Welcome to the F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of WWE FastLane! Tonight’s show takes place at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio, which traditionally means bad news for The Miz. The last stop before WWE Wrestlemania is here with the winner of tonight’s triple threat main event going to the big show to face WWE World Champion Triple H.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show as well as Friday’s Bellator show, so you can leave a thumbs up thumbs down or thumbs in the middle plus a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer.
Your main card:
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose
WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler
WWE Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch vs Tamina Snuka/Naomi
Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles
Big Show/Ryback/Kane vs. The Wyatts (Braun Strowman/Erick Rowan/Luke Harper)
WWE U.S. Champion Kalisto vs. Alberto del Rio (2/3 falls, kickoff show)
Also, Edge and Christian will interview WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day to help promo the debut of their new show after Fastlane.
This is just the second ever Fastlane after last year’s debut show at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN. On that show, Reigns took on the recently retired Daniel Bryan in a no. 1 contender’s match. Also on that show. then-U.S. Champion Rusev downed John Cena by DQ, and Sting had a confrontation with HHH.
KALISTO VS. ALBERTO DEL RIO FOR THE U.S. TITLE 2/3 FALLS
Del Rio was disqualified in the first fall for hitting Kalisto with a chair as Kalisto went for a springboard move. Del Rio won the second fall with a double foot stomp. The third fall saw Del Rio miss the double foot stomp after doing it outside the ring. Kalisto flipped Del Rio into the corner and schoolboyed him to take the third fall and retain. This was a good match.
SASHA BANKS & BECKY LYNCH VS. NAOMI & TAMINA
Banks & Lynch won with a double submission with Banks with the bank statement on Tamina while Lynch used the disarmer on Naomi. The first part of the match was pretty sloppy with Lynch getting beaten on but it got good when Banks was in. Banks kicked out of the rear view and was also saved by Lynch when Tamina used a superkick. The impression with the double win to me would be a three-way at Mania, but we’ll see.
KEVIN OWENS VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER FOR THE IC TITLE
Good match. The crowd was pretty hot with it being in Cleveland which is Ziggler’s home town. Owens retained and they said they were on the road to KO Mania. There was some commentary talking about how Owens never beat Ambrose to win the title. The finish was clean with Ziggler missing a superkick and Owens using the pop up power bomb.
BIG SHOW & KANE & RYBACK VS. BRAUN STROWMAN & ERICK ROWAN & LUKE HARPER
Show & Kane & Ryback won when Ryback pinned Harper clean with the shellshock. The match was better than it sounds as it was solid even when Strowman and Rowan were in. Show pressed Harper overhead and three him out of the ring on Rowan & Strowman. It wasn’t a complete press. Show then gave Strowman a great looking spear on the floor.
Roman Reigns did a promo with JoJo. The fans booed him a lot. He vowed to win and said a lot of things will change with he and Ambrose. Ambrose showed up and was cheered heavily. Ambrose said one of them will be on the road to WrestleMania and the other will have to hitchhike. Amborse said he’s already booked his travel on Priceline. Amborse said that Lesnar won’t win but one of us will.
CHARLOTTE VS. BRIE BELLA FOR THE DIVAS TITLE
The crowd was super behind Brie because of the Daniel Bryan sympathy. In fact, they were super into this late, more than anything on the show so far when she got a near fall with the X-factor, as well as near submissions with the Yes lock and a half crab. The story is that Brie hurt her left leg doing a missile dropkick, and she couldn’t continue the half crab and Charlotte powered out and Brie caught her neck on the roipes. Charlotte then won with the figure eight. Again, better than you’d think. Rough early but the last few minutes were quite good.
Chris Jericho did an interview and said Styles’ future rides in his hands because if he loses review to him it’ll be his second straight loss and it could derail him. He made the wins and losses aspect of this match feel important.
A.J. STYLES VS. CHRIS JERICHO
As far as the layout and intensith at the finish, this was great. The crowd was super into it with dueling chants early as well as into it big the last few minutes. Some spots were scary, some in a good way and just being off on a couple of spots inlcuding a Jericho power bomb spot where he dropped Styles in a scary way. Some good innovative spots including a Styles plancha into a dropkick by Jericho on the floor. The finish saw Jericho kick out of the Styles clash, which was weird doing it this early, and then Styles put him in the calf crusher and Jericho. Jericho did a tremendous job selling the submission before he tapped.
After the match Jericho stared him down and teased attacking him. Jericho pulled back his fist and AJ respohnded but then Jericho offered his hand.
Edge & Christian were out with The New Day. Edge & Christian plugged their TV show and Edge said he wanted to get serious for a minute and referenced Lance Storm. The crowd chanted “JNew Day Rocks.” Edge said when you showed up at first I’ve never seem so much chocolate sound so vanilla. Said they copied every Edge & Christian segment, replacing awesomeness with booty, sunglasses with unicorn horns. Said we don’t rip on sports teams and then said LeBooty James will never win a title in this city. They made fun of Kingston dropping his Jamaican accent. Who is better than the New Day. Made fun of Ascension, Usos, Dudleys and the League of Booty. Seemed to push League of Nations vs. New Day. Woods said say they’re trying to stir the pot but we already cooked the meal Woods called the League of Nations are hot garbage. Woods said we’ll say it to their face if they were here. Then all four of them came out and we’ve got a new program. The New Day left. King Barrett then threatened Edge & Christian. Sheamus called them hip replacement candidates and Justin Beiber candidates. Del Rio said I kicked your ass an forced you to retire. Edge joked he did more in the last five years than Del Rio. Edge & Christian left the ring and called them the International House of Dumbassees. They plugged their show right after Fast Lane. Edge & Christian had some great lines in this, but it went way too long.
R-TRUTH VS. CURTIS AXEL
The other three Outcasts were running around the ring. Goldust came out. Goldust threw Slater into the barricade and threw Adam Rose into the ring. Rose being in the ring distracted R-Truth and Axel pinned him with a schoolboy with tights. R-Truth was mad at Goldust when it was over. It was over in 2:00.
The Vince face on the award makes it seem like it’s an angle to show up Vince.
BROCK LESNAR VS. ROMAN REIGNS VS. DEAN AMBROSE
Crazy great match. Lesnar destroyed both of them with German suplexes early until he made a mistake and then The Shield power bombed Lesnar through a table. When Lesnar started to recover they put him through a second table. The crowd was super into Ambrose vs. Reigns and they were great working together. The crowd was completely behind Ambrose of course. Reigns was booed heavily here and Lesnar was cheered the most of the three. Reigns kicked out of Dirty Deeds. Reigns had Ambrose up for the Samoan drop when Lesnar German suplexed both. Ambrose landed right on Reigns’ head. The finish saw Reigns hit the spear on Lesnar, but Lesnar, who was booked as a Super monster, grabbed a Kimura. Reigns was about to tap but powered Lesnar up. Ambrose came in and nailed both guys with about five chair shots each. Lesnar rolled out of the ring. Reigns then hit the spear on Ambrose for the pin.
