‘WWE Fastlane 2019’ PPV Review
Welcome to this review of WWE’s 2019 edition of Fastlane, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a night of weird booking to get to, so get your eye-brow stocked, cocked and ready to fire off a shot of confusion, because this review is starting…why didn’t Sissy Spacek use her Carrie powers in Coal Miner’s Daughter?
The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) beat Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev (w/Lana)
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was good for what it was, but the match just felt like a formality. This match had to share its TV time with some footage of The Miz ushering his father to ring-side for his match later in the card. At least they got to do a few nice moves.
The Usos (Jimmy and Jey): [Still Champions] beat The Miz & Shane McMahon – SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – Apart from a few great moves, this was a dull match that didn’t show enough of The Usos. The turn was the whole point of this match and it worked, except that Miz makes a terrible face. I wish that tag team matches were booked to be important rather than convenient, but that’s the way Vince thinks.
Asuka [Still Champion] beat Mandy Rose (w/Sonya Deville) – SmackDown Woman’s Championship Match
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – Asuka looked good, but beyond that, there was not much here to warrant being on PPV. Rose worked hard, but this match was not the right time for Rose to fight for the title.
The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) beat Kofi Kingston – Handicap Match
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was decent stuff, but it was about as interesting as watching paint dry on a picket fence. They all worked hard, but a random Handicap Match doesn’t usually get the love of the people. The idea was to create another version of the Stone Cold/Mr. McMahon feud, but I’d say that it will work better if Vince allows Kofi to just wrestle in matches that are easy to understand, instead of more of this.
The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) [Still Champions] beat Ricochet & Aleister Black and Chad Gable & Bobby Roode – Raw Tag Team Championship Match
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a good match, but it felt a bit disorganized. The stunts were excellent on the part of Ricochet, but most of this was too tepid for PPV. That being said though, this match was very easy to watch and it did its job well enough.
Samoa Joe beat R-Truth (w/Carmella), Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) and Rey Mysterio – United States Championship Match
My Take: 3 out of 5 – This wasn’t quite as good as the Smackdown version, but it was the best match so far. This felt more like a greatest hits album being played on TV for the Time Life limited offer, due to it just being on move after the other. These guys worked hard and made the most of this match, with Joe coming through as a convincing champion.
Bayley & Sasha Banks beat Nia Jax and Tamina – Women’s Tag Team Championship Match
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was good in its way, but it just couldn’t go beyond what it would have looked like on Raw.
Daniel Bryan (w/Rowan) beat Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali – Triple Threat Match For The WWE World Championship
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was the best match so far and a good one, over-all. These guys kept the pace up all the way through and made this a strong World Title match. I’d say that all of these guys were over enough, but the crowd wanted Kofi in the match. Can you imagine if Vince would let the plethora of Smackdown stars just be fan-favorites? There’s no reason for the WWE World Title to not rival the Raw Women’s Title in popularity at Wrestlemania, not with the great people available to challenge for the title.
Becky Lynch beat Charlotte Flair by disqualification
My Take: 3 out of 5 – This was another good match between these two, but it didn’t quite get to the heights of some of their previous bouts.
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose) beat Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley – Six-Man Tag Team Match
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was a fine way for The Shield to go out. This was one of the trio’s better matches and the crowd gave Roman arguably the best reaction of his career. Speaking of Roman, he looked great in his return and looked thrilled to be back. This worked very well as the main event and sent the crowd home happy. The action was great and there’s no reason to think that this match won’t be remembered in the years to come, thanks to this one delivering the fighting that you’d want from this.
News Of The Night:
- Shane McMahon turned heel on The Miz and attacked him and Miz’s father, George.
- Ronda Rousey cost Charlotte Flair her match with Becky Lynch, giving Lynch a spot in the Raw Women’s Title Match at Wrestlemania.
- Elias had three different singing sessions in the ring.
- AJ Styles attacked Randy Orton after the latter assaulted Elias during his third song.
- Vince McMahon screwed Kofi Kingston out of being the third man in the Fast-Lane WWE World Title Match.
- Mustafa Ali got a mixed reaction when he was added to the WWE World Title Match.
- The Shield’s match was promoted as being the last time the trio would team together.
- EC3 finally talked and it was to hit on Mandy Rose.
- Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville are teased as having some dissention between the two, thanks to the former losing her title match.
- The New Day and Shinsuke Nakamura/Rusev seem to be a feud for the near future.
- Beth Phoenix, who was on commentary for the Women’s Tag Title Match, was attacked by Nia Jax and Tamina. Natalya tried to save Beth, but she got caught in the cross-fire. Nia and Tamina had assaulted Bayley and Sasha Banks after they retained the titles, so Beth was saving the champions lives.
- Rowan attacked Mustafa Ali after the World Title match.
Final Verdict: 3/5
This was too cluttered with half-baked matches to feel like a good baker’s dozen, but there were a couple of real winners here. Most of this just felt like a longer episode of Raw, but a solid one, at least.
