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Credit: WWE.com
We were three weeks away from WrestleMania 37 on April 10-11, but before we reached the biggest show of the year, we had Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.
Roman Reigns defends the Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan in the main event, with Edge maintaining as a special guest in an effort to limit any outside interference.
Both midfield belts were at stake when Big E brought the Intercontinental Championship at stake against Apollo Crews, and Riddle defended the US title against Mustafa Ali.
Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks challenged Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler for the women’s championship, Alexa Bliss challenged Randy Orton, Seth Rollins challenged Shinsuke Nakamura and Sheamus fought Drew McIntyre in a No Holds Barred fight. match.
Let’s look at every game of Sunday’s PPV to see if Fastlane was worth the price of admission.
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In the Kickoff, Riddle was defending the U.S. Championship against Mustafa Ali in a rematch of Raw’s Monday.
They started with a standard exchange before quoting the pass when Riddle took control. The rest of Retribution saw Ali torment them to a successful counter.
Ali suffered a lot of punishment when he tried to wear Riddle. The champion finally found the will to return, but Ali tipped the Broton with a few knees from the top rope.
The Bro broke out of a Koji clutch and hit Bro Derek from the middle rope for the win to retain his title. Ali yells at his followers and Reckoning walks out at him. Slapjack followed her shortly thereafter. T-Bar and Mace finally attack Ali with a double chokeslam.
Grade: B
Analysis
Riddle and Ali had a great game on Raw and it was a worthy follow-up. They had good chemistry as opponents and did well.
It was some of the most aggressive work we’ve seen of Ali since he turned his heel and joined Retribution. What was surprising was how little Retribution tried to help him.
Breaking up the stable is best for everyone. Mia Yim was criminally underutilized during this storyline and all the others had just played pawns. To see how everyone is used hereafter, we will give a good idea of who will stay there and who can go back to NXT.
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In the first match on the main map, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax defend the titles for women’s teams against Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks.
Banks and Belair used quick labels and double team moves to take control of Baszler immediately. Once The Queen of Spades had the upper hand, Jax noticed herself.
The champions isolated The EST in their corner for a few minutes while carrying her. Reginald applauded Jax and Baszler from the sidelines. The boss entered and almost won with the bank statement over Baszler before Jax broke the hold by pushing Belair into it.
This caused a quarrel between the challengers which led to Baszler winning with a build-up. Banks slapped Belair and walked away before Belair could respond.
Grade: C +
Analysis
The first few minutes were fast, and Belair made some small mistakes. Corey Graves even mentioned one of them and cited her inexperience as the reason for the flub.
The discussion of this match was predictable. We all knew that Banks and Belair would not win the titles, and it would always end up on each other’s throats.
The action in the match was good, but could have been better. The early slipups were not a big factor in the overall grade.
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Once the ref. The bell rang, throwing Big E and Apollo Crews beats. The champion puts Crews on the apron and bumps him with a huge spear through the ropes.
He hits a big splash on the apron while talking as much trash as possible. Big E throws him over the ring with some belly-to-belly supplexes. Crew responds with a trio of German suplexes.
Crews and E tried to make a pin reversal that eventually looked awful and made the end of the game look sloppy and inconsistent with what we’ve seen so far of these two. Big E was retained, but it was hard to say at first who won first.
Grade: C-
Analysis
Big E and Crews made it one of the best feuds on SmackDown. Even with the new accent of Crews a little odd, they managed to keep us invested.
The way Big E dominated the first minutes of the game made him look good, and the way Crews bounced back was just as good. The end completely destroyed everything they had built up.
Botches happen, but when something is so bad, it sticks out. It’s hard to say whether the blame falls more on the ref or the Superstars. Either way, what could have been the best game of the night ended with a moan instead of a bang.
Everything leading up to the end was amazing. Unfortunately, the way it ended is just what people will remember.
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After an injury during a training session, Shane McMahon Elias somehow managed to replace him in his game against Braun Strowman.