The show ended with Reigns and HHH in the ring doing a staredown with the Mania sign in the background.
The biggest news of the last few weeks seems to not really revolve around WWE Fast Lane, taking place this Sunday. Titus O’Neil being suspended, Daniel Bryan retiring and a whole bunch of other news seems to have put this show in the back burner. On paper, this looks like a fun card. But in terms of presentation and execution, it feels a bit lackluster. There’s big stipulations on the line, but it seems clear who will be taking on Triple H at WrestleMania. The February PPV is always aimed to kick off the buildup towards WrestleMania. Will this card do that, or will we simply see a bunch of matches that will eventually lead us towards that build in the last few weeks before WrestleMania?
Staff roundtable for this month (along with their current Pickem stats!):
United States Championship: Kallisto vs. Alberto del Rio (2 out of 3 Falls Match)
Bryan Rose: This feels like a nothing feud. I think Alberto del Rio has won the last two weeks in generic tags, including pinning Kallisto. For Kallisto, it’s one of these pushes where they had something, but then because he’s small, “has to fight for every win”, which is WWE code for he loses a lot. When Kallisto initially won the title it was a really cool moment because it was something WWE almost never does, and gave Kallisto instant credibility as a new guy they can move towards. A month later, Kallisto is back to feeling like just another guy on the roster. And now that Sin Cara is back teaming with him, most likely this is the match where Alberto regains the championship.
Winner: Alberto del Rio
Alan O’Brien: This is the toughest match on the card to call, for me. With the feud already 50/50ed at two apiece, the only booking hint one can point to is the string of losses The Lucha Dragons have sustained at the hands of Del Rio’s League of Nations in recent weeks. Beating Kalisto with this regularity might ordinarily indicate that he’s keeping the strap, given they way they think; but he’s only taken the fall himself on a single occasion. As such, I’m taking a shot in the dark here really; Del Rio to win by nefarious means, potentially leading into the Wrestlemania rematch nobody wanted. Let’s face it, he’s got nothing going on at the minute, while Kalisto has the fallback of his newly returned tag team partner.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
PeachMachine: I’m taking Kalisto. I just don’t think Al of the River will have what it takes to keep the young spry luchador at bay. Plus my guess is that they are disbanding the League of Nations, and hopefully changing it to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. They’ve already got the Beast (Rusev), the Scientist (technically chemist if you look at Del Rio’s bod), and the Invisible Man (Sheamus).
Winner: The man under Kalisto’s mask
James Cox: Who knows what they are planning to do with any of these League of Nations guys. It’s been enough of a ‘push’ to make Wade Barrett give notice. Does that mean they change things up? Probably not. I think they need to blow this feud off and keep the title on Kalisto for a while. 2 out of 3 falls matches tend to be a bit pointless and this one feels the same: it means they can keep Del Rio strong by having Kalisto steal a win – the ideal way to book a champion, right?
Winner: Kalisto
Kyle S. Johnson: I had, honest to god, completely forgotten these two were having a match until I started writing my predictions. Kalisto has already started teaming with Sin Cara again, and he’s done almost nothing of note since getting the U.S. Championship back at the Rumble, so he’s already cooled off quite a bit from the buzz he built for himself at TLC. The fact that there is at least a fallback direction for Kalisto while Del Rio suddenly feels completely without purpose leads me to believe that Alberto is just going to win the belt back here and take it into Wrestlemania. Neither guy seems to be angled to do anything different moving forward, so I wouldn’t be shocked if they just wind up wrestling again in Dallas, perhaps in a in a luchas de apuestas.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Steve Khan: I thought Del Rio would retain at the Rumble since it seemed like the long-term plan was to have the belt on him. Kalisto’s win was likely just to stretch this out until Sin Cara got back. I’m not sure why Kalisto can’t be U.S. Champion and in a good tag-team at the same time, but apparently he can’t.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Diva’s Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Brie Bella
Bryan Rose: I’ve actually kind of liked the build towards this. I mean yeah, alright, it’s basically piggybacking off the Daniel Bryan stuff from a week ago. But the interview segment they had on Raw was one of the better angles they’ve done in this division as of late, and it does give Brie Bella some babyface credibility at a time when she’s probably needed it the most since her character as a whole is largely inconsistent. I don’t see Bella winning since she has intentions on leaving, though they could do the swerve win to honor Daniel Bryan. I think they have plans for what’s going down at WrestleMania, however, and I don’t think Brie fits into them.
Winner: Charlotte
Alan O’Brien: While it’s possible they may give Brie her pre-retirement “moment”, I think it’s far more likely that they will opt to stretch Charlotte’s reign ahead of her inevitable ‘Mania triple threat match against Sasha and Becky. Giving the strap to Brie for a cup of coffee doesn’t really do anyone any favours.
Winner: Charlotte
PeachMachine: I think Brie Bella will win. WWE wants to capitalize on the D. Bryan momentum. Even though Charlotte’s abs look similar to Lesnar’s, I like B. Danielson to take home the Labia title.
Winner: Sweet D.
James Cox: It makes sense to put the title on Brie here. They can take it off her before she leaves but her and Daniel Bryan to celebrate in the ring together seems like a good way to go. She has won it before, but they can still make it look like a big deal – especially with Nikki out injured and Bryan having just retired. If they wanted, I guess they could even build this up to a retirement match/angle at WrestleMania or this summer.
Winner: Brie Bella
Kyle S. Johnson: This has been an unusual month or so for the women of the WWE. All signs seemed to be pointing to building Sasha vs. Charlotte at Wrestlemania while possibly keeping Becky Lynch in the picture at the same time, and then the next thing you know, Becky and Sasha are buddying up and Charlotte is wrestling Brie on a one-week build. Giving a suddenly-face Brie a championship match out of nowhere after being beaten constantly for three months would be a mind-boggling (if not completely unsurprising) development were it not for the retirement of Daniel Bryan, but having Charlotte beat Brie and then move on to a three-way with Becky and Sasha at Mania seems like the logical end-game here.
Winner: Charlotte
Steve Khan: This worked out nicely as a quick program for Charlotte, who can successfully defend her belt while they set up Banks and/or Lynch for a Mania title match. There’s no reason for Brie to win. The match itself should be ok, and all the Yes chants should help.
Winner: Charlotte
AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho
Bryan Rose: This is going to be pretty good. Presentation wise I’ve kind of hated this feud as they keep calling him the “Rookie Redneck” and “the Pitbull” because he’s a) short and has to fight for everything he has (sound familiar?), b) from Georgia and c) has wrestled everywhere but WWE. Aside from all that, AJ has been good, not great in his WWE run so far. Maybe with more time and a PPV atmosphere, AJ and Styles can go out there and have a fantastic match. I don’t think Jericho needs the win in this series, so I’m giving it to Styles.
Winner: AJ Styles
Alan O’Brien: Possible show-stealer here, given how much of an upgrade the second match was on the disappointing first. The result is in no doubt, however; Styles victory all the way, with the added potential of a post-match Jericho heel turn.
Winner: AJ Styles
PeachMachine: Jericho. AJ is getting over too fast. WWE hates success and money.
Winner: The fans (sniiiiiiffffffffffff)
James Cox: I don’t really mind what they do, this and the main event make this show worth watching. I assume that they are going to spin this feud out to WrestleMania – and so they should. 50/50 booking ‘logic’ says that Jericho gets a win here. Styles should win at WrestleMania to keep the fans happy.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Kyle S. Johnson: This should be great. Say what you will about the build, with the ridiculous sub-branding of AJ Styles as a “pitbull” and a “redneck rookie” and the involvement of The Miz, but this could very well be the match of the show by a wide margin if given the right amount of time and the right approach. Beating AJ doesn’t make any sense here unless the plan is to have these two wrestle again at Wrestlemania, and while I would have no complaints if that would be the ultimate direction, it would still make more sense to have Styles win and Jericho make a full heel turn after the fact to lead into their next match. I expect these two to go in with the goal of having the best match on the show, and if that’s what they have in mind, there’s no reason to suspect they won’t deliver.
Winner: AJ Styles
Steve Khan: Whatever the plan is with Jericho, Styles has to win this match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Ryback, Kane and Big Show vs. The Wyatt Family (Erik Rowan, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman)
Bryan Rose: I fell asleep during the main event from Raw. And from what I’ve heard, I didn’t miss much. This is just not very compelling in the least bit. It’s all designed for Vince McMahon’s latest pet project, Braun Strowman. He’s tall. That’s all you need to know about why Vince likes the guy. I’m sure he’ll develop into something good, as it does seem like he has a ton of potential and has a good look, but I just think out of everyone you signed, you pushed this guy because…he’s tall. Well, whatever. I don’t have any other thoughts on this match other than I hope it’s short because as a match, it looks like it has zero potential to be anything but plodding. Wyatts win.
Winners: Wyatts
Alan O’Brien: The only winner here is Vince, with these six hosses bound to “set a methodical pace”, as Good Ol’ JR used to say. I cannot possibly fathom anything other than a victory for Strowman et al. Only the Edge/Christian/New Day segment could possibly be more “bowling shoe ugly” than this one is sure to be.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
PeachMachine: Uh, BIG SHOW! He’s got the Knock Out Punch! It’s literally the best finisher ever. He’s super big and strong and hits you super hard and knocks people out. He should be all the champions.
Winner: The Impressive Spectacle, Kane, and Growth Hormone or whatever his name is
James Cox: So Big Show said on the Stone Cold Podcast that he reckoned he had another two years left. What about Kane? I figure he’s only back due to all the injuries on the roster. I could see him bowing out at WrestleMania, but I don’t know who against. Wyatts don’t need to win here because they’re going to interfere in the main event, but I’ll say that they do because otherwise there are too many babyface wins on this card.
Winner: Wyatts
Kyle S. Johnson: Big Show was pretty great on Austin’s podcast on Monday. This feud, on the other hand, has not been great. At all. There has been absolutely nothing done in the past four weeks to make me care about anyone involved in this match, apart perhaps from Ryback’s ridiculous sunset flip thing on Luke Harper last Monday. Kane, Show, and The Big Guy have no direction whatsoever leading into Wrestlemania, so having them go over here makes no sense. I presume that the Wyatts will come out looking strong so that Bray can ultimately lose to somebody (probably Brock) at Wrestlemania.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Steve Khan: This show seems awfully predictable, and with Bray not in this match, I could see this as an opening for the good guys to win and surprise everyone. That would be pretty dumb though, and this is the time of year the company does fewer dumb things than usual.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bryan Rose: On paper, this sounds great. Owens is a really special performer. Ziggler is great. But here is the problem: I’ve seen this. They’ve had two very long, pretty great matches on Raw in the last two weeks. Ziggler won both of those cleanly. Now, I understand all of that was build towards this match. But it doesn’t forego the fact that I’ve seen this. A lot of times. I’m sure it’ll be great, but the build towards this has been lackluster, and they haven’t given me much reason why I should care about a third outing when Ziggler’s beaten him twice. I say Owens retains, but who knows.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Alan O’Brien: Ziggler has beaten Owens twice; that alone, in 50/50 land, is evidence enough that Owens will be getting one of his wins back on Sunday. Add to that the fact that he will have held the strap for less than a week and you’ve got yourself a lock.
Winner: Kevin Owens
PeachMachine: I like Ziggler here. I feel like they put the belt on KO just because they want him to drop it to Zigs and do the double turn and the rematch at mania.
Winner: The Z-man jr.
James Cox: Kevin Owens to retain. Longer term, it would be good to see Owens and Styles go at it. Ziggler doesn’t need a title, but if they do give it to him, they ought to turn him heel. Owens at Ziggler at Mania would be fine but there are more exciting options. I hope they are creative with the finish; Owens’ PPV matches have always seemed to offer something fresh since he started with the company.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Kyle S. Johnson: These two are probably going to have a really fun match, but having seen this so many times already in the span of a month kills a lot of the intrigue, even if those matches were also a lot of fun. This match certainly would have a bigger air about it if Ziggler was booked better, but he hasn’t been, so it doesn’t. Owens just won the belt on Monday, and he’s not going to lose it here. Here’s hoping that this feud ends with the quickness and the next weeks lead to Owens vs. Zayn at ‘Mania.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Steve Khan: Owens should win and he probably will.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina
Bryan Rose: I don’t really have much to say about this. Just seems like filler in between whatever the real Diva’s title match is going to be at WrestleMania. Sasha and Becky as the team that doesn’t always get along is so tired, especially after they’ve broken up all the teams they set up in the summer over the last few months. They get the win, maybe leading to a three way with Charlotte for the Diva’s title at WrestleMania. That’d be a nice story, to see the NXT women from last year headline their division at WrestleMania a year later.
Winners: Lynch and Banks
Alan O’Brien: This match surely only exists to build Sasha and Becky for their slated triple threat match at ‘Mania with champion, Charlotte. Anything other than a victory for the babyfaces would be a bafflingly strange outcome.
Winner: Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks
PeachMachine: Banks. I hate Lynch. She’s disgusting and terrible. Sasha’s entrance music is the greatest thing since declaring that you rule in 6th grade. “I’m on top of the playground! I rule!” Yes you do, Billy. You rule.
