0 of 7
Credit: WWE.com
We are three weeks away from WrestleMania 37 on April 10-11 but before we go to the biggest show of the year, we had a view per return of the WWE Fastlane on Sunday.
Roman Reigns defended the Universal Championship in the main event, acting as a special threat, so as not to limit any kind of interference.
Both were preparing to grab the midcard belt when the Big EA Intercontinental Championship lined up against Apollo Crew, and Ridley defended the United States title against Mustafa Ali.
Bianca Bellair and Sasha Banco challenged Nia Jacques and Shayna Basler for the women’s tag team championship, Alexa Bliss faced Randy Thornton, Seth Rollins fought Shinsuke Nakamura, and Shyams went to the draw for the match.
Let’s take a look at each match from Sunday’s PPV, to see if Fastlane’s entry price is worth it.
1 of 7
The kick-off featured Riddle defending the United States Championship against Mustafa Ali in Monday’s Rothy match again.
They started with a standard exchange before they picked up speed as Riddle took control. Following the successful counter, Ali saw the rest of the retribution making him a victim.
Ali was severely punished for trying to put Riddle down. Eventually the champion wanted to make a comeback, but Ali knocked Britton off the top rope with a pair of knees.
Bro got out of a cozy clutch and hit Bro Derek with a middle rope to win to retain his title. Ali was yelling at his followers and the reckoning was going on over him. She was immediately followed by a slapjack. T-Bar and Mess attacked Ali with a double chokeslam.
Grade: B
Analysis
Riddle and Ali were good on raw row and this was a worthy follow-up. They have nice chemistry as opponents and move themselves well.
It was the next most aggressive act seen from Ali, as he turned the heel and joined in the response. The surprising thing was that a small retribution tried to help him.
A static break is best for everyone. Mia Yim has been used criminally throughout the story and all the other pawns have been playing. Looking at how everyone is used after this, we get a good idea of who will stick to this and who will turn to NXT.
2 of 7
The first match on the main card saw Shayna Basler and Nia Jacques, Bianca Bellair and Sasha Banks defending the women’s tag team title.
Bansler and Bellair immediately used quick tags and double-team moves to gain control of Bazzer. As soon as the Queen of Spides had the upper hand, Jax tedged himself.
The champions set EST apart in their corner for a few minutes while they wore it down. Reginald pleased Jacques and Basler with Ringside. Ax broke Bellaire’s grip by shaking them just before the boss tugged and almost won with a bank statement on Bezler.
This led to an argument between the challenges that led to Basler winning the rollup. Banks slapped Belair before he could respond and walked away.
Grade: C +
Analysis
The first two minutes were fast paced and caused Baller to make some minor mistakes. Corey Graves also mentioned one of them and cited his inexperience as the reason for the flub.
Booking for this match was predictable. We all knew Banks and Baylor wouldn’t win the title, and it was always going to end up on each other’s necks.
The action in the match was good but would have been better. Early sleepups were not a huge factor in the overall grade.
3 of 7
As soon as Rafe rang the bell, Big E and Apollo Cruz were throwing punches. The impatient man put the crew on the apron and cut it with a huge spear with ropes.
He hit a big splash on the apron while talking about the trash as much as possible. Big EA attached him to the two-belly suplex and threw him into the ring. The crew responded with a trio of German suplexes.
The crew and EA tried to spot a pin reversal that was looking awful and the end of the match would look dull and vague which we have seen from these two so far. Big E retained but it was hard to say who won first.
Grade: C-
Analysis
Big E and the crew have turned it into one of the best fights on SmackDown. Although the crew’s new accent is a bit strange, they continue to invest in us.
The way Big E dominated the opening minutes of the match made it look great, and the way the crew rebounded was just as good. When finished, they completely destroyed everything they built.
Bot chess happens but when something is this bad, it goes out. It’s hard to say if the blame falls more on the ref or the superstars. Either way, what could have been the best match of the night ended with a whamper in a roaring place.
Everything that led to the finish was great. Unfortunately, not everyone will remember the way it ended.
