Fastlane 2019 Review

Sunday, March 10th, 2019
Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland, Ohio

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Although it is fairly newer, a strong argument could be made that Fastlane is possibly the most blah of the pay-per-view events. However, on paper, this looks like it could be a fun show. Let's see what they give us tonight.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match
Shane McMahon & The Miz vs. The Usos
Miz and Shane get off to a hot start taking it to both Usos. The fans are behind Miz in his hometown, but they are playing up how he is having a hard time getting his father's approval. The Usos cut the ring in half and go to work on Shane. Shane is able to hit a DDT and make the hot tag to Miz. Miz hits most of his signature moves and then rips off his jersey to reveal a "Cleveland Is Awesome" shirt and does a rare top rope splash to both Usos on the outside. Usos hit a blind tag and then nail Miz with a pop up Samoan drop for a 2 count. Miz goes off the second rope, but is hit with a double superkick and Shane has to make the save. Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale, but the ref was distracted by Shane and he only gets a 2 count. Miz is going for the Figure Four, but is shoved into the ring post. Miz is on the shoulder of one of the Usos, but counters their double team and almost gets a 3 count. Miz gets hot shotted onto the top rope. Shane decides to go for a coast to coast, but the other Uso goes up to the opposite turnbuckle. They are at a standoff and then both jump at the same time and Shane hits him in midair. That was pretty awesome. Miz's dad tells him to go up top and he goes for a frog splash, but whichever Uso gets his knees up and gets the victory. Yeah, I still don't know which Uso is which.

Match Rating: ***1/4 (out of 5)

After the match, they go for the unexpected and have Shane turn heel and attack the Miz. He also shoves down Miz's dad. I'm not sure I've seen a wrestler sweat more than Shane. It's clear they weren't going for the obvious outcome of this storyline. We shall see if it works, because Miz as a face has never been his best role.

Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Lashley cut a boring promo mocking the style of the Shield. Next.

Elias is in the ring and ready to rock. He takes a couple shots at the Miz and naturally Cleveland. He ends it with a joke about hanging with Lebron in LA and that's it. OK?

They show clips from the pre-show of Kofi being requested to meet with the McMahons and then the New Day winning their matchup against Nakamura and Rusev.

Smackdown Women's Championship Match
Mandy Rose vs. Asuka
We are almost 40 minutes into the show and the second match is just starting. Please don't be 5 hours long. I will say that Mandy Rose is much better than I ever anticipated her being from back in her Tough Enough days. They have a weird spot where Sonya distracted Asuka which led to some semi-botched looking counters and another distraction to lead to a knee and a nearfall. That was just way too extravagant for what they were going for. Abdominal stretch by Mandy. After two countered suplexes, Asuka has Mandy in the Octopus. Sonya is looking under the ring for something and finds...nothing? Asuka hits a second rope springboard dropkick. That was nicely executed. Asuka then connects with a nice kick and a hip attack in the corner. Release German suplex and a knee to the face, but Mandy kicks out by 2. The crowd is pretty dead here. Mandy doesn't look quite ready to be here, but as I type that she hits a nice knee. Asuka counters her finisher and hits her with a knee of her own. Sonya looks under the ring again and this time finds a kendo stick. Sonya leaves the ring apron on there and Mandy slips on it and gets drilled by a roundhouse kick from Asuka and that's all she wrote. That was a little awkward all around.

Match Rating: *3/4

New Day is backstage with Vince McMahon and they convince him to make the WWE Championship match a triple threat match. We'll see where this goes.

Kofi Kingston vs. The Bar
They announced it as the WWE Championship match, but then the ring announcer is told that this is now a handicap match against The Bar and they are both allowed to be in the ring at the same time. The Bar naturally double team him right at the start. They hit knee and an uppercut in the corner and kick him to the outside. Somehow Kofi fights back and hits Sheamus off the top, but goes up again and Cesaro uppercuts him on the way down. Cesaro has him up and Sheamus hits the Doomsday Device on him. Cesaro has him held in place and we get the Brogue Kick as the crowd starts chanting "This is boring". They pull him up for another Brogue Kick, but New Day are out, but so are Nakamura and Rusev. They take care of the New Day and hit the double White Noise for the pinfall. That one sure sucked the air out of the building, even though that's what they were most likely going for, it seemed to slightly backfire.

Match Rating: *1/4

Bailey and Sasha Banks are backstage, who give a shoutout to Kofi. I do really like those title belts. They give a late 80s/early 90s style interview. It's hard not to see Sasha as a heel, although her in ring work does translate to being a face.

Elias is back in the ring again for another tune. Now it's the New Day's turn to get roasted. He ends this one with a Steelers/Browns joke. Not as effective as the first song.

