notably the fire that killed his parents and planted the seeds for the emergence of Kane. Of all the side stories, this felt like the most filler. I’m not the biggest Undertaker fan, but I think even a diehard fan might feel the same way if they read this. It doesn’t add much to the lore of the Deadman or Paul Bearer.

All in all, WWE #8 was able to finish the Dean Ambrose arc with a bang. A lot of things have happened in the past four issues but when they’re centered around someone whose nickname is “The Lunatic Fringe”, then it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

And now with two former Shield members out of the way, the focus of the next arc shifts to The Big Dog himself, Roman Reigns. But just when you think that all three men have gone their separate ways, you’ll realize that it is inevitable for them to meet in the same ring once again.