Tag: fastlane 2017

WWE Fastlane fan feedback

Posted on by F4W Staff

Thumbs down

  • Best Match: Neville vs Jack Gallagher
  • Worst Match: Goldberg vs Kevin Owens

Wanted to be nice and give this a ‘thumbs in the middle’ but the long impromptu WWE Main Event matches and other segments stalling for time made waiting for the inevitable squash main event unbearable. I wonder if Bryan’s turned the corner on Roman now that they had him pin Strowman clean.

– Lee

**********

Thumbs way down

  • Best match: Neville/Gallagher
  • Worst match: Cesaro/Jinder

Just an absolutely terrible show. Dull and boring, building to an uninspiring WrestleMania card. This company has nothing going for it at the moment.

– Bart Beaty

**********

Thumbs down, worst show in some time in my opinion. Opener was what it needed to be; everything else until the Roman/Braun match was sleep inducing. Jinder should never, ever be on my TV. Finish of the women’s match, to me, makes Charlotte come off way too sympathetic. The main event finish was what it should be but I didn’t really like the Jericho music distraction.

  • Best Match: Roman vs Braun
  • Worst Match: Cesaro vs Jinder

– Erin Hotovy

**********

Thumbs down

  • Best: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman 
  • Worst: Anderson/Gallows vs. Cass/Enzo 

The show was a like a below average Raw with a cool angle at the end. On the plus side, everything feels perfectly set up for Mania.

– Nick Randall

**********

  • Best Match- Neville v. Gallagher?
  • Worst Match- Goldberg v. Owens.
  • Best Performance: Roman Reigns.

Thumbs Down.

I’ve never submitted a “thumbs down” for a PPV before because there was usually SOMETHING that made me glad I watched. Not the case tonight.

I hope someone has a tally of how many times the word “distraction” was used during this PPV. I hate distractions in matches. I really hate them repeated on the same card. I really really hate them repeated on a PPV. No excuse for that.

We had a main event that didn’t really occur.

We had a women’s match with a main event feel — and then it had a run-in (which wasn’t a DQ) which turned INTO a “distraction.”

The rest of the card involved under-utilizing talent. Rusev, Cesaro, Zayn. I’m not arguing with the wins/losses they received. But these were poorly constructed matches that didn’t make the most of them. Zayn, for instance, could have done a lot more for Joe.

Lastly, I’ve got to give credit to Roman Reigns (again). He built a match with Strowman. I did not expect that, but I should by now.

– Nick Garcia

**********

Thumbs Up

  • Best Match: Neville vs Jack Gallagher
  • Worst Match: Rusev vs Big Show

There’s supreme irony in WWE refusing to put over Ric Flair, arguably the greatest wrestler of his time, when he was over the age of 50. And then giving its Universal title to 50 year old Bill Goldberg, barely a professional wrestler even during his heyday.

WWE also destroyed most of its booking logic of the Raw Women’s title. First Bayley started a quest to become champion and beat Charlotte on Raw, ruining her chance at winning the title and being coronated at WM. Then Charlotte was undefeated on PPV for 14 months, leading most to believe Sasha would cost Bayley the title at Fast Lane. Instead, Sasha’s help backfired and Bayley retained — meaning Charlotte’s streak is broken, Bayley is still champ, Sasha is still a babyface, and Nia was even beaten for good measure to leave everything muddled.

Hey I didn’t even mention that Braun Strowman was beaten and the Undertaker didn’t make an appearance to challenge Roman Reigns.

– Jeff Cohen

**********

Not only was it incredibly boring, the booking was terrible. Every character on the show came off worse than before the show. Goldberg got booed. Owens was weak. Strowman lost for no reason. Roman was booed even worse than the start after winning. Charlotte’s ‘streak’ was broken for…

No reason. 