We get a recap of something that happened less than an hour ago. Will this show end on before Monday? They ask Shane an explanation for his actions and he in turn just goes back into his locker room and shuts the door.

Raw Tag Team Championship Match
Ricochet & Aleister Black vs. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable vs. The Revival
Black and Ricochet are really such an odd pairing, but they both are so good that it doesn't really matter. Gable is most likely the single most underrated talent on the roster. Right off the bat Ricochet and Black do the fakeout for flying out of the ring. Richochet hits his awesome head scissors on Gable. The Revival are in and hit a double team move on Ricochet for a 2 count. I love how well the Revival are able to work with any type of tag team. They get the Brainbuster comparison for a reason. Ricochet fights back and hits a rolling double knee and both men are down. Bobby Roode and Black are tagged in and Black knocks out both Roode and Gable. Black goes for Black Mass on Roode, but he pushes him to kick Dawson and then takes control on Black. Then we get an awesome sequence that I can't even describe that leads to an awesome rolling suplex by Gable and then a Shooting Star Press by Ricochet, but the pin is broken up by Roode. Ricochet looks to go up top and is blocked by Gable and Dawson. Dawson is now up top, but Ricochet slugs him and hits a hurricanrana on Dawson and he hits all the men on the floor. That looked really dangerous. Dawson didn't seem to get enough distance on his fall. Ricochet then jumps over the ring post and knocks out Roode. Gable is now up top and hits a crossbody on Dawson for a 2 count. The Revival then hit the Shatter Machine and get the pin on Gable. That was a good tag team match.

Match Rating: ***3/4

After the match Roode, Black and Ricochet destroy the Revival. Ricochet hits the 630 splash, which will never stop being impressive. After the match Ricochet and Black embrace? They show highlights, which doesn't include the crazy hurricanrana spot, so they must not have hit it as planned. It was hard to tell live due to a bad angle, but I assumed that was the case.

United States Championship Match
R-Truth vs. Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe
In my opinion, Andrade is the best performer on the main roster right now. Joe and Rey start things off. I would love to see them in a one on one matchup. Samoa Joe does a dive through the rope and knocks out all three men. That was nice. R-Truth is such an odd choice as the fourth man in all of this, that it just kind of works. Mysterio hits a double hurricanrana on Andrade and Truth, followed by a combination headscissors and hip toss. Joe has really regained his confidence and is just looking as awesome as I think he has since joining WWE. The announcers have reminded us 20 times already that this is the last pay-per-view before WrestleMania. Joe catches Truth in the Coquina Clutch on Truth, but Mysterio breaks it up. Joe goes for a powerslam, but Mysterio reverses it into a DDT. Mysterio goes up top and Andrade breaks it up. Andrade goes for a superplex and here comes Truth who holds him up for Mysterio to hit a hurricanrana off of Truth's shoulders. Mysterio hit that perfectly. Joe is back in control, but not for long as Andrade dropkicks him as he's holding Mysterio. Andrade hits two of the Three Amigos to some boos. Mysterio blocked the third one, but Andrade gets him in the Gory Special, but in comes Truth. There have been very few one on one spots here and when there are, they are quickly broken up. Andrade then hits a springboard corkscrew to the outside on Joe and then Mysterio hits him with a hurricanrana from the top rope to the floor. Zelina superkicks Truth and Carmella is all over her. Joe hits the Rock Bottom on Rey, but Truth and Andrade break it up. Truth then starts hitting his hero John Cena's moves, which I'm still not 100% sure where that is going. Five Knuckle Shuffle to Joe and then hits an odd looking scissor kick on Andrade. Mysterio sets up Joe for the 619 and nails it, but misses the splash. Coquina Clutch by Joe and Mysterio taps. That was all action by a group of guys who know how to put together a good match that makes sense.

Match Rating: ****

Women's Tag Team Championship Match
The Boss 'n' Hug Connection vs. Tamina & Nia Jax
A few quick tags by the champs, but Nia launches Sasha at Bayley. Nia plants Bayley with a powerbomb. I have to say I am a little surprised that this match was not saved for WrestleMania, but they'll probably throw together some four way match instead. Bayley fights out of their corner and makes the tag to Sasha. Crossbody off the top onto Tamina followed by some kicks and a knee. 2 count only there. The crowd seems a little burned out after two fast paced matches, making this a tough spot to be in. They try to do a double team Samoan Drop spot, but Nia falls over as she caught Sasha. She gets up and hits it anyways. Bayley now is nailing Nia with elbows in the corner. Bayley ducked an elbow drop in a cool spot by crawling through the ropes. Bayley helps Sasha jump off the top and the heels semi-catch her. Bayley then does a suicide dive and knocks all three over. Nia and Tamina do not belong with Sasha and Bayley. Double knees off the top and elbow drop onto Nia, but Tamina breaks up the pin. Bayley then hits a hurricanrana on Nia and gets the victory. That was a really bad performance by Nia and Tamina, thankfully the faces still looked good.