Winner: Sasha Banks only
James Cox: I think that Naomi and Tamina should win this to finally break up this on-again, off-again nonsense between Banks and Lynch. Banks ought to be involved at WrestleMania, in front of that kind of crowd she’ll be beloved.
Winners: Naomi & Tamina
Kyle S. Johnson: What can you say about this cobbled together placeholder match? Banks and Lynch should be primed for a three-way Divas Championship match at Wrestlemania, so I expect them to tease dissention as a team but ultimately get a convincing win to put them into position.
Winners: Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch
Steve Khan: A threeway at Mania seems likely, but even if it isn’t, Lynch and Banks should both go over strong. I can see a double submission spot as the finish (Lynch with the Disarmer, Sasha with the Bank Statement).
Winner: Lynch & Banks
Winner Goes to Headline WrestleMania: Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
Bryan Rose: This is supposed to be a match that causes a lot of intrigue, but for me it’s more along the lines of…well, this is predictable. Not that predictable is bad, because when WWE is unpredictable things could be worse. But I think I mostly know how this’ll go. Wyatt will come out and allow Reigns to get the win, probably over Ambrose. What they do with Ambrose after this will be the most interesting thing coming out of this match, as they’ve been teasing a turn between him and Reigns forever. It’ll be interesting to see if it actually happens. Even though the intrigue of the match isn’t completely there, I think if they go all out this could actually steal the show. If that actually happens or not, we’ll have to wait and see! Roman wins, though, as HHH/Reigns is the only match I see headlining WrestleMania at this point.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Alan O’Brien: Gotta go with the predictable outcome here, I’m afraid. Dean is in the match to take the fall. Lesnar may also be further protected by finding himself taken out of the equation by the Wyatts. Roman’s pinfall victory over his “brother” will both propel him to ‘Mania and fuel Ambrose’s future heel turn. Finally, HHH’s receipt of the Legacy of Excellence Award on Monday night will serve to restart he and Roman’s oh-so-thrilling program. Yay. Looking forward to six weeks of the insecure nerd telling Reigns he should have a bone through his nose, before hitting him with the Pedigree and pinning him after lying around for five minutes. Or not, whatever.
Winner: Roman Reigns
PeachMachine: Trips comes to the ring, tosses Lesnar the belt, he drills Romanowski with it for the KO and the win, and Lesnar joins the Authority and is expected to lay down for the game at Mania. And he does with no qualms. HHH is champion forever. Winner: No one.
James Cox: WWE generally do what is obvious every year en route to WrestleMania. No difference here. Wyatts take out Lesnar and Reigns beats Ambrose. I think the tease an Ambrose/Reigns turn but save it for later. Before the interruptions and post-match shenanigans, I think this will be a great match. All I’ll say, is thank god for Brock Lesnar.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Kyle S. Johnson: I have to give credit where it’s due in that WWE would be doing a great job of convincing the audience that Brock or Dean might win this match…were it not for the fact that Roman winning is the only possible outcome. Granted, that’s not a bad thing: the story demands Roman against Triple H at Wrestlemania, and so that’s what we’re going to get. What will be interesting is to see how this match is constructed, and how much it teases Ambrose potentially turning heel. Roman’s win will likely be set up by The Wyatts laying out Lesnar as he is primed to win (even if that completely disregards the endless months of Bray’s “anyone but you” mantra), and it makes sense for Dean to take the pin and use the loss as fuel for a vendetta against his former partner after he takes the title back at Wrestlemania.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Steve Khan: So this should be interesting. They’ve done a good job of focusing on the two guys not named Roman Reigns, leading us to think maybe he won’t win. But he probably will. They’ve changed plans before, but at this point they might as well go with Reigns and Triple H. If the Wyatts cost Lesnar the match, that will cheapen Reigns’ win, so they have to be careful. The Wyatts could abduct Lesnar near the end of the match, leaving it down to Reigns and Ambrose. Reigns can pin Ambrose again, leading to Ambrose’s turn down the line.
Report by Jonathan Leung, thank you also to John Gugarty and Jim Caldwell.
I attended tonight’s NXT show in Albany. Crowd size, at least visually, seemed significantly bigger than their show last May. The wait to get into the Armory was wrapped around at least a few blocks.
Both the merchandise and food stands were immediately packed upon entry, which pushed the scheduled 7:30 PM belltime back a few minutes. Ring announcer Dasha Fuentes talked with a few fans and held a contest to see who knew the most NXT trivia.
Asuka beat Eva Marie with the Asuka Lock
Asuka got a good reaction while Eva Marie got her usual big time heat. Eva Marie looked a bit lost at times and her timing wasn’t the greatest, but it was a fine opener.
Apollo Crews beat Alex Riley with the Backdrop Powerbomb
Decent to good match. The crowd liked Crews and his impressive moves, but he seems to be missing that special something right now.
Carmella beat Peyton Royce with the Headscissors Choke
Carmella was over, but the match was pretty subpar to be honest. Royce’s offense was very basic.
Enzo & Big Cass beat the Vaudevillains with the Rocket Launcher on Aiden English
Really good tag match that got the “This is Awesome” chant towards the end. Enzo & Big Cass were over huge and the Vaudevillains played good heels. Both teams should get a shot on the main roster.
Intermission
Sami Zayn beat Elias Samson with the Helluva Kick
Samson is not good at all. Crowd didn’t like him, his offense was basic, and he blew an over-the-top-rope spot pretty badly. On the other hand, Zayn did everything he could to make it watchable and keep the crowd engaged. A one man show in every sense of the word. Probably the best performance of the night.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Alexa Bliss with the Bayley-to-Bayley to retain
Good match. Bayley was unsurprisingly super over and the crowd sang some of the usual support songs for her. Bliss had some nice moments in the match, including a backflip double knee drop and a sunset flip bomb out of the corner that got nice applause. Bayley though was the star and just connects with the crowd like almost nobody in NXT.
NXT Champion Finn Balor & Austin Aries beat Baron Corbin & Samoa Joe when Balor pinned Corbin with the Bloody Sunday.
Big reactions for all four. Corbin got good heel heat and not the “You can’t wrestle” heat he had last time in Albany. A methodical pace to start, but things picked up towards the end. Aries seemed on a mission to impress from the get go. Balor sold the ankle after a double stop, but overall seemed like he was close to 100%.
Fun post main event ending as Balor gave props to Aries, Zayn, Carmella, Enzo, and Big Cass. He then said he was looking for someone and went around ringside and the entrance way, then to the back. Over the mic, he asked Enzo, Big Cass, Carmella, and Zayn if they saw the person he was looking for and they all said no in their own unique ways…
…which led to a spotlight being shown on Bayley at the entrance way. Balor then came out in Bayley gear to her entrance music and inflatable tube men theatrics. They both got in the ring where Bayley took off her jacket to reveal a Balor Club shirt. Bayley jokingly told Balor how cute he was and asked him what Finn 3:16 was. Balor said that Finn 3:16 says that I just hugged your ass and he proceeded to hug tackle Bayley to the ground to a big pop. The two then greeted fans at ringside to end things.
