WWE Fast Lane: General Card & Aftermath Discussion

[LoveReignsO'erMe]

While love may be too strong of a word, here are 5 things I strongly liked about WWE Fast Lane.

1). Bray Wyatt casket promo: loved the trolling, loved the story Bray is telling, and I love how when he was done the promo, he laid back down in the casket for it to be wheeled away...there really was no other way to finish that promo. Even with poor writing, I think the mystique of Undertaker and the mic skills of Bray will be enough to get a solid build for this match.

2). Sting/HHH showdown: HHH just has an uncanny ability to get you hyped for anything. The sledgehammer/bat duel was a nice touch, and Sting still not saying a single word is interesting. He has to speak up eventually, but I'm okay with it not happening yet (odds are WWE doesn't even know what to have Sting say yet, but that isn't glaringly obvious yet, thankfully).

3). Stardust post-match promo: Cody was given an odd gimmick with Stardust but has embraced it wholeheartedly and this promo was a great example. I hope that Cody gets a big rub from this and is able to stick in the mid/upper card after this. However, that would be difficult to maintain considering how little WWE cares about its mid-card titles now...

4). Brass Ring Club take tag titles: Well deserved win for Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, two dynamic performers. I am a little worried about the tag division though. It seemed that WWE was building up the Ascension as heels, and Cesaro/Kidd are tweener/heels, so I'm not sure if that's the WM matchup they go with, or if they'll have the Usos take the titles back on a Raw or something. I love the win, but I'm frightened about WM tag team booking...

5). A strong-looking WM card thus far: I'm not a fan of using a lesser PPV to build a bigger PPV, but it seems that's what they went with here. As long as the sequels are better than the original matches, I'll be happy. You'll probably get an Ambrose/Barrett rematch (interesting touch having Ambrose steal the belt), a Paige/Nikki rematch, and a Cena/Rusev rematch. Then you throw in Wyatt/Undertaker, HHH/Sting, and Reigns/Lesnar, and that's a pretty great card as long as you give everyone the time to put on a solid match.


Here are 5 things I hated about WWE Fast Lane...

1). Memphis crowd: Calling them a crowd is generous. This was one of the worst PPV "crowds" for as far back as I can remember. Absolutely killed this PPV, which actually had some decent moments, like...

2). Orton's return: I can't put this all on Memphis for being a dud. It was terrible booking as well. You're going to have one of your most over, recognizable stars return on a C+ PPV after the opening match? A Raw return to end the show would have been much preferred over this. It fell flat. I know they wanted to start a Rollins/Orton build for WM, but there were way better options. Tonight's Raw would have been better, since you'll probably have a Lesnar/Reigns confrontation to end the show, you easily could have thrown Rollins, and as a result, Orton, into that part of the show.

3). Diva's match: I'm tired of cheap roll up wins deciding Diva's matches. Paige took it post wrestlemania with a roll-up, AJ took it back with a cheap roll-up, Nikki gets cheap roll-ups every other week it seems. Why can't we just take the Divas seriously, give them 10 minutes, and let them work a match? Of course, in order to do that you have to put 2 divas in the ring who can wrestle...which means you need to get rid of the Bellas.

4). Ambrose/BNB finish: Stupid match, stupid finish. The only slightly interesting thing was Ambrose walking out with the belt. Odds are that will only be a comic spot though, and not anything to really build the story.

5). Lack of direction for Ziggler/Bryan: It's amazing that your two best wrestlers and two most over wrestlers have no story heading into WM. I sincerely hope that the twitter "war" and the rumors are true that they're being matched up. They'll need to put that match toward the beginning of the card so it doesn't completely still the show from Reigns/Lesnar. If you even just give Ziggler and Bryan 8 minutes they could give you a hell of a show...but if you give them 15 minutes, it will undoubtedly be the best match on the card.



What do you guys think?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought it was a pretty good show. Overall, it wasn't a fantastic show or anything along those lines, but it was ultimately what I figured it'd be.

