WWE Fastlane 2017

WWE Fastlane 2017

Milwaukee, WI - March 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Kevin Owens is the reigning WWE Universal Champion, Chris Jericho holds the United States Championship, and the RAW Womens' Title is held by Bayley. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are the RAW Tag Team Champions while Neville holds the Cruiserweight Championship.

COMMENTARY: Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, and Corey Graves

Fastlane proper kicks off Samoa Joe taking on Sami Zayn. Good-not-great match, but effective for what it was to designed to do - get Joe over as a human wrecking ball without completely burying the popular Zayn. Sami's selling is such a strong part of his game that its almost a shame he was utilized in an almost identical role against Braun Strowman just a few months ago. Still, those fearful that Zayn is getting "buried" have nothing to worry about - the brave underdog job is open, Zayn is putting in good applications every week, and if he keeps doing it, he's on a path that brought guys like Mysterio and Daniel Bryan to major championships. I really hope Joe isn't wasted at Mania. (3.5/5)

The Tag Team Championships were on the line in the next contest - Anderson and Gallows vs. Big Cass and Enzo Amore. Are there any two teams whose bandwagons have cleared out as fast these two? Anderson and Gallows came from Japan with considerable hype, but proceeded to do nothing cool or intimidating or impressive, while Cass and Enzo are in the unfortunate positions of having a mega-over entrance but in-ring skills that, while improving over time, could never match their ultra-charismatic mic work (especially Amore). Fortunately, this match was laid out with clear, logical progressions and the crowd was generally on board. To make a baseball metaphor, this match wasn't about hitting a homerun, it was about getting on base and, no matter what, not striking out in front of an audience that still had the energy and patience to give a shit about a pretty cold, unimaginative feud. A solid finish helped keep this one in the average to ever-so-slightly above average zone. (2.5/5)

Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks was next. Not too dissimilar to the opener, this one was all about Nia Jax using her strength and size to dominate Banks. Is it just me or is the RAW womens' division really thin? After controlling so much of the match, Nia ended up suffering an upset loss - though, it's not really an upset when Banks is a former 3-time Womens' Champion and Jax is no different than she was in NXT - the big monster that doesn't actually win big matches. Questionable booking decision aside, this one kept my interest considerably more than the tag match and at least as much as the opener. (3/5)

Before our next match, we get a recap of the recent conflicts between Jinder Mahal and Rusev, who will compete in a series of matches, each getting a 1-on-1 match against a mystery opponent. Jinder wrestled first in a match against Cesaro that was much more competitive than I figured it would be, though I haven't really been paying too much attention to Jinder Mahal, so, the fact that he's being booked as someone even remotely credible is fresh. A "TV-level" match. (2/5)

Before the next match could even start, Rusev went right after Mahal, destroying him in the corner and then kicking his teeth down his throat. As he celebrated the beatdown, The Big Show arrived to a respectable applause. Show controlled early, but once Rusev clipped the Giant's knee, things evened up considerably and the Bulgarian Brute got to showcase some of his offense. You put a story behind this and you'd have yourself something pretty good on your hands, but as this was nothing more than a "bonus" match, it came off like something you'd get at your run-of-the-mill house show - good, but trivial, with Lana serving zero purpose on the outside and Big Show's victory essentially meaningless aside from him just showing that he can still put down an unfocused midcard challenger if need be. Extra half-point for a nice clean finish. (3/5)

Jack Gallagher challenged Neville for his Cruiserweight Championship next after a brief word from Kevin Owens and a replay of Austin Aries' "package." The crowd was more into this than any cruisers match I've seen on a Network special, but that's not necessarily a huge achievement considering how cold the cruisers division has been on the bigger stages. Gallagher is relatively over thanks to a charming gimmick and Neville is definitely doing much more for the division than TJP or Kendrick were capable of. The first truly great spot came several minutes in when Gallagher landed an absolutely devastating back suplex off the top rope, a should-be finish in any era of wrestling. Gallagher then took a great stumble off a stun gun from Neville as the intensity ramped up and the crowd started feeling the hits. Neville then hit a release german suplex off the ropes that looked like a career ender and a ridiculous flippy-doo-tilt-a-someshit move from the top for two. The first half of this match was good, but the second half was breathtaking, almost comically dangerous at times. A deserved "This is Awesome" chant broke out as Gallagher hit a third headbutt on Neville as he lay prone on the top rope. The Gentleman attempted a superplex but ended up eating the mat and a Red Arrow to retain. I would not mind seeing a rematch at WrestleMania one bit because these two just had the first great cruisers match in this division's history. (3.5/5)

Paul Heyman cut a promo in the back and then we got a meaningless New Day promo in the aisleway. I can understand why events need filler like this, but I just wish they'd serve a storyline purpose instead of blatantly being designed just to eat time and pop the crowd for a minute or two.

