Fastlane 2021 Review

Sunday, March 21st, 2021
Tropicana Field
St. Petersburg, Florida

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They are promising us that this is 100% THE last stop before WrestleMania.

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Match

Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler

Both teams are arguing, which is always a good thing in a division where there are no tag teams. Once the bell rings, Belair and Sasha are on the same page and dominating Baszler. Nia works her way in, but the challengers remain in control. Baszler provides a distraction and Nia knocks Belair off the apron. They cut the ring in half and work on Belair. Nia misses Belair in the corner and in comes Sasha. She takes care of both opponents and tags in Belair, who hits a 450 splash. Reginald provides the distraction to prevent the pin, but then Sasha locks in the Bank Statement, but Nia is able to prevent the submission by pushing Belair on top of Sasha. Sasha isn't happy about it because Belair came into prevent Nia, but it backfired. They argue and Baszler rolls up Sasha for the victory. This was a pretty obvious outcome and probably could have just been done on SmackDown. After the match, they argue and Sasha slaps Belair and walks to the back. 

Match Rating: **1/2

They show a photo of Shane McMahon hurt while training. He then is walking out of his locker room with a crutch and an ice pack on his knee. Elias approaches him and wants to have a legendary musical performance at WrestleMania. He says he'll do anything and Shane says he has an idea. 

Intercontinental Championship Match

Apollo Crews vs. Big E

They brawl right out of the gates and Big E spears him off the apron. He then hits a big splash with Apollo hanging over the apron and hits a second one for good measure. Big E then hits two overhead belly-to-belly suplexes, all while talking a lot of trash. Apollo his a low dropkick to the knee of Big E and hits a clothesline. Apollo hits three German suplexes in a row and is giving Big E a taste of his own medicine. Apollo hits a frog splash for the first nearfall. We then get a really weird (possibly botched?) finish where they go back and forth on shifting weight from a small package and Big E wins? Apollo immediately attacks Big E and eventually stands on him in a sign of disrespect, even though he lost the match. I was really liking that match until that finish. They don't even show the pin and go into a DraftKings commercial. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Shane is in the ring with Elias and Jaxson Ryker. Shane lets him know that he's taking his place tonight. 

Elias vs. Braun Strowman

As far as dream matches go, this is near the bottom. Strowman obviously destroys Elias at the start. Ryker provides a distraction and Elias takes out Strowman's knee and hits a DDT. Elias goes up top and hits an elbow drop, but Strowman throws him off on the pin attempt. Strowman hits a clothesline and a powerslam for the easy victory. Sure, this was great. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show clips of Riddle beating Ali on the pre-show. He then rides up on his scooter to Shinsuke Nakamura. He tries pitching some idea to him, but Nakamura walks away while he was looking the other way. 

Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Rollins rebounds from a quick Nakamura start and hits a leaping knee off the apron. Rollins hits a series of knees to the midsection of Nakamura and then hits a gutbuster for a 2 count. Rollins goes for the Cesaro Swing, but Nakamura counters it for an arm bar. Nakamura explodes with offense though and hits a knee to the head and then to the back. Rollins knocks Nakamura off the apron and then hits a suicide dive. Rollins hits a Slingblade and gets 2 1/2. They start exchanging forearms, but Rollins hits an enzuigiri. Nakamura hits what Corey Graves calls a sliding German suplex, but Rollins hits a Buckle Bomb. Shinsuke avoids a Stomp and hits a reverse exploder. Rollins ducks Kinshasa, but Rollins ducks it and Rollins hits him in the back of the skull. Rollins hits a move that I (or Graves) have never seen and then follows it up with the Stomp for the victory. That was a really enjoyable and competitive match. He doesn't always hit a home run, but it's very rare where Rollins doesn't go for one. I would call this one a stand up double.

Match Rating: ***1/2

No Holds Barred Match

Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus

McIntyre clotheslines Sheamus over the top rope, but after a quick attack from Sheamus, McIntyre hits a belly-to-belly overhead suplex. McIntyre grabs a bunch of kendo sticks, but it gives Sheamus an opening to throw him into the ring post. McIntyre again hits another overhead belly-to-belly though and then throws him into the steps. McIntyre goes to use the kendo stick, but gets hit with the Brogue Kick. Sheamus starts using the kendo stick on the back of McIntyre. McIntyre is able to get a boot and now it's his turn to get in some kendo shots. They spill outside again and Sheamus hits a drop toe hold on McIntyre into the steps. They're up on the announce table and McIntyre throws Sheamus off and into the barricade. They now are over in the vacant area behind the announcers and Sheamus hits a suplex. They now move into the area where the fan screens are and Sheamus hits the rolling senton. McIntyre then throws Sheamus through the screens and to the floor. McIntyre then rolls Sheamus on a storage crate and then hits a suplex to the floor. McIntyre carries Sheamus back into the ring area, but Sheamus is able to pull off and hits a Brogue Kick to McIntyre's face and back over the barricade. They are up on the barricade and Sheamus hits a leaping White Noise through the table. These two are most definitely destroying each other here tonight. They are finally back in the ring and Sheamus has a piece of the announce table. Even though the "what about me?" story is overdone, it does feel more legitimate here. McIntyre hits a Future Shock onto the table piece and then hits the Claymore for the victory. I wouldn't call this a classic or anything, but it was very good and they both gave a really good effort. I am glad they kept Sheamus strong here too, as McIntyre gave him enough offense to make him look like a legit threat. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Intergender Match

