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Fastlane is in a tough spot as the go-home PPV before WrestleMania, where the most special of moments will instead be happening next month. While there were expectedly no title changes last night, there were exciting in-ring performances and some unexpected twists delivered.
The RAW tag team Championship match, fatal 4-way United States Championship match and WWE Championship all featured great spots. There are always going to be some hits and misses at every PPV, and while the results were all expected for a show that didn’t have much hype going in, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the performances. Below we’ll take a look at a few interesting highlights, and a few lowlights of the night.
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High Points
1. Adding the U.S Title Match
Adding the U.S title match to the event may have been the call of the night, as the fatal 4-way not only delivered the best match of the PPV, but it also saved an Andrade vs. Mysterio grudge-match for Wrestlemania, instead of on the pre-show at Fastlane.
The U.S. Title getting some main-card PPV love has been so rare lately, that just having the Championship on the main card brings new life into the title. With Samoa Joe as the current title-holder, there are a lot of directions that WWE can go in the next month, with Cena vs. Joe as the most highly-anticipated outcome.
2. Shane O’Mac heel turn
This tag-team was never going to last, but it was fun while it was around. The match itself was entertaining and featured some vintage Uso and Shane high-flying points. Each team sold their fair share of near falls and exciting spots. The real story came after the match as Shane turned on the Miz. It was the right call and brings a much-needed change to both characters. As great a heel as Miz is, It's going to be fun to see Shane as a heel again.
3. Elias
The Elias segments were hysterical last night, as he played on the crowd and cut into the city. Elias’ songs when uninterrupted usually deliver, and his segments tonight did not disappoint. WWE finding a way to get Elias on the card and give some comedic relief after the in-ring intensity, was successful. Elias was able to go after Kofi, the Miz, and Cleveland in his segments, all the while WWE creatively found a way to give Orton and Styles tease spot on the card.
Low Points
1. SmackDown Women's Championship
Asuka and Mandy had a poor match, but they weren’t necessarily set up for a showdown either. A few months ago Asuka won the Smackdown Women’s Championship at TLC and followed that up by tapping Becky Lynch out at Royal Rumble.
Since then she’s been missing from television and has had no storylines or momentum to her name. Asuka went from the highpoint in her career to being on the back burner of the women’s division. This title match was just thrown together in the last few weeks as Asuka’s been a forgotten talent. The match itself was not good, but WWE creatives didn’t give either woman much else to work with.
2. Women's Tag Team Championship
It’s only been three weeks since WWE crowned Sasha and Bayley the first Women’s Tag Team Champions, but even still, the division has shown a lack of creativity so far. The titles are supposed to be interchangeable between RAW and SmackDown, but Sasha and Bayley have yet to appear on SmackDown nor have any SmackDown teams appeared on RAW. If the division wants to build more momentum or show any depth, WWE needs to utilize both rosters soon.
Nia Jax and Tamina vs. Sasha and Bayley was better than Asuka vs. Mandy, but it was still sub-par in the ring. The most noteworthy part of the match occurred afterwards when we saw Beth Phoenix intervene and get jumped by Nia and Tamina. Beth Phoenix teasing a return at Wrestlemania was an awesome development, but it didn’t save WWE from promoting Nia Jax instead of Sasha and Bayley.
3. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch
The WWE Universe was hopeful that Charlotte and Becky would save the earlier two matches, but Becky having to overplay her knee "injury" put a damper on that thought. It held both Becky and Charlotte back and WWE needs to shed this angle before the triple-threat Mania' match, or this situation could again keep the performers from reaching the matches full potential. Rousey's interference was good and got Becky Lynch inserted in a triple-threat Mania' match, but the weak punch and uneventful exits that followed left a lot to be desired.
After the way the women have been performing this past year, Fastlane was a big disappointment. While the matches didn't do the women any favours, not all of the problems were rooted purely from an in-ring standpoint; booking and momentum contributed the majority of it.
Let us know what you liked and didn't like about Fastlane 2019 in the comments below.