Overall, a good show and a really cool way to end things. I’ve been a number of WWE live events around NY in the past few years and there hasn’t been any of the post-match antics that have occured in the past or in other cities. It was basically all business and drive home safely. You can’t help but notice that NXT is such a different and fun environment.
Neville and Zack Ryder def. Stardust and Tyler Breeze by pinfall
Jerry Lawler takes his opportunity, during the entrances, to drop his new nickname for his announcing partnership with Rich Brennan: “The King and The Thing”. Lawler reckons that this new moniker is likely to trend far better than #woowoowoo. No arguments here.
Briefer opening match than usual here, with six-and-a-half minutes aired either side of a commercial break. The heels got the heat on Neville for a while, during which Lawler denigrated the Englishman’s appearance, comparing it unfavourably to Breeze’s good looks. Brennan questions the relevance of such matters, to which King replies that a man with a “face for radio” is always likely to sympathise with those of his own kind.
Hot tag to Ryder leads into an unusual spot, where Stardust appears to set Zack up for the Queen’s Crossbow, only to hit a reverse DDT instead. Perhaps he momentarily forgot the finish, which saw Neville tag in, hit him with a superkick and land a Red Arrow for the victory.
Nothing much to this one. Brennan wraps it up by saying that “ the week gets worse” for Stardust and Breeze, who both failed to win the Fatal-5-Way match for the Intercontinental Title on RAW. The fact that both men were booked in that match in the first place, despite their respective win/loss records, is, of course, completely ridiculous.
Paige def. Summer Rae by submission
50/50 time! Both women got promo time before this RAW rematch, as Summer bizarrely claimed that as the Divas Revolution has been going on, she’s been “beating them all”, including the people’s “goth goddess”. In reality, her last televised victory before Monday’s win over Paige was an April 2015 defeat of Emma on this very show.
Paige responds by listing her title credentials, adding that she “didn’t have to dance to do that”. Sick burn. Paige attacks Summer viciously early on, following up by mocking Summer’s entrance dance as her opponent flees to the ramp. Paige chases her down and throws her back in the ring, only for Summer to gain the advantage with a leg lariat, which she follows up with a loooooong headlock. The King alleviates the boredom here by continuing to push #TheKingAndTheThing.
Paige’s comeback includes her running knee that looks like it will inevitably do some serious damage at some stage. The finish sees her block another leg lariat attempt, before hitting a superkick and locking on the PTO for the tap.
– The Social Outcasts are out for an in-ring promo, complaining about their omission from the Fastlane card; specifically the absence of a New Day title defence. Adam Rose lists off all the tag teams that the champs will not defend against on Sunday, including “Radwolf” and “The MadHappy Connection”.
Heath Slater, who is apparently the Moron Whisperer, divines from this that “Radwolf” refers to the Radical Mongoose (Rose) and the Crimson Werewolf (Slater), while the “MadHappy Connection” refers to Axel and Bo. Because one is mad and one is happy. Meanwhile, I am raging to Alex Riley level proportions that I have agreed to document total and complete bilge of this magnitude.
The New Day then interrupt to inflict more terrible “comedy” upon me. Big E reckons that no-one cares about the Outcasts’ nicknames (he’s right there) and calls them “booty”. Bo responds that he’s “a booty”, which results in an argument about removing the article from the insult. Kofi then does a completely terrible bit decrying the idea of babies teaching adults to walk and caterpillars teaching butterflies to fly, which mercifully ends in Slater finally extending a challenge. Jesus, that was terrible. Like, honestly, from a company that has no earthly idea how to write comedy in 2016 (see the Truth/Goldust skits), that segment might have been the worst yet.
The New Day def. Curtis Axel, Heath Slater and Adam Rose w/Bo Dallas on commentary by pinfall
Bo politely greets “Mr. Rich” and “Mr. King” as he takes his place at the announce desk, happily declaring that he’s delighted to be working with “The King and The Thing”. Lawler practically bubbles over with pride that his nickname is getting over.
The match was about what you’d expect from 15 minutes of two heel teams taking turns to get the heat. Very dull. I’m sure Mr. Belding, who Lawler pointed out in the crowd early on, was far from impressed.
It’s Xavier Woods’ turn to get beat on in the early part of the match. The Outcasts dodge interference from his buddies before the break, prompting a slow-motion, Chariots of Fire style, Bo Train, which Bo himself leaves the desk to join. After the break, Bo bemoans the fact that he forgot to high five Belding on the way. King helpfully recommends that he high five Rich in the face instead to compensate.
Woods eventually “hot” tags Big E, which leads to the second heat portion of the match; Adam Rose the victim this time. Eventually, Big E misses an apron splash to Rose, allowing the…ahem….”Radical Mongoose” to spinebuster Woods. The chains are then very much removed, as Axel gets another “hot” tag and cleans house. A Perfect Plex gets two before the bewildering finishing sequence kicks into gear.
Kofi hits a dropkick to Axel, before going to the top as legal man Woods places a prone Ax-Man back-first on his knee. Bo then feels it necessary to distract the ref, while Rose pushes Kofi off the top, despite the fact that interference has been ongoing throughout the match with no consequences. Axel then looks to finish Woods with an O’Connor Roll, but Woods reverses it, grabbing a handful of tights to secure the victory. What a mess.
Final Thoughts
The first half of the show was inoffensive, but the second half – particularly the Outcasts/New Day promo exchange – was dreadful. I have no earthly idea how anyone can write this kind of material down on paper and think it’s funny. Nor do I see any sense in booking a 15 minute heel vs. heel tag team featured contest. Mind boggling stuff.
Good opening match. Back and forth at the start, with Asuka obviously being the unstoppable force in the ring. Bliss would roll out of the ring, however, and eventually catch Asuka. She then began to get the heat for the match. As Asuka’s comeback began, Alexa slapped her much like Diana Pirazzo did this past week on the show. The crowd responded with a “You F*cked Up Chant”. Asuka eventually hooked the Asuka Lock and won.
Apollo Crews vs. Alex Riley
Perhaps the match that the crowd was least interested in. It went on for a bit, and while it wasn’t a bad match, it did not do much to captures the attention of the crowd. Apollo defeated Riley with his Powerbomb finisher.
Carmella vs. Peyton Royce
Carmella came out to a huge ovation from the crowd. As she began her usual mic entrance, she made to correct herself from “the princess of Staten Island” to “the princess of New Jersey”. Peyton Royce came out with her flower gimmick, and as soon as the match started she would hit a move and then sniff the flower. This happened a couple of times before the ref took away the flower and put it in the corner. This led to Carmella eventually taking the flower and taunting Peyton with it. Carmella won with her headscissors submission.
