Samoa Joe def. Sami Zayn
The winner of this match, of course, was never in question, so what I wanted to see was the chemistry that these two NXT alumni developed. This was a wise choice as the opening match, because it was arguably the best match in-ring wise that wasn’t the main event. The two worked a very solid outing with a simple formula. Joe was the monster heel who dominated Sami in numerous facets of the match. Sami played the babyface in peril and was able to hit some of his big moves in key moments of the match as well. Joe performed well in his WWE PPV debut, as he didn’t have too long of a match to make people question his monster heel-dom and was still able to get a dominant win over a formidable adversary. Sami wasn’t doing anything so it made sense for him to take the loss, but he wasn’t pushed over like a chump as he had his moments in the match as well. Overall, it was a very solid opener for the crowd. It went a little shorter than I wanted it, but nothing bad here. ***
Sasha Banks def. Nia Jax
Many people seemed to be shocked that Sasha went over, and although I can see why not many should be surprised. Like I mentioned in my predictions piece, I had Sasha winning because if they are building towards the likely fatal four way we will see between these two, Charlotte and Bayley at WrestleMania, Sasha needs momentum, and there’s no bigger momentum than pinning Nia in the ring, fluke or not. Nia has had momentum since she was brought to the main roster and already has multiple pinfall victories against Sasha. As for the actual match, it was a nothing special, basic match amped up by a Milwaukee crowd that seemed easily amused by anything. Nia dominated the majority of the match and Sasha won by a fluke which was actually botched. There was some good teases throughout, but nothing worth remembering or watching again, really. **
Luke Gallows (C) and Karl Anderson (C) def. Enzo Amore and Big Cass – RAW Tag Team Championships
This was another match that wasn’t in doubt, but this was also another inoffensive match. This was basically your standard RAW tag team match. Gallows and Anderson was able to isolate Enzo for most of the match, and then Enzo got a brief bring of daylight before he got the hot tag to Enzo and wrecked havoc everywhere. I also liked the false finishes towards the end as for a brief moment, I thought Enzo and Cass had it before Gallows came out and interrupted the count at the end. And of course, Enzo took the pin as he always does. Like I said in my predictions video, this was a match simply for the sake of having a match because there was no real build-up, and no reason to care who wins the match. Despite that, for what we got, it wasn’t too long, and it was okay for what it was. **1/4
Cesaro def. Jinder Mahal
I’m assuming the only reason why they are focusing a chunk of PPV time on these two is either because they had very bad timing issues and had to allow half an hour to these two, or they just want to remind us that there were more RAW superstars that we had forgotten about. Well, it is a match that went over five minutes, so I suppose I have to review it. There really wasn’t anything special here, as Jinder came out and got the better of Rusev in a spat, fought Cesaro to a draw basically, and Rusev came out for the distraction finish. I fell in and out of consciousness watching it, but I suppose that doesn’t mean it was bad. I just got bored. But from what I saw, it was, well, whatever. It lacked a ton of heat, and Cesaro was made to look very boring because of this. *
The Big Show def. Rusev
Might as well just call this Monday Night RAW. I was hoping for a Finn Balor appearance, because that would be the only reason to have something that should have been on the pre-show be on the main card. But, whatever. Rusev has a new look that makes him look like a college student, by the way. Not sure what happened. The Big Show seems to have also slimmed down a bit as well. I personally didn’t care for this match either, because it didn’t matter who wins and I had no care as to why this match had to take place. However, the crowd didn’t seem to trash it or mind, so I suppose that I won’t harp on it too much, but this went a little longer than I had wanted. They should have just gotten to the point because there wasn’t any way Rusev was winning. But again, a whatever match to burn time. Big Show laying waste to Rusev was absolutely unnecessary as well. One chokeslam should have done the trick, but doing it three times, and KO’ing him in the corner was massive overkill If you want to see how someone is buried, watch this. *1/4
Neville (C) def. Jack Gallagher – WWE Cruiserweight Championship
WWE Cruiserweight Championship I admit, I bypassed this match, but this turned out to be a good watch. This was probably the most physical Cruiserweight match I’ve seen since the Cruiserweights came to RAW. The two went back and forth with very hard hitting moves. It’s almost as if you could feel your own head hurt when Jack headbutted Neville. Meanwhile, Neville dropped Jack on his head a few times and had some vintage Cruiserweight moves. The psychology early on featured Jack playing some basic mind games on Neville, and Neville’s frustration showed early. I also like the fact that the two had to pull out moves they don’t usually do because the recognized the stakes and they knew they had to do certain things in order to win. Jack had to do an outside dive and Neville had to bring back the Red Arrow in order to put Jack away. While I didn’t agree with the crowd that the match was “awesome” (they seemed easily amused), both men put in a very valiant effort and I’ll give them the benefit of any doubt. This was a good showing for the CW’s, and more so for Jack, because Neville has a credible challenger now. This match also brought the energy the show desperately needed. ***1/4
Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman
I thought that this was a solid power outing between two powerhouses that had a lot riding for them. Roman has a likely impending feud with The Undertaker at WrestleMania and he needed a strong showing here at Fastlane. Meanwhile, Braun had been running roughshod over the entire roster, especially Roman, and there was pressure for him to keep up his performance. I thought the two worked well together, with some good kick-outs and solid action outside the ring. Though I didn’t like the finish because it just seemed kind of lazy and out of nowhere, I understand why Roman won, and to be honest, there really wasn’t anyone else who Braun was going to lose to in his first match. Besides, he can pick up a victory sometime down the line in the future. For what we got, it was solid, though it didn’t reach that second gear that I hoped that it would get to. The Undertaker not making an apperance also midly upsetted me as well.***1/4
Bayley (C) def. Charlotte – RAW Women’s Championship
Can someone explain to me that finish? Like, when Sasha came down and attacked Charlotte, did that not warrant a DQ? Maybe I’m overthinking things. Despite that, it’s clear that the heel turn by Sasha is coming, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. She’s likely going to claim that Bayley can’t accomplish anything without her. This was also one terrible way to end Charlotte’s undefeated PPV streak. Yes, she’s protected in defeat, but you really have her lose on a PPV leading up to WrestleMania? I don’t like it. As for the actual match, it was fine, but we have seen these two do much better work with each other, as exhibited by their match a couple of weeks ago. It got plodding at times, especially with the tree of woe spot which I’m convinced didn’t go as planned, and the match sort of just kept dragging on and on and didn’t reach the exciting climax that we know these two can put on. With the way this ended, it’s probably likely we are getting the fatal four way, but to be honest, Bayley and Sasha is the money match. They’re not going to take Charlotte out of the title picture for obvious reasons, and Nia hasn’t had her chance in the women’s division yet, so we shall see. This was a passable all in all, but so many things went wrong that hampered its potential. ***
Goldberg def. Kevin Owens (C) – WWE Universal Championship
Welp, it looks like Paul Heyman found the kink in Goldberg’s armor that he was looking for. All you have to do is not get distracted and make Goldberg have to fight for over two minutes. When Kevin Owens got outisde of the ring (and I fail to understand why they never rang the bell sooner), it looked as though Kevin was walking around pondering the times that he had with the Universal Championship knowing that he’d have to drop it to a man who likely won’t be on RaW until the final couple weeks leading up to WrestleMania. In spite of that, I loved the mind games he played, and of course, we all shouldn’t be surprised at the finish. Goldberg has been in the ring for a total of about four and a half minutes since he returned to WWE, so hopefully, you weren’t expecting so much as even a five-minute match or an extended squash. They didn’t even wait for Jericho to come out and distract Kevin. As soon as the match started, he appeared, KO gets distracted, and the rest is history. It’s not that Kevin Owens lost so much as they showed blatant disrespect to the man that held RAW’s top title for about half a year. I wasn’t his biggest fan, but jobbing him out like that isn’t something I’m a fan of. What’s even worse is that now looking towards WrestleMania, the winner of that match will be guaranteed to be a part-time champion. What’s the endgame for all of this? Goldberg gets distracted and Brock jobs him out at WrestleMania? It was predictable and it was deflating. What more do you want me to say about a 30-second main event? DUD
Conclusion:
Anyone who knows me knows that I try to find the positive in any WWE PPV, and on most occasions, WWE puts out PPV’s that are watchable, and sometimes enjoyable. Problem is, there is a few stinkers every now and again, and this was certainly one of them. Oh my goodness, I have rarely seen a show that lacked heat, energy, and urgency as this one did tonight. The only title change of the night came in predictable and non-dramatic fashion, there wasn’t any good build to WrestleMania, appearances by Undertaker and Brock Lesnar were scarce, and the matches for the most part, were RAW quality. When the Cruiserweights are what gives you the best action of the night, that should send off a lot of red flags. That also leads me to believe why WWE didn’t just call this Sunday Night RAW. Because if it was that, then I could understand why most of the night went the way it did. However, in spite of this show being called Fastlane, it was more like Pit Stop. I thought the show was headed in a good direction after the first couple of matches, but then we got to the fluff and useless segments with The New Day and the Jinder/Rusev bromance divorce. The main event was a 30-second squash, Bayley/Charlotte didn’t perform like we know they can and everything else was either average or just plain bad. For all the advantages RAW has over Smackdown, SD has been kicking their ass with the exclusive PPV’s. Certainly a PPV you’d be better off skipping. Thumbs down for sure. Until next time.