– Jonathan Gerwald

**********

Thumbs Down

  • Best Match: Neville vs. Jack Gallagher
  • Worst Match: Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks

I didn’t enjoy this PPV very much. Hopefully we’ll see Okada and Ibushi go more than 21 seconds in the main event of the New Japan 45th Anniversary show.

– Lou Pickney

**********

Thumbs in the Middle

  • Best Match:Neville vs. Gallagher
  • Worst Match: Goldberg vs. Owens (even though it was what I expected)

This show was fine, but not great and not terrible and really did nothing for me as it relates to WrestleMania minus putting the title on Goldberg. There was no tease of Balor or Undertaker (well Lawler hinted of something about it with it’s my yard stuff on the post-show). So I guess everything should get going tomorrow on Raw.

Pre-show match with the Cruiserweights was fine for what it was. Basically like watching a 205 Live match. Faces go over. Tozawa has his grunt getting him over to some of the crowd. Wish they get could get more of the crowd into the Cruiserweight stuff. The Milwaukee crowd was actually pretty good with a few exceptions.

Joe vs. Zayn was good, but not the outstanding match I was hoping for. Joe winning was the obvious choice. My guess is for Balor to return tomorrow or shortly to put those two together for Mania cause otherwise I’m not sure where they fit into things. 

Tag Team Title match was entertaining. Glad to see the Champs retain. I’m guessing a multi team match at Mania. Really still weird that the most promoted team the New Day won’t be wrestling at Mania, just hosting and talking about ice cream.

Banks vs. Jax again not a bad match. Was surprised with the outcome however. Again probably the multi person match at Mania. Have a feeling it’s going to be a lot of multi matches at Mania to try and squeeze everyone in.

Cesaro vs. Jinder was fine, basically a Raw match although usually Mahal doesn’t get that much time. Cesaro wins as he should. Not really sure the point of this and does anyone want to see Rusev vs. Mahal feud? Don’t think so.

Big Show vs. Rusev was also fine. Show wins and I guess all these guys are headed for the Andre Battle Royal.

Neville vs. Jack Gallagher to me was the best match on the show. It was a lot of fun and it had the right outcome. So Neville vs. Aries at Mania? Or will it be another multi person match? 

Reigns vs. Strowman was a good match although again I did think Braun was going to win, but again Reigns should be strong if he is facing Taker. Not sure what happens to Braun again other than maybe the Battle Royal. 

Bayley vs Charlotte was good, but I would have saved Charlotte’s big loss until Mania. Banks didn’t turn heel here, but assuming she probably still will soon. 

Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg was what I expected especially since it started at two minutes to 8. Would have liked to at least let them have a few minutes, but I get it. I still would have opted for Owens vs. Jericho for the title at Mania. Goldberg having the title for one month with no title defenses and then losing it makes no sense to me. Then it goes back to Lesnar who won’t defend it much either, but I guess he’ll drop it to Strowman or Joe maybe. 

Well onward to WrestleMania which will hopefully be more exciting.

– Robb Block

**********

WWE Fastlane gets a gigantic thumbs down.

  • Best match: None.
  • Worst match: The entire card, including the preshow.

Thoughts: The show was practically telegraphed long before the PPV, with minor details telegraphed during the actual event. There were no real surprises or true swerves. This PPV is not at a December to Dismember 2006 level, but the consistently bad writing of Raw as a whole since the brand split really came through tonight. For one example of many, they had a perfect WrestleMania moment brewing with Bayley pinning Charlotte clean to end her unbeaten individual PPV streak. Instead those were ruined on a ho-hum Raw and this PPV, respectively. I fear for WrestleMania if this PPV is any indication.

– Devin Shultz

**********

Thumbs in the middle show

  • Best Match: Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman
  • Worst Match: Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax

I thought I was watching the Woodley and Thompson fight during the Owens and Goldberg match. The only difference was when it ended, the crowd was cheering for Goldberg.

Can we not get Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles or Balor vs Styles? Do we really have to see Shane McMahon vs AJ Styles at WrestleMania.