Enzo & Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillians
Biggest pop of the night definitely went to Enzo and Big Cass. These guys are massively over in both NY and NJ, and they should definitely be brought to the main roster in front of one of those crowds. The match was any other Enzo and Big Cass match. Enzo took most of the match, tagged in Cass, and then pinned Aiden with the Rocket launcher.
Austin Aries vs. Elias Sampson
Sampson came out to perform a song for the crowd in Asbury about how New Jersey sucked. The hatred that fans possess for Sampson is similar to the way they hate Eva Marie. After a couple of minutes, Austin Aries name appeared on the set as his music hit. The crowd went nuts for Aries. The match was definitely Sampson’s best. Aries had many spots where he could show off his athleticism and ultimately won the match using his discus elbow smash.
NXT Champion Bayley vs. Eva Marie
Eva came out first, obviously to very heavy boos. A lot of “you can’t wrestle” chants before the match even started. Bayley came out to another huge reaction from this crowd. This match was a lot better than I expected, which could be credited to Bayley or Eva simply getting better. There were no spots that seemed obviously botched, and it seemed very well thought-out. Bayley hit a Bayley-to-belly out of nowhere for the win.
Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin vs. NXT Champion Finn Balor & Sami Zayn
Definitely the best match of the night, which is no shock given the talent involved. A lot of the match involved the heels distracting the ref so the other heel could cheat. Sami had a great spot where the heels were both outside of the ring and he was about to dive onto them, but they both dove out of the way so Sami did a flip back into the center of the ring. The crowd was very happy that Finn was there and wrestling. The finish of the match was interesting. Finn does a blind tag as Sami helluva kicks Corbin (non-legal man) while he’s on the apron. Sami then gives another helluva kick to Joe and Finn gives him the Bloody Sunday for the pin.
The match was followed by a cute segment where Sami put on Finn’s jacket and acted like him. Then Finn put on Sami’s hoodie and hat. Finn made a subtle dig at Sami by saying in order to dress like him he would need the NXT Championship.
Slow paced for much of first half picked up in second half after close to 20 min of ring time. Ziggler wins via pin after hitting zig zag.
WWE Tag Champions The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Usos.
The New Day retains via pin after Dudleyz hit 3D on an Uso and clear Dudleyz of the ring. Pretty solid 11+ min match.
Rusev w/Lana vs. Neville
Lana cuts pre-match promo of basically nothing. Nothing special here. Rusev wins via submission with the accolade after 9 mins.
The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt ringside) vs. Big Show, Ryback, & Kane
Big Show gets big pop after a hot tag. Ryback, Kane, and Big Show win via pin after Big Show choke slam on Erick Rowan. Luke Harper walked off to back right before end of match. Possible injury? Could be nothing.
Team B.A.D. vs. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks with special guest referee Alicia Fox
Sasha and Becky win via submission after Naomi taps out to banks statement. Solid 8 min match. Good ring work from Sasha here.
I-C Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose
Ambrose gets biggest pop of night so far. Ambrose wins by DQ after chair shot after 11 mins. Owens retains. Owens cuts promo about “losers from Ohio” and Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds to send Owens packing.
Street fight: Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns
Big pop for Reigns though not sure it beat out Ambrose (because Ambrose from Ohio possibly?). Kendo stick, chair, and tables involved. Each man goes through table. Reigns wins via pin after spearing Sheamus through table. Good 23+ min match.
With the second-ever WWE Fastlane Sunday night, what better time to look at the state of WWE one year ago than by watching last year’s show? This is a read-a-long to be enjoyed while watching said WWE PPV on the WWE Network…or the DVD if you’re still buying those.
It’s interesting to look and see the positioning of guys on the card one year ago. As you may recall, the main event was a match between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. It’s sad to think that the recently retired Bryan was at the top of his game just a year ago — positioned as the guy to get Reigns over for his main event at Wrestlemania 31.
Let’s go back to February 22nd at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN, and look at the main talking points from each match.
The Authority (Seth Rollins/Kane/Big Show) w/Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury vs. Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback
What a team of babyfaces. The reaction to Rowan was non-existent.
This was a fine match, but nothing special because nobody cares about anyone in this mix. Dolph got the mild tag from Ryback, and went wild until Big Show KO’d Ziggler and Kane pinned him.
Show’s punch was replayed in slow motion which showed how obviously Ziggler jumped into it. Hilarious.
Seth hit the curb stomp on Zig post match to get their heat back, until Randy Orton ran in and cleaned house. RKOs out of everywhere!
Stardust vs. Goldust
Finally the match between the Rhodes brothers nobody asked for!
Dusty was shown giving Goldust a pep talk before the match which was pretty cool.
Remember Cody’s new body from five years ago? He wrestled this match shirtless. My guess is that it was shortly after this match where big brother grabbed little brother’s ear and revealed to him the secret of longevity in wrestling: the full body suit. “It’s great, Cody. You never have to work out or tan or eat good. Sure you have to scrape paint flakes out of your eyes every morning, but look at me! I got Terri Runnels with this physique!”
This had a weird ending. Gold rolled up Star and the referee counted one, two, and then didn’t hit the mat for the three, but Star’s shoulders were definitely down for three and so the ref hopped up and said it was a three count and the match was over. I think the storyline was that the ref got paid off by Dusty to end the match early so that his sons would not get hurt. That, or they blew the finish.
Cody beat down Dustin after the match in front of the Dream.
WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey and James) w/ Naomi vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro w/ Natalya
Facts. Cats. Those are the words on Kidd’s kick pads, because he likes cats AND drops facts. What a gimmick.
Cesaro and Kidd were so great. What awful luck for both of these guys lately. Get well soon!
Cesaro did a one-legged swing with an Uso. That is freaky impressive.
Kidd hooked in the Sharpshooter and got superkicked. Jimmy got the visual fall on Kidd as the action spilled outside. This match is getting good.
Then, just like that, it’s over. Kidd hits an Uso with a spinning fisherman buster and gets the pin, and the belts. Your new champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro!
Kidd’s tan was Olympic level.
HHH and Sting Face-to-Face
Remember this? Me neither. Boy, Sting dropped off the radar fast.
HHH cut a mighty promo, especially blowhardy today.
Sting came out and got face-to-face with The Game
HHH went for the cheap shot and it broke down into a brawl, leading to a sledgehammer vs. baseball bat standoff. The baseball bat won, for now.
WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella w/ Brie vs. Paige
Paige’s outfit is completely black here. Reebok probably designed it. I like the addition of the blue these days though.
Is the Divas Revolution done? Is everyone good and revolted? I haven’t heard that used in a while. Good thing too. WWE nomenclature is infuriating.