Ziggler, Rowan & Ryback vs. Rollins, Kane & Big Show wasn't all that great for a match kicking off the show, but I thought it was pretty decent once things got rolling a bit. Personally, I would've rather simply had Ziggler go one on one with Seth Rollins rather than for them to have had their rematch last Thursday on SmackDown!. **1/4

Goldust vs. Stardust was a match that I thought told a good story. While the action wasn't what it could have been, I thought the story made up for it but I thought the ending was lousy. I think this match would have had more of an impact had there been some real time devoted to building it up but it definitely had that feel of being thrown together at the last minute. Personally, I'm hoping this match doesn't wind up on the main WrestleMania card unless they kick it to high gear with some interesting build. **1/4

The Usos vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro was a strong tag team match. Personally, I thought this match should've been the one to kick the show off. There was good work from both teams and I was surprised to see Cesaro & Kidd pick up the victory here, and a clean victory at that. I don't know if we'll have a rematch on Raw or SD! in the coming weeks, if it'll be happening at WrestleMania or if they'll decide to do some sort of multi team tag team match for the big event. ***1/4

Nikki Bella vs. Paige was a decent effort by the girls, all things considered, meaning that the Divas don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I thought the ending pretty much sucked because the way Nikki pinned her just seemed so bland and generic. It was as if no thought was put into it, which sums up how Vince feels about the Divas as a whole I think. **

Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose was pretty solid for the most part, though the ending was again something that just didn't really work with people. I don't see what Ambrose did to be disqualified. He ran out a few times to keep Barrett from running away, got him back in the ring and kicked him in the corner a few times and he gets the DQ. I did like that he stole the Intercontinental Championship belt, however, as I thought it was a nice touch and fit with Ambrose's character. At this point, it's only a matter of time before Ambrose wins the title. **3/4

Rusev vs. John Cena was a strong outing by both men and I thought it told a good story. Cena hitting Rusev with everything that he had, Rusev being able to power out of it and the idea of Cena just not being what he once was is interesting. While a young man in life, Cena's been the top dog in WWE for a decade and has been through a number of battles and injuries during that time. The interference from Lana was extremely minor and little things like Rusev not calling for help or even looking her way when she stepped into the ring gives the illusion that he wasn't in on it, at least that's how it looked to me. The low blow was a nice touch, we haven't seen those in a while, and Cena passing out while in The Accolade was something I figured would happen. They protected Cena, but not in a way that was groan inducing or made Rusev look weak in any way. Even if Cena defeats Rusev in a rematch at WrestleMania, with the title on the line or not, I don't think it does any damage. ***3/4

Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns ultimately what I predicted it'd be before rumors started circulating of a triple threat match. I predicted it'd be a competitive, back & forth match with Bryan making Reigns look like a million bucks before losing and ultimately shaking his hand. This was easily Reigns' best match but you have to think that a ton of that was due to his opponent. While Bryan ultimately did his job in making Reigns look good, it doesn't erase doubts as to Reigns being ready. But, in any case, Vince has made his decision, so he's just going to have to hope & pray for the best at WrestleMania. ****

 

[Dave]

I agree with you, Fastlane was actually a decent PPV in spite of itself. KB is absolutely right, the PPV was nothing more than a massive advert for WrestleMania but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, is it?

In terms of what I likes about the PPV, there was actually quite a few things. Firstly, I enjoyed the way that some guys were booked. Rusev was perhaps the best of those. Someone should give the WWE a coconut because they have finally figured out that the role of people like Cena is to out people over whilst they still can. They have made Rusev look like a proper superstar and, finally, the WWE should get some credit for that. Also, I liked most of the matches. The aforementioned Cena match, the Tag Title match, and the main event were the highlights of a decent card that accomplished what it set out to do. The main event in particular was one on a series of great main event matches that follows the triple threat from the Royal Rumble. Finally, I liked the return of Randy Orton. I feel as though the WWE has been missing some of its main event calibre talents like Orton and Sheamus recently. It seemed pretty void of great TV talents and now it seems as though they are back on track.

However, that takes me on to some things I didn't like so much. As you've noted, the crowd were terrible. They barely marked for anyone, and that includes Daniel Bryan and Sting. I honestly feel as though the fans have almost did their best to ruin the last two WWE PPV's and it sucks to see; it almost ruins the illusion of it the entire event. Secondly, I would have liked to have seen a bit more interaction between Orton and Rollins. Of course that will all come in time but having Rollins just run away from Orton left a sour taste in my mouth, especially when I have been looking forward to it for so long. And lastly, I hated some of the finishes on the card. The Ambrose finish and the Stardust finish were actually terrible. In fact, I'm not even sure that the Stardust finish wasn't a botch.

Still, a solid event that did what it set out to do.

 

[MCMG]

Overall, I thought this PPV was above average. Nothing special but if it was meant to hype Mania then it absolutely delivered.

The 6-man was good but we've seen it all before. They were never going to steal the show but it was all about setting up Orton's return - which I'm incredibly hyped for. Kane pinning Ziggler was a bit odd.

