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The final pit stop on the road to WrestleMania is finally in the books and we're slightly more aware at what will go down at the Show of Shows. After surviving five other challengers, AJ Styles will definitely be defending his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. Also, the female Royal Rumble winner Asuka showed up to declare that Charlotte and not Alexa Bliss will be her opponent.
Another eventful moment from Fastlane was Randy Orton's U.S. Title win. Kudos to him for becoming a Grand Champion in WWE. Overall, the whole show was okay but not great. Hopefully, more excitement can be found in the final weeks before Mania.
It was a mostly bland night but there were still a handful of botches worth reliving thanks to the wonderful gif format. Moments like the cameraman who bumped into Carmella's backside on the apron, Byron Saxton's direct order to Kevin Dunne, and the strange disqualification in the Tag Team Championship Match. All these moments and more have been recorded for the historians to go back and revisit, so let's dive on into one announcer's blunders on the pre-show.
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#5 Sam stumbled
WWE Kickoff Show regular Sam Roberts made several flubs before Fastlane even began. First, he was confused over which McMahon sibling was going to battle Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. Second, he didn't understand a Seinfeld reference by Dolph Ziggler and called the bra-less wonder Sue Ellen Mishke a man. And third was this outdated reference to what is now the World Wildlife Fund.
Dolph called Sam out for saying "WWF" by declaring that he wasn't that old. It's been about 16 years since the company went by those initials. The Showoff then stated that Fastlane may, in fact, be his last opportunity at the richest prize in the business. For his sake, let's hope he's wrong because he most definitely did not win in the main event.
#4 Talking to Kevin
It's not every day that Kevin Dunne gets mentioned on WWE programming. He's highly involved with the production of the show and has a lengthy tenure, yet a casual fan might not have a clue that the guy even exists. His anonymity was compromised during the U.S. Championship Match between Bobby Roode and Randy Orton when Byron Saxton directly addressed him. Saxton ordered the man in the production truck to replay a Superplex.
Corey Graves quipped at the audacity of his announce partner to make audible calls to the truck. While calling for a replay isn't so taboo, name-dropping "Kevin" is the real shocker for Corey as well as every fan listening.
#3 Camera too close to Carmella
The camera crew were a little more physical than usual on this night. During the women's tag match of Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. Carmella & Natalya, one camera operator got up close and personal with The Queen of Staten Island. While trying to film a dropkick off the top from Becky, he instead bumped into and also filmed a front row view of Carmella's back side.
Another less botchy moment when the cameras made contact with the talent happened during the main event. After failing to win the WWE Championship and therefore being completely excluded from WrestleMania, John Cena shoved a camera to prevent the filming of his emo face.
Don't be so sad, John. WrestleMania is about 7 hours long when including the pre-show. Surely someone will find a spot for you somewhere on the card. Heath Slater probably still needs an opponent.
#2 Falling into the ropes somehow
The more this sequence gets played, the harder it is to figure out how exactly Ruby Riott landed in the ropes. After she halted an Irish Whip attempt by Charlotte, Ruby suffered a backbreaker directly onto the knee of the SmackDown Women's Champion. Charlotte then pulled her back almost as if she was trying for something similar to a Lethal Combination but let go of her opponent instead.
Riott was sent toward the middle of the ring, but instead changed her momentum and pivoted almost complete 180 degrees toward the middle rope. The physics don't necessarily make sense but Charlotte likely isn't going to complain about the end result.
When it was all over, Charlotte made her challenger tap out to her Figure 8 submission move. The bigger takeaway from this match was the post-match segment when Asuka came out to make a formal cross-brand challenge for WrestleMania. That should be a relief to Alexa Bliss.
#1 Premature Disqualification
It's well-known that New Day exercises the Freebird Rule. Due to this, Big E was not an active competitor in the SmackDown Tag Team Title Match. When the Bludgeon Brothers arrived on the scene to attack anybody and everybody, their first target was the man not actually in the match.
The reason why this is a botch was because the bell rang right after this attack on Mr Langston but before anybody else suffered harm. Yes, the carnage quickly spread to everybody else, making the No Contest ending inevitable. But still, the match officially ended due to an attack against somebody not competing in the actual match. That's enough to earn the honour of being the biggest botch of the night.
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