4 of 7
After being injured during the training session, Shane McMahon somehow spoke in place of Elias in his match against Bristen Strowman.
Jaxon Ryker at one point tried to save Elias but he did nothing to stop the monster between the monsters from destroying him. The singer was able to hit DDT and elbow drop for two-count.
Once he got back on his feet, Strowman hit his signature Powerslam for the win.
Grade: C-
Analysis
WWE.com listed the match on Monday, but removed it by Tuesday, so it was hard to say whether we would actually see Strowman on PPV until it happened.
Putting Elias to harm is the right move by Shane McMahon. It just didn’t make it any better. We’ve seen Strowman and Elias fight many times over the past year. Strawman gained nothing from this win, while Elias continued to be in irrelevance.
7 of 5
He and Rollins met in the ring for their match before Shinsuke Nakamura made a quick exchange with Riddle backstage. They locked up and Rollins applied a side headlock.
Nakamura hung Rollins in front of him to kick in the gut. The Messiah turned his head to the advertising table to turn the tide in his favor. He hit a fall near the gutbuster.
Rollins ran about 22 times as Caesar kept swinging him. As the match progressed they began to steam up. Rollins was the winner from Stump.
Grade: B +
Analysis
This lacked the physicality of their previous encounters but they accelerated it as the match progressed. Up to this point in the show, this was the best encounter by a mile.
Rollins is as good as Eddie but has a poor definition of his character right now. Is he still the Messiah or is he just a reckless bad guy? We didn’t get much answer here.
Nakamura could have used a little win, but holding a singles auction on PPV is a step in the right direction. Rollins will likely fight Cicero at WrestleMania, leaving Nakamura to defend himself.
7 of 7
The Celtic Warrior and the Scottish Psychopath met for a no-holds-barred match to settle their differences. Drew McIntyre came out wearing blue and white like William Valce Lace to show that he was ready for battle.
McIntyre threw the first punch to start the action. He took control and clothed the shims on the stretched upstairs rope. When he tried to follow, the Irishman stripped him on the apron. Scott recovered and sent him to the ring post.
They fought on the ringside for a long time and began to bring weapons into the equation. Shimos and McCinter hit each other with cane sticks and the two men immediately began to show signs of Ghana.
Shamus tried to retreat but his ex-friend grabbed him and brought the fight to the crowded area with LED screens. They went to an elevated area and Shims was sent crashing into some screens to explode a little.
The Celtic Warrior nailed Brug’s kick as he approached the ring again. He grabbed McIntyre at the barricade and placed him on a table with white noise. Blood gushed from his back due to the effect of shames. The Scottish Warriors managed to beat DDT and Clemor for the win.
Grade: a
Analysis
Everyone expects this match to be as brutal and physical as it was. These are two bruises that are more than willing to be punished.
The long friendship between Sheamus and Mintair allows them to get the best of each other. They have a special connection as opponents that cannot be forged.
It’s too bad that this can’t be a title match as it will help strengthen McIntyre’s reign as WWE Champion. This was wonderful from start to finish.
7 of 7
After weeks of persecution by Alexa Bliss, Randy Orton finally agreed to meet him for the match at Fastlane. As Viper waited for his opponent, he began to cough up the same black substance we had seen in recent weeks.
She was also standing in the corner and when the bell rang, she shot some fireballs at him. He ran to her but she drowned 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 her. He shot another fireball in his direction but managed to avoid it. The ring behind him was cut open and one hand merged to hold his foot.
Feind appeared with a partially melted mask and new outfit. Bliss pushed the ton to the right for Sister Abigail. She covered it to win.
Grade: Incomplete
Analysis
You’re either on board for this crazy ride or you are not. There is no moderator with this story and that is what has made it controversial among the fans.
Bliss, Thornton and The Find are trying their best to sell everything, but some segments are not working as well as WWE wants them. This could be one of those times.
There was no wrestling to speak of because this was all about the story. Judge how you want because there is no analytical way to judge this conflict.