– Eric Poon

**********

Big Thumbs Down.

All I gotta say is once all of the part-timers of yesteryear are gone and Cena moves on, WWE is going to have an extremely difficult time building new stars given the horrible job they’ve done capitalizing on today’s up and coming guys. A bloody shame.

– Shawn Maggles

**********

Thumbs in the middle

Best match: Bayley vs. Charlotte
Worst match: Big Show vs. Rusev

Show wasn’t great, but not terrible. Putting the belt on Goldberg seems foolish bc all it does is essentially make it a hot potato between him and Lesnar who won’t be at shows. Owens has been the only thing worthwhile on Raw and now he’s lost the big belt before the big show to a guy who won’t be there in three months, you’ve hot shotted every title in the company in two months, storyline it makes zero sense to make Owens into super bad ass and have him lose, especially after he turned on Jericho bc of HHH and then you have him lose the first time he doesn’t have help, so he looks like a chump and a fool for essentially a match people wanted to see anyway.

It’s a waste of everyone involved. I understand they want to make the biggest match they can for Mania, but this is why their belts mean nothing — they change all the time, the only people who matter when they hold them are the ones who won’t be there long, and the ones who hold it for a while are never booked to look strong. It’s just sad.

– Jonathan Beckner

**********

Thumbs Down

WTF was that? They build Braun for a year and he loses clean. The only true babyface, Bayley, needs cheating to win to breaks the heel’s long streak. Cesaro needs distraction to beat Jinder Mahal? They need to fill time so Joe and Sami get 10 minutes so we can get Jinder on the show. They actually protect Owens but at the expense of the only match that matters at WM, making Goldberg look like an opportunist, rather than a killer.

  • Best Match: CW Title
  • Worse: Sasha/Nia Jax 

– Russell Griffiths

WWE Fastlane live results: Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Preview by Joseph Currier

WWE presents its final pay-per-view before WrestleMania tonight as Fastlane takes place at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The show should reveal much of the direction for Raw heading into WrestleMania. In the main event, Kevin Owens will defend his WWE Universal Championship against Goldberg. The match will be Goldberg’s second since returning to the company, following his squash of Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series last year.

We’re looking for your thoughts on Fast Lane, as well as last night’s UFC 209 and New Japan’s anniversary show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

Most of Raw’s other titles will be on the line as well. Bayley will defend the Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson will defend their tag titles against Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and Neville will put his Cruiserweight Championship on the line against Jack Gallagher.

Samoa Joe will also wrestle in his first WWE main roster PPV match as he takes on Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns will collide with Braun Strowman, Sasha Banks will face Nia Jax, and there will be a cruiserweight tag team match on the pre-show.

Our live coverage begins with the kickoff match before the main card starts at 8 p.m. ET.

**********

During the preshow they announced that both Rusev and Jinder Mahal would be having singles matches tonight when they came in and said they didn’t want to team and both wanted matches tonight, but turned down facing each other.

AKIRA TOZAWA & RICH SWANN VS, BRIAN KENDRICK & NOAM DAR

Sold opener.  Toned down for sure but nothing wrong with it.  Swann & Tozawa did a double dive, with Swann doing a running tope con giro and Tozawa did his tope.  Tozawa used a German suplex on Kendrick to take him out and Swann pinned Dar with the Phoenix splash.

SAMOA JOE VS. SAMI ZAYN

Instead of doing the great back-and-forth show it was less than ten minutes andmostly Joe dominating with Zayn not getting a ton of offense.  Zayn went for the Helluva kick but Joe caught him in a uranage and planted him and then won clean with the choke.  Zayn didn’t struggle for the ropes or anything, he just went out. 

Bayley interview.  Bayley said that Charlotte has the advantage tonight because she’s undefeated in PPV singles matches and she’ll probably bring Dana Brooke out.  Bayley said that Charlotte if she wants to prove she’s the best she should leave Brooke in the locker room  Nia Jax came out and said she’s going to rip Sasha Banks to shreds and if Bayley wins, she’s coming after her.

LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON VS. ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS FOR THE TAG TITLES

The crowd is hot for Enzo doing the sing-along with his interview.

Another short match.  At one point Enzo had Anderson pinned with the rocket launcher but Gallows pulled Enzo off.  Enzo dove off the apron onto Gallows but went to get in the ring and Anderson used a running kick and got the pin.  Enzo’s foot was on the ropes but Gallows shoved the foot off the ropes and the ref didn’t see it.

Mick Foley was on the phone with Stephanie, who supposedly is stuck at the airport and won’t make it in time for the show.  Stephanie said she was going to stay on the phone with Foley for the rest of the show but then the phone got disconnected.

NIA JAX VS. SASHA BANKS

Banks pinned her with an O’Connor roll after rolling off her back with a Samoan drop.  Another short match but the crowd was into it.  It wa a lot better than their first match as it was a good story.  Jax destroyed her most of the way, so one-sided that you almost knew Banks would get the “fluke” finish.  The crowd was into it when Banks made a comeback and and went for guillotine and choke submissions.  The match worked for what it was supposed to be.

Rusev and Mahal stared fighting.  Mahal threw Rusev into the post and landed a jumping knee. 

Cesaro and Sheamus came out. 

CESARO VS. JINDER MAHAL

The match was technically okay but nobody cared.  Mahal got a lot of offense in as Cesaro sold his lower back most of the way and couldn’t do his power moves.  Mahal even kicked out of a crossbody but Rusev got up and distracted Mahal and Cesaro pinned him after an uppercut forearm

Rusev attacked Mahal afer the match and beat on him in the corner and gave Mahal a jumping kick.

BIG SHOW VS. RUSEV

Show kicked him in the face.  Rusev got some advantage working over the knee.  The crowd was into this with “USA” chants but they reacted more like a TV match.  Show got out of the accolade and destroyed Rusev with three choke slams, put him in the corner with Rusev sitting there and used the knockout punch for the pin. 

Kevin Owens asked who Goldberg has beaten in the last ten years.  Said he’s only beaten one guy and it doesn’t impress him since he’s beaten Cena, Reigns, Ambrose, Rollins.  He said he’ll outmsart and outwrestle Goldberg tonight.  He said he’ll beat anyone they put in front of him and mentioned Zayn and The Rock.  Said tonight is the Kevin Owens show, as it will be tojmororw and as long as he wants it to be.

NEVILLE VS. JACK GALLAGHER FOR THE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE

This was really good.  Gallagher did some head-butts and Neville used a middle rope Phoenix splash for a near fall.  Gallagher missed his dropkick into the corner and did a head-butt that popped the crowd big in the corner.   He went for a superplex, but Neville reversed him and dropped him  on the mat.  Neville then scored the pin with the Red Arrow.

Paul Heyman did a promo, said if Goldberg wins, Lesnar will win the title at Mania, then Brock wins.  If Owens wins, he’ll expose a weakness that Brock honestly hasn’t found yet but when he finds that weakeness he’ll beat Goldberg at Mania and then win the Universal title later.  So no matter who wins, the ultimate winner is Brock Lesnar.  He teased Lesnar being there without saying it.

The New Day is out and introduced the New Day pops.  

ROMAN REIGNS VS. BRAUN STROWMAN

Great match.  Strowman looked so impressive to the point that even though he lost clean, I don’t think it hurt him at all.  He was a monster throughout the match, with the same spot of not going down from the Superman punch.  He kicked out of a spear.  Reigns tried a spear on the floor and Strowman caught him and powerslammed him through the Spanish announcers table.  He also kicked out of a Samoan drop.  Reigns did the big where he couldn’t believe Strowman wasn’t going down.  The finish saw Strowman do a splash off the top rope, which was teased really well.  He missed and Reigns hit a second spear for the pin.

BAYLEY VS. CHARLOTTE FOR THE WOMEN’S TITLE

Charlotte’s PPV record is done.  Match was good but couldn’t follow the previous match.  Dana Brooke wasn’t there.  Bayley kicked out of natural selection.  Charlotte was teasing a moonsault to the floor when Banks came out.  Charlotte attacked her. Bayley used a belly to belly on the floor due to the distraction but the idea was Bayley didn’t know Banks distracted Charlotte. Charlotte went for an inside cradle and held the trunks but Banks told the referee.  Bayley then hit the belly to belly as Charlotte turned around from yelling at Banks for the pin.

KEVIN OWENS VS. BILL GOLDBERG FOR UNIVERSAL TITLE

Owens stalled forever as far as getting into the ring.  As soon as the bell rang, Jericho came out and Owens was distracted.  Goldberg used a spear and jackhammer for the pin in 21 seconds.  People didn’t boo this and it wasn’t a surprise but this wasn’t the reaction of the Lesnar win. 

Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn set for WWE Fastlane

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While building to Fastlane on Monday night’s go-home episode of Raw, WWE took the opportunity to round out the card for this coming Sunday’s pay-per-view. 

Samoa Joe will take part in his first WWE main roster PPV match at Fastlane as he faces Sami Zayn. The match was made after the two continued their feud on Raw, with Zayn getting revenge on Joe by attacking him this week.

It was also announced on Raw that Sasha Banks would face Nia Jax at Fastlane. Jax previously defeated Banks on the Royal Rumble pre-show in what was essentially a squash match.

Rich Swann & Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick & Noam Dar will be Sunday’s kickoff match before Fastlane’s main card gets underway.

Fastlane is WWE’s last PPV before WrestleMania and takes place at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The updated card for the show is:

  • WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens defending against Goldberg
  • Raw Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
  • Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
  • Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn
  • WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defending against Jack Gallagher
  • Raw Tag Team Champions Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defending against Enzo Amore & Big Cass
  • Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
  • Rich Swann & Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick & Noam Dar

Two more title matches set for WWE Fastlane

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Monday night brought the addition of two more title matches to Raw’s upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view card.

Following a storyline where it was teased that Bayley would relinquish the Raw Women’s Championship due to the outside interference in her win last week, Bayley refused to give up the title and it was announced that Charlotte Flair would get her rematch at Fastlane.

Enzo Amore & Big Cass also became the number one contenders for the brand’s tag titles on Raw with a win over Cesaro & Sheamus and will get their match with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson at the PPV.

Fastlane is WWE’s last PPV before WrestleMania and takes place at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 5th. The updated card for the show is:

  • WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens defending against Goldberg
  • Raw Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
  • Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
  • WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defending against Jack Gallagher
  • Raw Tag Team Champions Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defending against Enzo Amore & Big Cass

WWE adds more matches to the Elimination Chamber & Fastlane cards

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE continued building to its next two brand-exclusive pay-per-views on Tuesday night by adding matches to both the Fastlane and Elimination Chamber cards.

Jack Gallagher capped off the night on 205 Live by becoming the number one contender for Neville’s WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Gallagher defeated TJ Perkins, Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, and Noam Dar in a fatal five-way elimination match to get the title shot and will challenge Neville at Fastlane.

Earlier in the night on SmackDown, two more matches were added to the Elimination Chamber card as well. It was announced that Randy Orton would be facing Luke Harper at the PPV as part of the ongoing storyline with the Wyatt Family. Dolph Ziggler will also be involved in a handicap match at Elimination Chamber as he takes on both Apollo Crews & Kalisto.

Elimination Chamber and Fastlane are WWE’s final two PPVs before WrestleMania 33. Elimination Chamber will take place at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona this coming Sunday, while the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin will host Fastlane on March 5th.