The crowd was absolutely dead for this match, and remember, this is mid Nikki’s record-breaking title reign.
Nikki won with a roll up and a handful of tights.
WWE I-C Champion Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose
Barrett’s music is pretty cool. The League of Nations’ music suuuuuuuuuucks.
Dean Ambrose has the best gimmick. He gets to just show up and simply take off his shirt and he’s ready to wrestle. You know he wears those jeans everywhere, and he’s definitely a guy who really wears wife beater t-shirts. I’m wearing one now. It’s quite comfy. It’s pink too. #PinkLivesMatter #TeamViggity
Barrett is a good wrestler. He’s another guy who is really good but has had just terrible luck with injuries right when he was about to get pushed, along with Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, etc.
Ambrose got DQ’d for using the belt. He laid Barrett out, got caught, got DQ’d, then walked off with the belt anyway. Ha!
Unannounced, the Druids enter the arena. Then the gong hits. I think Glacier is making his debut! No. It’s a casket. Maybe Glacier is in the casket. Nope. It’s Bray Wyatt. Boooooooh.
WWE US Champion Rusev w/ Lana vs. John Cena
Rusev just whipped up on old Johnny boy for a while.
Rusev should have shoes on, specifically the Iron Shiek’s shoes. That would be awesome. (I know they are different countries but who cares?)
People didn’t make a big enough deal about Cena getting away from jorts. That topic needed its own Observer issue. Why did he do it? I predict that within the next five years, jean shorts will come back in style.
They did the yay/boo spot. Rusev needs to start doing the ten punches in the corner spot and count in Russian. It would be amazing if he could get the fans to actually learn to count to ten in Russian.
Rusev and Cena exchange some submissions. Good action.
This was when Rusev was undefeated with like six losses on his record.
Rusev won by technical submission as Cena was passed out in the Accolade so lil Naitch rang the bell.
Cena did this hokey selling post match that got booed. Ha!
Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan to determine the number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
They had a dang good match.
I’m still not sure why Reigns is allowed to wear body armor. That seems like cheating.
I love JBL: “Don’t forget, I know stuff about old boxing.”
It’s a shame Bryan never did the “I’ve got til FIVE!” spot in WWE. I’ll bet Vince nixed that.
Huge belly to back off the top by Bryan into the Yes lock!
Both guys took idiotic bumps outside the ring for a long double down.
I can’t help but believe the crowd is going to be unhappy with this finish.
Bryan with the running knee!
I missed some of the match researching gambling odds on the Oscars.
Does anyone get a redder face than Mike Chioda?
Bryan did the Brie Mode kicks (wink).
Reigns hit a monster spear for the clean pin.
Bryan does the rude put over, getting in Reigns’ face and telling him he’d better kick his (Brock’s) buns.
Summary:
I really don’t like the Fastlane name. It was much better when Elimination Chamber was the February show. I know the argument against doing a gimmick show for the sake of the gimmick, but the Elimination Chamber was always a draw, and Fastlane sounds like some group think garbage that’s been polished over to make it appealing to everyone. That’s a mistake. The more polished something feels, the less real it feels, and thus we find it phony. I hope WWE takes notice of the Daniel Bryan retirement speech and realizes that fans connect to realness, but they probably won’t.
Fun little comedy match, not a lot to it. The two teams did the chicken fight spot with Enzo on Cass’ shoulders and English on Gotch’s shoulders, and then Enzo and English had a fake boxing fight in the middle of the match with Gotch and Cass as the corner men. Got a nice “This is boxing” chant, rather than the “This is wrestling” chant. Cass got the hot tag, they won with the Rocket Launcher.
Carmella vs. Peyton Royce
Carmella isn’t very good, Peyton Royce got very little reaction but wrestled very well. Crowd wasn’t too into this, Carmella won with a Bronco Buster and then her flatliner/headscissors combo for the submission win.
Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson
Drifter got booed to high heaven. Before the match started, he made the announcer hold the microphone so he could play his guitar and sing a song; I heard none of it because the crowd was booing and chanting “Shut the f*ck up” very loudly. Crews is great and why he isn’t a top guy on Raw is beyond me. This was an okay slow paced match, Crews won with his backdrop powerbomb.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss
Bayley was insanely over. She went out into the crowd twice before the match started to hug people and play with the fans. Fans did all of the Bayley songs that all of the other crowds have done, but I found it lame and annoying. This was a decent match, comparable to their TV match from a month or so ago, Bayley won with a Bayley to Belly out of nowhere.
Sami Zayn vs. Alex Riley
Sami was over like crazy, Riley was booed like crazy. Not much to this match at all. Riley got the heat, Sami made his comeback, won with the Helluva Kick. My section had a great time heckling Alex Riley.
Asuka vs. Eva Marie
Eva was also booed to high heaven and tried cutting a promo, but again I couldn’t hear anything over the boos. She is very very bad live. Yikes. She did a few suplexes that looked fine, but everything else she did, moves, strikes, selling, etc, was all bad. And I don’t know who decided to give Eva a 7 minute heat segment in like an 8 minute match, but that was not a good decision. Crowd had fun chanting “Is this wrestling” and “You still got it” to Eva, but I was very bored by this.
Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin vs. NXT Champion Finn Balor & Austin Aries
Joe and Corbin were out first and then Aries’ music hit and the place went crazy. I’ve not seen Aries wrestle much ever, but wow is he good. Him and Joe worked well together, Corbin did a good job with everyone. Corbin almost botched a tilt-a-whirl powerslam spot but saved it. Finn got a hot tag, and they did the spot where Joe has the choke, goes to lay down but Finn rolls out of it and hits a standing double stomp, but then sold the ankle after the move, so good little touch there for him if that was a sell job. Aries got the hot tag after that, cleaned house, and then Balor won after hitting a Bloody Sunday on Corbin for the win. They posed together after the match. This was definitely the best match of the night.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, it was a house show. A little disappointed no American Alpha or Dash and Dawson, and a little upset Sami didn’t wrestle someone better and have a better match, but it was fine. Last year in May in Philly, Bayley was over, but she was just a girl on the roster. Now, she has such an overarching fanbase and is so popular with everyone, including children. And she’s a great wrestler who is really developing a sense with the crowd and how to work with other people. She’s really a superstar. I’d say half the people tonight have so much talent and are capable of being megastars on the main roster. Just remains to be seen what they do with it.
– Air Date: February 18, 2016 (Feb 17 in Canada) – Location: Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA
– The Big News:
Brock Lesnar stood tall over both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, who may not be on the same page anymore.
– Show Recap:
Kevin Owens joined Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler on commentary for the opening match. Cole explained that Mauro Ranallo was attacked with a crowbar ill but would return next week. Owens accused Cole of firing Ranallo because he realized Ranallo was better. After Cole repeated that Ranallo was sick, Owens said he’s sick because he heard Cole’s commentary on Raw.