Roman Reigns arrived to a pretty cold response from the live crowd while his opponent, Braun Strowman, got an almost knee-jerk pop just because he isn't Reigns. Strowman controlled most of the match, though Reigns had more than his fair share of hope spots to keep things interesting and sell himself as a resilient warrior. Strowman attempted a big boot to the outside, but ending up toppling over the top rope in the kind of spot you just wouldn't see a big man even attempt 10 years ago. This was followed by Strowman delivering a "Holy Shit!" chant-inducing powerslam through one of the ringside announce tables. Unable to capitalize due to a damaged knee, Reigns popped up and hit his spear but couldn't snag the W either. Reigns landed a series of Superman punches but still couldn't bring down the big man as a sizable portion of the crowd chanted "Thank You, Strowman." Braun attempted a giant splash for no real reason, missed, and ate another spear, thus suffering his first loss. I'm not sure where the booking goes from here for Strowman as he definitely needs some showcase victories over the next few months to keep him strong, but this was far from a "burial." Plus, one could argue that Reigns needed the win more (even if his haters don't want to hear that). I wouldn't call this the Match of the Night, but it was definitely above average. (3/5)

Next up - Bayley defending the RAW Womens' Championship against Charlotte. The crowd was pretty live for this, though, as the match wore on and the clock ticked closer to 11, I think there was a general sense that the sooner these two wrapped it up, the less likely a BS squash would occur in the main event. Personally, I'm glad they were given a fair amount of time (16 minutes) to tell a real story - Charlotte the aggressor and uber-confident mega-star and Bayley the never-say-die underdog champion desperately trying to prove she can hang without the help of Sasha Banks. I've read some absolutely brutal takes on this match which I found to be at least 90% excellent, with Charlotte specifically putting on one of her best performances in a 2-year span that has been full of very good performances. Her jawing, her offense, her expressions and strut - it combines to create a character that is absolutely impossible to like. She's up there with The Miz as one of the few heels on the roster who the crowd is almost always 100% against. Bayley botched an elbow-in-the-corner spot, but aside from that, her hope spots and fire had me hooked. I was not taken out of the match at all by her "stutter-steps" - in fact, it works for me because, watching her get beaten down for so long, it made total sense that when she finally did catch a break, her emotions were dictating her actions much more than whatever logical gameplan she came into the match with. Ditto for Charlotte's positioning - yeah, it led to some miscues, but why should Charlotte be positioning herself into Bayley's offense? Also, just a side note, I've seen a number of writers take Charlotte and Sasha Banks to task for their penchant for risky high spots and overly-complicated, outright dangerous sequences, but here was a match that got great responses for forearms and chest chops. Meanwhile, Gallagher and Neville nearly paralyzed each other and few batted an eye. I applaud the efforts of whoever is risking their health out there - but the double-standard gets annoying. This match worked without the high spots. As for the finish, I'm also in the minority on this one. People see what they want to see. Bayley didn't solicit Banks' help and Banks' didn't lay a hand on Charlotte. She made sure the ref caught Charlotte's attempt at cheating, so the notion that Bayley won in some "heelish" way is just ridiculous. And if it was slightly heelish, it was no more heelish than Mick Foley winning his first WWE Championship when Steve Austin showed up to stun Triple H with the referee down. As an overall contest, this was easily the Match of the Night and one I wouldn't be surprised shows up on my top ten list at year-end (even if my list is the only one it shows up on). (4/5)

Main event time - Bill Goldberg challenging Kevin Owens. At Survivor Series, Goldberg squashed Lesnar and awarded the shocking squash upset 3 stars - admitting that while it wasn't a "great match," it was slighlty above-average in that you had all the elements needed to create a memorable, buzzworthy "moment." I also wrote fairly extensively about how good Lesnar was in that very brief match - that his facial expressions and body language were so remarkable, they warranted multiple repeat viewings. Despite some good crowd-baiting out of Owens before the bell rang, there's no reason to ever watch this "match" again. If Goldberg/Lesnar at least had the benefit of a shocking ending and duration, this match played out like many fans expected and weren't happy about. More segment than match, it also suffered from coming off a match that was far less explosive and dynamic than the Team SD/Team RAW match, which was a fireworks show of table spots and signature moves and mega-stars. As much as I enjoyed Bayley/Charlotte, it could never compare. Predictable and disappointing at the same time and the opposite of "must see." This was a "match" that I would've rather just had described to me or read about online than bothered to watch. A point for Owens' work for the bell and maybe a half-point for the spear and jackhammer. (1.5/5)


With a Kwang Score of 2.89-out-of-5, last Sunday's Fastlane show was an improvement since the last RAW-only event (December's Roadblock: End of the Line show) and actually, score-wise, bested SmackDown's Elimination Chamber show in December. Still, its a hard show to recommend in its entirety - one could argue the main event was a total dud, that the flaws in the Womens' Championship match were inexcusable, and that Strowman/Reigns was an average bout (not the epic clash of hosses that it probably could be in a few years). The Cruiserweight Championship bout was a bright spot and I've read a few reviews that praised the Tag Title Match considerably more than I did, but neither one was essential viewing. Similarly, the opener, while an effective spotlight for Joe, fell pretty short of being a "must watch." Depending on your feelings about the booking, this one falls in that questionable range of...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver