Further reading: WWE Fastlane Results

Who’d want to be Vince McMahon right now? His team just put on a show that deservedly roused several “this is awesome” chants throughout the night, the main event included, and yet one pin fall later fans turned apoplectic and amassed online to claim it was all a disaster. What a difference three seconds make.

Fastlane was absolutely not a poor show. In fact it was occasionally excellent, with standout matches from AJ Styles and Chris Jericho, Kalisto and Del Rio, Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler, as well as Charlotte and Brie Bella.

But just before the pyro closed the night, Reigns beat Ambrose, and not Lesnar, in the triple-threat match to win his spot against Triple-H at WrestleMania. Ambrose thus jobs again, Reigns has his second moment at the grand stage, and Lesnar keeps his shine but appears to be entering limbo. Cue boos.

Generally I’m unmoved by the prospect of Reigns against Triple-H to close WrestleMania, but that would be the case whoever emerged victorious tonight. Really it doesn’t matter who fights The Game at WrestleMania; the company’s COO is not going to hold onto the belt. Any challenger will go over. (Ironically the core fans seemed delighted that Triple H won the Royal Rumble, and thus the title, despite this obvious problem.)

So why not just give Ambrose the spot then? And that seems to be the biggest charge against WWE’s creative team right now; it’s not yet repeating what happened with Daniel Bryan, possibly because Ambrose isn’t generating the same overwhelming level of support. Maybe the company is listening out for that, but not quite hearing it.

WWE deserves credit for its slow and delicate 12-month booking of Reigns since WM31, and it’s hard to imagine another wrestler being booed out of buildings under such circumstances. That ultimately means Reigns is exceptionally unpopular as a face, and it’s hard to see that change until WWE bites the bullet and agrees with some of the fans who are now comparing Fastlane with A Night to Dismember 2006. Seriously, who’d want to be Vince?

Image: WWE.com

Main Event Suplexathon

WWE’s proclivity to book Brock Lesnar as an unbeatable monster was once again rewarded with a convincing, dominant, alluring performance from the veteran part-timer. He had control of both Ambrose and Reigns, and thus the match, within the first three minutes. Fans roared to the crashes of multiple German suplexes and F5s, louder and louder as Brock riled-up the onlookers.

Mirroring the outstanding triple-threat match at Royal Rumble 2015, when Lesnar was taken out of the equation via a table and a dangerous elbow drop from Seth Rollins, here The Beast was put through the furniture again. Twice in fact, with Ambrose and Reigns delivering two-thirds of their Shield triple-powerbomb on two separate tables.

With Lesnar out of the equation for the final stretch, Ambrose and Reigns took the spotlight but didn’t quite create enough of a rhythm to take people’s minds off the man lying outside. When Lesnar returned–with a German suplex to both men simultaneously, no less–the intensity returned but the match concluded soon after. Reigns’s no-sell of Ambrose’s chair shot, followed by a spear that won him the bout, ended the match in 16:07 with an anticlimax.

Undercard Overperforms

Image: WWE.com

The rubber match between Styles and Jericho wasn’t quite the standout bout of the undercard, but paradoxically, it sustained the loudest response. Both these fan favourites embarked on a risky quarter-hour of high spots that, handful of half-botches aside, deservedly kept fans engaged and guessing.

Jericho continues to defy his age (perhaps the best compliment the fans could give him is by never chanting “you’ve still got it” as though that wasn’t even under consideration), but just as much respect should be given to how this decorated pro wrestler seemed determined to give Styles as much shine as possible. He put the indie thoroughbred through the Walls of Jericho in the centre of the ring, giving Styles an opportunity to demonstrate perseverance and grit.

The air-time that Styles manages is unbelievable, as is his repertoire of unique moves that are difficult to even categorise. Offensive curios include a kneeling-to-mid-height hurricanrana, a flying forearm to a sitting foe, and a face-first spine-buster (yes I’m aware of the oxymoron).

He won in 16:08 with his Calf Crusher submission, moments after Jericho kicked-out of his longstanding finisher, the Styles Clash. That suggests WWE might be looking to transition the Styles Clash out. If that’s the case, Styles’s new finisher couldn’t have got off to a better start.

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WWE Divas champion Charlotte has reached new peak confidence in the ring, far more comfortable on the bigger stage now after transitioning into a trash-talking, dominant heel. It’s amazing to think that Charlotte only won her first NXT title less than two years ago–her growth in all aspects of pro-wrestling has been remarkable, which she demonstrated once again tonight in this bruising bout.

Brie was just as impressive, rising to the occasion when called on to wrestle an NXT-style women’s match. She lost in 12:37 and immediately tapped-out when locked in Charlotte’s Figure-Eight submission. The Bella twin was either delivering a master-class in selling or was fighting through a great deal of pain. In all likelihood, considering how the match unfolded, it was both. If this is Brie’s final pay-per-view match, she should look back with pride.

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The six-man tag between the Wyatts (sans Bray) versus Kane, Show and Ryback was another solid match. It was an interesting choice to see these six enormous athletes choose a high tempo over massive power spots–perhaps in anticipation of how the crowd would respond if they had stepped down a few gears.

Frequent tags, two drop-kicks (!), Big Show throwing Harper from above his shoulders to the outside (!!), and a standout performance from Ryback managed to push this tag match above expectations. The result, considering the propensity of Wyatt video packages in recent weeks, was a shock. Ryback pinned Harper, who appeared to land awkwardly from a Samoan Drop, at 10:29.

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Image: WWE.com

Considering Owens won the Intercontinental Championship only a week ago, and not by beating the man who claimed it from him in the first place, his latest title reign doesn’t quite have the same sheen. There’s little he, or tonight’s opponent Dolph Ziggler, can do about that method of booking. They can, however, deliver a match that shows they deserve much better, which they managed convincingly.

Early in the bout Ziggler took a nasty bump against the turnbuckle in front of his hometown crowd, which led to that excellent middle-ground between worrying if Ziggler’s injury was a shoot or a work. If the former, he showed fantastic perseverance, if the latter, he worked it wonderfully throughout the match.

By the quarter-hour mark, this back-and-fourth contest became a tale of two men desperate to win, with several near-falls and finisher-kick-outs. It followed WWE’s modern template at an expert pace with Owens injecting his own brand of trash talk. He won at 15:20 with his Pop-up Powerbomb finisher, and during the three-count you hoped the match wouldn’t be over. The sheen is back.

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Becky Lynch continues to complicate the previously assumed Sasha Banks vs Charlotte match at WrestleMania; the 29 year-old Irish star continues to win sympathy and adoration during her bouts (the Cleveland crowd, initially chanting “we want Sasha”, eventually broke into “let’s go Becky”). Tamina and Naomi worked very well to build heat ahead of Banks’s hot-tag, which gave the former NXT champion a chance to dominate and connect with the crowd in the process. The finish at 9:54, with both Lynch and Banks applying submissions on their opponents, foretells a triple-threat at WrestleMania. On this performance, it’s hard to imagine anything better than that.

Pre-Show Theatrics

Kalisto and Del Rio’s fourth match in their feud appears to be the finale, settling the score with a first-to-two-falls match. It easily proved to be their best, with a narrative that began to stand out as soon as Del Rio hit his foe with a chair shot–earning a disqualification but also giving him a clear advantage for the first time in the bout. Del Rio’s subsequent dominance was at times wince-worthy for all the right reasons (his Double Foot Stomp on the outside apron looked devastating). After winning the second fall, Del Rio’s grip on the match began to slip with Kalisto landing some beautiful desperation moves. The Cleveland crowd was gripped, and likely won’t remember this as the pre-show match, but a highlight.

Whether or not Kalisto’s push is in part a response to the growing popularity of WWE’s rival promotion, Lucha Underground, the 29 year-old luchador has demonstrated a capacity for telling fine underdog stories. His high spots that stir even the quietest crowds.

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In the interval between Undercard and Main Event, the New Day goofed with Edge and Christian–with skits including a Supa Hot Fire reference (that absolutely flew under Vince’s radar) and a dig at Kofi Kingston’s fake Jamaican accent (which absolutely didn’t). It was fun!