League of Nations (w/King Barrett) beat Dolph Ziggler & Lucha Dragons via pinfall
Cole confirmed that Kalisto would be defending the U.S. Title on the Fastlane kickoff show in a 2 out of 3 falls match against Alberto Del Rio. Kalisto and Sin Cara did suicide dives to Del Rio and Sheamus. Ziggler followed by doing Dean Ambrose’s flying elbow to Rusev. LON worked over Sin Cara and his shoulder after a break.
Ziggler made the hot tag, ran wild, and did the air guitar thing. Owens accused him of stealing that from Eva Marie, which is amazing. Del Rio and Rusev laid out the Dragons outside the ring, while Ziggler got a near fall on Sheamus after a fameasser. Owens jumped off commentary to distract Ziggler. It worked, and Sheamus killed Ziggler with a Brogue kick for the win. Dumb finish. Owens was great on commentary.
They plugged Brock Lesnar for tonight as well as the main event.
Sasha Banks beat Tamina (w/Naomi) via submission
Tamina came out to the Team BAD theme, unlike on Raw last week. After 2 minutes, Naomi jumped on the apron but Banks knocked her off and hit Tamina with a wheelbarrow bulldog into a crossface for the tapout win. Naomi and Tamina attacked Banks afterwards, but Becky Lynch made the save. As Lynch helped Banks to her feet, she pushed Lynch away and left.
Backstage, Lynch confronted Banks. She said they need to get along at Fastlane, otherwise they’ll lose to Team BAD who will carry that momentum into WrestleMania. Lynch has dreamed about getting her WrestleMania moment, but has had enough of Banks’ ego. Lynch was about to leave, but Banks pulled her back and said they’d never be friends, but she hates to lose. They shook hands. This was not great and it felt overwritten.
Chris Jericho came out and got some “Y2J” chants. He called out AJ Styles to give him an answer, but got The Miz instead. Miz said everyone was tired of Jericho and Styles playing footsie and said he had an announcement. Jericho hoped the announcement was that Miz would take two weeks off and quit.
He asked the crowd if Miz should quit and they chanted “Yes!” Miz said he wasn’t quitting and mentioned something about being at a Grammy party at the Playboy Mansion. His announcement was that Jericho had to face him right now. Jericho punched him with the mic and Miz bailed, leading to a commercial break. Good thing Jericho was in his gear.
Chris Jericho beat The Miz via submission
Jericho won with a Walls of Jericho after a good 12-13 minute match. Afterwards, Jericho grabbed a mic, gave Miz a hand and called him a great performer, but said Y2J came out on top again. He called out Styles again and this time he came out.
Jericho said Styles wants a rematch because he wants to make a name for himself, but it’ll have to come at the expense of someone else. Jericho respects Styles more than anyone in the locker room, calling him one of the best in the business, but Jericho doesn’t like him, so the answer was no.
Styles wasn’t happy and attacked Jericho with strikes, knocking him out of the ring. Jericho jumped back on the apron and Styles tossed the mic back at him, asking if he changed his mind. Jericho said Styles made a stupid mistake. He accepted the match but said Styles would regret it.
Backstage, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose stood in a hallway (waiting for the camera to start rolling, I guess). Reigns chose this exact moment to ask Ambrose if he was alright after losing on Raw. Ambrose said he was fine, it was just a rough week. They bumped fists and Reigns was about to leave to get ready for their match, but stopped to tell Ambrose not to try Dirty Deeds again. Ambrose said it was a joke and thought it was funny.
They parted, and the camera followed Ambrose who immediately ran into Paul Heyman, conveniently standing around the corner. Ambrose was being his usual self, which made Heyman uncomfortable. Heyman told Ambrose that Lesnar was here looking for him. Ambrose feigned concern and asked for advice. Heyman didn’t have any, so Ambrose smiled and said he’d have to figure it out on his own. He told Heyman to make sure Lesnar doesn’t keep him waiting. This might sound fine on paper, but like the Banks-Lynch segment earlier, it felt phony and overwritten.
Elsewhere, Jo-Jo asked New Day about Edge and Christian. In a promo where New Day mocked Edge and Christian for being out of date, Xavier Woods mimicked Allen Iverson’s famous “practice” speech, and Kofi Kingston made a Chappelle’s Show reference. They said it wasn’t the ‘90s, it’s 2016 – the year of the GIF, and they debated the proper pronunciation of “GIF” (both are correct). They sent Jo-Jo away and so they could play the trombone and dance. I didn’t like this.
Non-title: WWE Divas Champion Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) beat Natalya via submission
Charlotte won with the Figure Eight. Afterwards, Charlotte did the Yes chant so Brie Bella ran out. She hit Yes kicks and went for a running knee, but Flair pulled Charlotte out of the ring. Brie held up the title and did more Yes chants and Charlotte yelled “No! No! No!” This was fine.
Another Goldust and R-Truth segment backstage. Truth did a rap informing Goldust he didn’t want to be partners.
The Wyatt Family vs. Big Show, Kane and Ryback was made official for Fastlane. Bray will be in his clan’s corner, not in the actual match.
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat The Dudley Boyz via DQ
Reigns came out last. The Dudleys worked over Ambrose forever until he made the hot tag to Reigns. Reigns sized up D-Von for the superman or spear or whatever when Brock Lesnar’s music hit. Lesnar and Heyman came out, so Ambrose and Reigns faced the stage. The distraction allowed the Dudleys to attack them from behind, but Reigns hit D-Von with a superman punch and Ambrose caught Bubba with a flying elbow. Ambrose hit a suicide dive on D-Von but was attacked by Lesnar for a DQ (I guess).
Reigns and Ambrose ganged up on Lesnar, but Lesnar hit both men with suplexes. Reigns punched Lesnar and went for a spear, but Lesnar moved and Reigns collided with Ambrose. Reigns was about to go back after Lesnar but Ambrose attempted a Dirty Deeds, so Reigns countered with a Samoan drop. Lesnar then picked up Reigns and nailed an F5.
Triple H came out with the title to pose on the stage and Lesnar stood tall at the bottom of the aisle.
Final Thoughts:
Having Brock Lesnar on Smackdown is nice and it appears they really are taking a greater interest in the show. The final angle was fine, but the show overall was just ok.
Raw on Monday night going against the Grammy Awards did not set a record seasonal low, as it did 3.46 million viewers, up from the 3.37 million record low of two weeks ago.
It was still the second lowest number of the last 18 years that wasn’t a holiday or going against football.
It was down six percent from last week, but that has to be considered a good sign overall, since last week didn’t nearly the competition, and featured the Daniel Bryan retirement. The Grammys on CBS did 24,951,000 viewers on average head-to-head.
Raw was the top rated show on cable for the night.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.66 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.54 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.23 million viewers