Match Rating: **1/4

After the match Nia and Tamina destroy the champs. After they are done, guest announcer Beth Phoenix steps up to Tamina and hits her with a right hand. Nia then attacks her from behind. They then go to work on her. Nia almost knocks Tamina off the apron as she is going off the ropes, just to show how in sync they are. Natalya comes out for the save. Beth has stated before that she would like to work Nia, but not sure how many matches are going to fit on WrestleMania, even on a 18 hour show. Nia and Tamina take care of Natalya and walk away.

WWE Championship Match
Kevin Owens vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Mustafa Ali
What a terrible spot to put a guy like Ali in. The poor guy gets injured and loses his spot to a very deserving Kofi, but then gets stuck in this spot as a comeback. Before the bell even rings, we get a "We want Kofi" chant. I know this is all leading to Kofi getting a shot, but I just really hate seeing Ali getting thrown in this spot. Owens gets the early advantage on both guys. Now we're getting a little taste of the original match as Bryan works on Owens by stretching him. It's kind of weird to see Owens as a face here. Erick Rowan does absolutely nothing for me and adds nothing to Daniel Bryan. I have no problem with Bryan having a bodyguard type, but Rowan was just about the worst choice. Bryan gets his Yes Kicks in, but Mustafa breaks it up. The crowd just doesn't even know what to do during this match, that's bad booking. Ali hits a rolling X-Factor on Bryan. The announcers are calling out how the crowd is not behind Ali like they normally are and Bryan drills him with a clothesline. Bryan misses a kick in the corner on Owens and Owens then hits a cannonball on Ali. Owens hits a double senton on Ali onto Bryan. Inverted hurricanrana by Ali onto Owens and then Spanish Fly onto Bryan from the top rope. That hurricanrana looked like he planted him. Owens hits a stunner after a missed splash by Ali, but Bryan breaks up the pin attempt. These guys are really cooking now despite everything working against them. Pop up powerbomb, but Bryan kicks out. Owens tries for a powerbomb on the apron, but Bryan reverses it for a back body drop. Bryan goes for a knee on Ali, but he ducks and Bryan hits the post. Ali is now going up to the top and hits a 450 splash onto Bryan on the apron. Even after that, the crowd still isn't behind him. Rowan saves Bryan from getting pinned and he is now heading into the ring but is greeted with two super kicks and then a double super kick. Ali with a hurricanrana on him and then a flip over the top rope on Rowan. Knee strike by Bryan to Owens and rolls him back into the ring. Bryan climbs up top, but Ali holds on to his leg. Ali gets pushed off the top and lands on his feet, Bryan misses and then Ali hits a flying DDT. Owens then hits a pop up powerbomb onto the apron on Owens. Rowan hits Owens with a kick and dumps him over the rail, but Ali kicks out of the pin attempt. The crowd is still not buying Ali despite the announcers saying they are. The Kofi chants are beginning again. Bryan keeps telling Ali that he doesn't deserve to be here and Ali fights back. Ali then leaps off the second rope and gets nailed by a knee strike. That was awesome. 1-2-3 and it's all over. That was another really good match. I didn't expect that to top the US Championship match, but I think I am going slightly higher here.

Match Rating: ****1/4

After the match, Rowan slams Ali one more time for good measure.

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
Becky is trying fight off the knee injury, but Charlotte is non-stop taunting her. Charlotte naturally is working on the knee. This is a tough type of match to pull off, but I think given their history it can work if it is written properly. Becky getting in more offense than I expected. Charlotte is a first class heel and while I pretty much will always prefer WrestleMania main events as one on one (although there are quite a few exceptions to the rule), she absolutely deserves to be in there. Charlotte is chopping away in the corner, but Lynch avoids a shot to the knee, but isn't able to capitalize. Having this match on the same night as the Kofi match seems like a bad move. Becky rolls up Charlotte and gets two and a half. As I watch her do the Nature Boy strut, it just is a reminder that even when she does stuff like that, it is the fact that she is so different from her father that she is able to be so successful. Charlotte goes up top, but Becky knocks her off to the outside and she is barely able to beat the 10 count. Becky gets her into the Disarmer, but Charlotte is able to get her into the Figure Eight and out comes Ronda Rousey. She jumps in the ring and nails Becky one time, which makes Becky the winner by DQ. Becky is announced as the winner and being in the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania. This did not produce the reaction they were probably hoping for. I guess this is what happens when you have 5 million hours of TV a month to make. The storylines become overly complicated. This was an angle more than a match, but this was better than the Kofi match.