I didn't enjoy Stardust v Goldust. The match just wasn't entertaining and I think they were confused. Before the match Goldust was going to beat Stardust to such an extent Cody returns. Then the match doesn't really follow that narrative. Very odd but the promo after made up for it. Let's hope they can do it again at Mania but have a match of higher quality.

The tag-title match was pretty good. Plus a title change which makes it interesting. I'm very curious to see where this goes especially with Cesaro and Kidd as champs. Paige/Nikki was awful. They are both better than that.

Ambrose and Barrett never really got going but it was passable. Plus it set up a potential rematch. HHH and Sting did a good job hyping up their match. Wyatt's promo was just wonderful. I love the rational. I love his delivery. I don't care what kind of state Taker is in, the build-up alone will be good enough for me.

I really enjoyed Cena v Rusev. I think the build up has been wonderful and the match delivered. Rusev looked great and Cena put him over. I'm guessing this leads to Mania where Cena beats him - something I'm absolutely fine with.

Bryan v Reigns was fantastic. I really liked what they did here and there were several moments where I thought Reigns was going to lose. It was hard-hitting, it was believable and it was a good story. Comfortably match of the night and I'm now looking forward to Reigns/Brock.

Probably a B- PPV which is fine for such an awkward placement in the year. They didn't want to give anything away before WM31 but absolutely had to build towards it. Orton's return, the tag-team match, Wyatt's promo, HHH/Sting, Cena/Rusev and Reigns/Bryan all combined to make this PPV rather enjoyable and make me excited for WM31.

 

[stonecoldstunner]

Wow, this PPV was too predictable. Even my son's friends ALL knew Bray Wyatt was in the casket...And the crowd was chanting Orton before he came out. And Resev winning clean was very predictble too everyone knew that was going to happen. Regins...so so so so obvious. Wow, WWE...very boring....I give the PPV a generous C+

 

[Bernkastel]

I think the match spoke for itself as what vince thinks of bryan. We'll be lucky if he makes it into an elimination chamber let alone a 1 on 1 title match even then it won't be with reigns they're still trying to right the ship on him and they can't have him near bryan then. The most popular star on the roster just became an afterthought

Er... or it could be that Bryan has already had his Wrestlemania moment, and is an over and popular guy on the roster. Roman Reigns isn't. Having him face Lesnar and win the belt allows him to have the chance to become over and popular like Bryan. And if he flops WWE has Bryan ready as a replacement champion. If he succeeds it'll really freshen up the main event scene.

Because do you know whom Bryan would be feuding with otherwise following another Mania win? Cena or Orton. And afterwards? Cena or Orton. Because there isn't anyone else. Sounds pretty boring.

 

[#1druid]

Er... or it could be that Bryan has already had his Wrestlemania moment, and is an over and popular guy on the roster. Roman Reigns isn't. Having him face Lesnar and win the belt allows him to have the chance to become over and popular like Bryan. And if he flops WWE has Bryan ready as a replacement champion. If he succeeds it'll really freshen up the main event scene.

Because do you know whom Bryan would be feuding with otherwise following another Mania win? Cena or Orton. And afterwards? Cena or Orton. Because there isn't anyone else. Sounds pretty boring.

You're welcome to your opinion and you may be right but you may also recall that many of the companies top stars past and present have had multiple if not many mania moments. Reigns is already flopping and transferring the streak momentum to him just to flop hurts taker too. Hardcore fans are going to tear him apart at mania. I also think that reigns leapfrogging bryan on the totem pole makes no sense but it will keep bryan out of the title scene. They won't want a competing face to when they're still trying to push reigns as a face even with the multiple iceberg warnings, vince turns more boilers on. Reigns is going to feud with rollins. Bryan could have feuded with rollins, either could have feuded with wyatt, triple h etc

 

[Kidpolean]

Wow, this PPV was too predictable. Even my son's friends ALL knew Bray Wyatt was in the casket...And the crowd was chanting Orton before he came out. And Resev winning clean was very predictble too everyone knew that was going to happen. Regins...so so so so obvious. Wow, WWE...very boring....I give the PPV a generous C+

Yup wwe is way to predictable. They should have had Alicia Fox be the person in the casket just so that it would be shocking. Orton should have came out during the tag title match and RKO'ed Tyson Kidd for absolutely no reason, that would have been awesome.

I was going to make fun of your Rusev comment as well but it doesn't even make sense because Rusev didn't even win clean.