Randy Orton vs. Alexa Bliss

As Orton is up posing on the turnbuckle, he has black liquid spew out of his mouth. WWE gets a lot of flack for the camera cuts and Alexa's entrance is a great example of why. Simply horrible direction. Orton comes at Bliss and she shoots "fire" at him. He then charges again and she moves out of the way, causing him to hit the ring post. Bliss then looks up and a lighting rig falls and almost hits Orton. Alexa deserves so much better than this. Bliss blows him a kiss and then shoots a fireball at his face. The announcers trying to call this must be the low points of their careers. A hand is now ripping through the ring and grabs Orton's leg. Orton escapes it's grasp and then fire shoots up. The Fiend emerges and is even uglier than before. He hits Sister Abigail and Bliss gets the victory. I know it's not really fair for me to rate that, but they seem to always find a way to top themselves on how low they can drag themselves with the Fiend. Embarrassing. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

WWE Universal Championship Match

Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns

After a calculated start, Bryan makes a nice roll into an arm bar. Reigns gets right to the ropes, but that was nice. Even at my lowest interest in modern wrestling in years, Daniel Bryan has the ability to suck me into anything that he's involved in. Bryan works the left arm of Reigns, but this also to get under the skin of Reigns. We get our first burst of offense, as Bryan was looking to hit a running clothesline, but Reigns caught him for a tilt-a-whirl suplex. Reigns slows the pace down and punishes Bryan. I forgot to mention it, but Edge is at ringside. Bryan makes a comeback and hits a running kick in the corner. Bryan goes for a top rope hurricanrana, but Reigns catches him and puts him into a Boston crab in the middle of the ring. Bryan is able to roll through into a pin attempt for a 2 count. Bryan then hits a running clothesline that looks like a car wreck. Bryan baits Reigns and pulls down the top rope, but Reigns lands on his feet. Bryan leaps over and Reigns catches him and kind of hits a powerslam. Bryan is able to escape Reigns and hits a knee off the apron. Back in the ring and Bryan hits a top rope knee. He climbs up top again and hits a missile dropkick. I love Paul Heyman as a manager, but I'm not really 100% sure why he is still with Reigns. Bryan starts hitting the Yes Kicks. Bryan continues on offense and puts in the Yes Lock on the injured arm. Bryan is able to roll him over and into the middle of the ring. Reigns is able to punch his way out of the hold after a long time in it. Reigns hits a powerbomb, but Bryan kicks out. Bryan accidentally hits the referee and Reigns hits a Spear. Edge I guess is a special enforcer, so he comes in and counts to 2. Reigns gets aggressive and Bryan uses it against him, putting him into a triangle choke. Reigns lifts him up and Bryan counters that into another Yes Lock. In runs Jey Uso and he superkicks Edge and then Bryan. Uso grabs a chair and brings it into the ring. He throws Edge into the ring post. He swings wildly at Bryan, who ducks it and takes out Uso. He then starts smacking him in the back with the chair. Bryan swings the chair at Reigns, but he ducks and he hits Edge in the arm. Reigns hits the Superman Punch and goes for the Spear. Bryan counters it and puts him in the Yes Lock yet again. Reigns is tapping, but Edge didn't see it and he decides to hit Bryan in the back with the chair and then Reigns. Edge tells them both that "This is mine" and walks out of the ring. Reigns crawls on Bryan and the referee is back in the ring and counts to 3. I'm not sure I truly understand why Edge cared who he fought at WrestleMania because his spot was guaranteed. The story is a little too much for my taste, but the second half of the match was extremely well done. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

For a throwaway show, this was pretty entertaining. It didn't really have to exist or anything, but it was a good enough show to warrant watching. I will do everything in my power to erase the Alexa Bliss/Randy Orton/Fiend match/segment from my memory and just pretend the show ended with three hard fought matches featuring six really good in ring performers. 

Overall Rating: 73%