Jaxson Ryker tried to protect Elias at one point, but that did not stop The Monster Among Men from destroying him. The singer was able to hit a DDT and an elbow drop for a double.
After getting back on his feet, Strowman achieved his distinctive power slam for victory.
Grade: C-
Analysis
WWE.com listed this game on Monday, but removed it by Tuesday. So it was hard to know if we would see Strowman on the PPV until that happened.
Forcing Elias to take the loss is a decent heel from Shane McMahon. It just did not make it better. We have seen Strowman and Elias fight several times over the past year. Strowman achieved nothing from this victory, while Elias still becomes irrelevant.
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Shinsuke Nakamura quickly chatted with Riddle behind the scenes before he and Rollins met in the match. They locked up and Rollins applied a side-head lock.
Nakamura resisted Rollins and teased to suck him in for kicking the guts. The Messiah slammed his head into the announcement table to turn the tide in his favor. He recorded an almost fall with an intestinal storm.
Rollins cried over Cesaro swinging him 22 times. As the game progressed, they started getting steam. Rollins was the winner with a Stump.
Grade: B +
Analysis
It had a lack of physical appearance from their previous encounters, but they increased it as the game progressed. Up to this point in the show, it was the best match.
Rollins is good as a heel, but his character is currently poorly defined. Is he still a Messiah or is he just a cocky bad guy? We did not get much answer here.
Nakamura can use a few wins, but just a single match on a PPV is a step in the right direction. Rollins will likely fight Cesaro at WrestleMania, leaving Nakamura to take care of himself.
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The Celtic Warrior and The Scottish Psychopath met for a No Holds Barred match to settle their differences. Drew McIntyre wore blue and white paint like William Wallace to show he was ready for battle.
McIntyre throws the first blow to start the action. He takes control and washes Sheamus over the top rope to the floor. When he tried to follow, the Irishman stepped on his apron. The Scot recovered and sent him to the ring post.
They fought along the ring for a long time and began to bring weapons into the equation. Sheamus and McIntyre unloaded each other with kendo sticks and both men immediately started showing signs of bruising.
Sheamus tried to retreat, but his former best friend caught him and brought the battle with LED screens to the crowd. They came to an elevated area and Sheamus collided with some of the screens to cause a small explosion.
The Celtic Warrior nailed a Brogue Kick as they approached the ring again. He grabs McIntyre on the bar and puts him through a table with White Noise. Sheamus bled from his back. The Scottish Warrior was able to score a DDT and a Claymore for the win.
Grade: A
Analysis
This match was as brutal and physical as everyone expected. These are two bruises that are more than willing to take as much punishment as they wipe out.
Sheamus and McIntyre’s long friendship allows them to bring out the best in each other. They have a special connection as opponents that can not expire.
It’s unfortunate that it could not have been a title race, as it would help strengthen McIntyre’s government as WWE Champion. It was great from start to finish.
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After a few weeks of torture by Alexa Bliss, Randy Orton finally agreed to meet her for a match on Fastlane. While The Viper waits for his opponent, he starts coughing up the same black dust we’ve seen in recent weeks.
She was standing in the corner and when the bell rang, she fired some fireballs at him. He ran down on her, but she escaped the hit and he crashed into the ring post.
He tried to follow her around the ring until a piece of lighting equipment almost fell on him. She fired another fireball in his direction, but he was able to avoid it. The ring was cut open behind him and a hand joined together to grab his foot.
The Fiend appears with a partially melted mask and a new outfit. Bliss pushes Orton right into his arms for Sister Abigail. She covered him to achieve the victory.
Grade: Incomplete
Analysis
You’re on board for this crazy ride, or not. There is no middle ground with this storyline, and that has made it so controversial among fans.
Bliss, Orton and The Fiend are doing their best to sell everything, but some segments are not working as well as WWE wants them to. This may be one of those times.
There was no struggle to talk about because it was all about the story. Rate it as you like, because there is no analytical way to rate this fight.