WWE Fastlane Review
The final pay-per-view before WrestleMania 33 has come and gone, so now both Raw and Smackdown can focus on making WrestleMania matches, and we, the WWE Universe, can witness possible greatness. If you thought that the last pay-per-view for Raw was going to be a good one, well.....you're sadly mistaken. Going into the event, looking at the card, it looked to be a good before-WrestleMania show. Yet, once again, Raw falls flat in all categories...except for one group of superstars who stood out and put on a show. As you'll read down below, you'll see who it is.
Best Match of the Night: Neville def. Jack Gallagher for the Cruiserweight Championship
Since coming back to WWE and joining the cruiserweight division, Neville had been unstoppable, winning the title and dominating anyone who has gotten in his way. Since coming in to WWE, Jack Gallagher was funny outside the ring as he was impressive inside it. The title match itself? Well, the Battle of the Brits was a show. You saw the athleticism of both competitors, which for the cruiserweight division is a must need. High flying, daring, and entertaining. Although I would've loved to see Gallagher win the title, he and Neville definitely help cement the cruiserweight's as the best part of the show. Period. The moves that both of them were using were dangerous at times, but also captured the imagination of what the cruiserweight division could actually be on a big stage! This makes me curious to see what the cruiserweight's will do at WrestleMania. Bravo, gentlemen, on a wonderful performance!
Worst Match of the Night: Goldberg def. Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship
Now don't get me wrong, I'm happy that Goldberg won the title. Because now you got Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar for the title at WrestleMania 33. But 21 seconds? C'mon WWE, it was shocking during Survivor Series, but it's gotten pretty old. The way I was expecting this match was these two were going to have a slugfest, powerbombing and spearing one another, then Jericho gets involved and Goldberg wins. Jericho just showed up on stage and that was that. 21. Freaking. Seconds. Ding ding, spear, jackhammer, pin, ding ding, game over man (if you're Owens). If WWE want the Raw main event for WrestleMania, which is looking to be Goldberg/Lesnar, to be the best, then one thing has to happen: regardless who wins, the match must be longer that five minutes! If that doesn't happen, well, I sure hope that SmackDown gets their main event set, because that one could overtake the Showcase of the Immortals rather quickly.
Moment of the Night: Strowman slamming Reigns through Spanish announce table
The reason this was the moment of the night was A) there weren't really a lot of moments that stood out to me; and B) I love it when a table gets destroyed! The way this table was destroyed, however, is impressive. Reigns was attempting for a superman punch outside the ring, when Strowman caught him midair and did a running power slam through the table. The table itself was taken apart early in the match by Strowman. You could say that Braun Strowman flying from the top rope could've been a moment, but that's only if he had hit Roman Reigns. He missed, so it won't work for me.
Overall Grade: C+
Give credit where credit is due: the Cruiserweight's quietly stole the show from the other superstars. The kickoff match exceeded my expectations, and the title match was everything a cruiserweight match should be: high-flying, entertaining, and fast moving. But that was basically it. Goldberg/Owens had the makings of a fight, but they blew it. I always said that Owens couldn't win the big fight one on one, and although I was right in this instance, that match was a travesty. Bayley/Charlotte was good, but the fallout from Sasha Banks' interference will be seen on Raw. The impromptu matches were really unnecessary, especially with news that Big Show/Shaq at WrestleMania now won't happen. Samoa Joe is still dominant since coming up to the main roster. The tag team match was ok, and I'm interested to see the fallout from that. I feel like Strowman/Reigns could've been better fight wise, like make it a no disqualification match. But it's not a worst match contender when you destroy the Spanish announce table. Right now, going into WrestleMania, I can say two Raw matches are set: Goldberg vs Lesnar for the Universal title, and Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho (maybe for the U.S. title?). I think it's safe to say though, if the cruiserweight's weren't a factor in the show, then the grade would've been much, much lower than it is.