Match Rating: *3/4

Elias is back out for a third time tonight. He makes a Becky Lynch Ohio joke, followed by a Shield and Browns joke. Easy heat, but this isn't a terrible way to get him on the show. Even Elias gets in on calling this the last pay-per-view before WrestleMania. Out comes Lacey Evans for her walk down spot. As Elias is watching, Randy Orton comes with an RKO out of nowhere to a big spot and then A Styles hits a Phenomenal Forearm. As far as cramming a bunch of things into a short amount of time, that worked well enough for me and it woke the crowd up before the main event.

Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley vs. The Shield
I still can't believe they actually let Corbin wrestle in something that's as bland as he is. I don't know what Drew did to deserve being stuck with Corbin and Lashley here. Just let McIntyre be his own man. The Shield come in through the audience. They bring up that Ambrose is going to be leaving, so this will be the last time we see the Shield. The Shield clear the ring to start off. Renee Young calls out the heels for not appearing to have a game plan going into the match. Lashley and Rollins start things off. I still can't believe Corbin is in this spot. It's good to see Roman back in there again. The Shield with some nice teamwork. McIntrye is now in there and taking it to Roman, but he hits him with a big fist. Rollins and Reigns use a wishbone on McIntyre. I feel like I haven't seen that in awhile. McIntyre hits a nice looking kick to Rollins' ribs as he went up to jump over McIntyre in the corner. Rollins does everything he can and is finally able to hit a tag to Ambrose. Ambrose jumps off the top post and hits an elbow on McIntyre. Rollins gets thrown over the railing and for some reason one fan doesn't move out of the way. Ambrose barely beats the 10 count on the outside and is instantly met by fists from McIntyre. I have such a hard time not tuning out when either Lashley or Corbin are in there. Hot tag to Reigns and takes out everyone. Ambrose and Rollins hit a kind of weird back to back dropkick spot, followed by a double suicide dive. Reigns sends Corbin over the top with a clothesline and here comes Roman, but Corbin catches him and hits him with a Deep Six. Lashley and McIntyre are working on Rollins by the timekeepers table and in comes Ambrose jumping off the announcers tables. Reigns and Corbin are going back and forth with right hands. Reigns is then driven into the post for a 2 count. Chokeslam by Corbin and another 2 count. The other four men are fighting through the crowd. Reigns hits a sit down powerbomb on Corbin, but that isn't enough either. Ambrose jumps off the pre-show table but is caught by both men and then Rollins jumps off the railing and knocks out all three men. Corbin went to duck under a boot from Reigns, but accidentally got hit and still slides through and comes back in and eats a Superman punch. The other four men are back. Reigns fights off McIntyre and Lashley, but gets hit with End of Days by Corbin but the pinfall is barely broken up by Ambrose and Rollins. The camera cuts here are making me nauseous. The heels are getting the Spanish announce table ready. Now they clear off the Raw announcer table as well as they mock the Shield. Ambrose and Rollins break it up for the time being as Lashley tries to chokeslam Rollins through the table, Reigns hits the Superman punch and then a Stomp by Rollins. Spear by Reigns and now they are all over the heels here. Triple powerbomb to McIntyre on the Spanish announce table. The crowd is chanting for one more time. Triple powerbomb on Corbin and they get the victory for the go home happy spot. One dude in the front row holds up a double thumbs down to the finish. This was a lot longer than I was expecting and it was decent enough. It was nowhere near as good as the three great matches on the show, but it certainly wasn't bad. Kudos to Reigns to somehow being in great shape despite what he has gone through over the past 6 months or so.

Match Rating: **3/4

Modern day WWE pay-per-views are so hard to rate. They are all really long and have so many ups and downs. When I rate these shows, I lean heavily on the actual in ring action. On this show, we were treated to 3 really good matches that will likely be mentioned among the best of all 2019 WWE matches. We also got a feel good moment with the Shield standing tall once again. We also got 2 really questionable booking decisions. The Becky one wasn't as surprising for me and while it was met with a poor reception, I don't think it will hurt that match because it's something that has been built to for awhile and has the star power to overcome it. The Kofi decision was worse because it really changed the course at least in the short term for not only himself, but also Owens and Ali. I think all 3 guys will overcome it and be just fine, although I do worry a little for Ali. Although if he keeps having performances like he did here, I shouldn't have to. So with all of that being said, I really enjoyed a lot of this show and definitely give it a recommendation with the caveat that this is still 2019 WWE and you will likely be frustrated with the creative aspect of the show.

Overall Rating: 83%