Welcome to the final PPV before WrestleMania, this is FastLane of course. After Smackdown put on a pretty good PPV last month with the Elimination Chamber, Raw rolls out their PPV. We all know that Goldberg challenged Kevin Owens for the Universal championship. Would Brock Lesnar or Chris Jericho get involved in this match was the question? Bayley had her first title defense against former champion, Charlotte who’s never lost a PPV match. In other matches, we saw Samoa Joe make his PPV debut against Sami Zayn. We also had the battle of big guys as Roman Reigns tried to hand Braun Strowman his first defeat. Hopefully after the PPV was over we would get a better feeling what WrestleMania will look like. Let’s see how things turned out with the PPV.
We started off with Samoa Joe taking on Sami Zayn as they have been feuding for a few weeks now. As expected, this match was pretty good with Joe being the physical guy he is and Zayn selling it. Throughout the match, Zayn got some good offense in and even nailed the Blue Thunder Bomb on Samoa Joe. In the end, Joe was dominated and eventually choked Zayn out to pick up the win. Winner: Samoa Joe
Match Rating: 3.25/5
We finally had Enzo & Big Cass vying for the tag team titles against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson. I’ve mentioned before that I think the booking of these teams has been bad. With that said, they put on a pretty good match as it seemed like on a couple of occasions that Enzo & Cass were about to win the titles. In the end, Anderson & Gallows retained the titles over the team of Enzo & Big Cass. Winners and Still Tag Team Champs: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Match Rating: 2.5/5- I think Gallows & Anderson will probably drop the titles at WrestleMania, but either way the WWE need to find a better way to book their tag teams. After WM, please call up the Revival and DIY, put one team on Raw and Smackdown then start booking this division better.
We had the rematch between former Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax. Last month, Jax dominated Banks as she was still dealing with a knee injury. With both of these ladies expected to be take part at WrestleMania in a fatal 4-way for the Women’s title I was interested in seeing how they’d book the match. As expected, Nia Jax dominated Banks throughout the match. Sasha Banks even locked in the Banks Statement, but Jax powered out of it pretty easily. Surprisingly, in the end Banks rolled up Jax to pick up the win. Winner: Sasha Banks
Match Rating: 2.75/5
Cesaro vs. Jinder Mahal
We had a filler match as Cesaro wrestled Jinder Mahal and I’m not going to waste my time with it. Cesaro deserves do much better as he beat Mahal. Winner: Cesaro
Match Rating: DUD
Big Show vs. Rusev
After that match we saw Big Show take on Rusev in another filler match. Big Show won with three choke slams and a Knockout punch. Winner: Big Show
Match Rating: DUD
In this match, Neville defended his cruiserweight title against Jack Gallagher. Honestly, I was looking forward to this match because Neville has been awesome since he turned heel. On the other hand, I’m really a fan of Mr. Gallagher and his unique style. The match was really good and the crowd was definitely into it, which is a good thing because rumors state that Vince isn’t feeling it. They even got a “This is Awesome” chant from the crowd as they were on their feet. In the end, Neville retained his championship when he hit the Red Arrow. Winner and Still Cruiserweight Champ: Neville
Match Rating: 3.5/5
We had the battle of the big men as Roman Reigns battled Braun Strowman, who’s really been impressive lately. This match was everything we expected as they basically beat the hell out of each other throughout the match. They fought on the outside and at one point, Strowman slammed Reigns through the announce table. In the end, Reigns hit the spear on Strowman after missing a top rope splash for the win. Winner: Roman Reigns
Match Rating: 3/5
This was another match I was looking forward to as Bayley defended her newly won championship against former champ, Charlotte. This was a really good match between these two and they have great chemistry. Towards the end of the match, Sasha Banks made an appearance and helped Bayley retain the title. Winner and Still Women’s Champ: Bayley
Match Rating: 3.5/5- Bayley and Charlotte got good chemistry, but it’s nowhere near the level of Charlotte and Sasha. I know they’re trying to push Bayley as the top lady, but I think the other two are better than her. I expect a fatal 4-Way at WrestleMania between Bayley, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax.
We finally arrived at the main event as Kevin Owens defended his championship against Goldberg. Coming into this game I didn’t know if Chris Jericho or Brock Lesnar would interfere in this match. As both men got in the ring, Owens started playing mind games with Goldberg as he taunted him and then run to the outside. After a while, Owens told the referee to ring the bell and as the bell rang, the music of Chris Jericho hit. Owens got distracted and turned around to meet a spear from Goldberg, followed by a jackhammer for the win. Winner and New Universal Champ: Goldberg
Match Rating: 1.5/5
Overall Rating: 5.5/10- This PPV just didn’t do anything for me. I don’t know if it was the filler matches or the use of talent they have. The big issue with the Raw brand has to be the booking because they have so much talent. For instance, Cesaro is fighting in a filler match and the way the tag division has been booked ever since New Day dropped the titles. For me, that’s why Smackdown Live is the better brand. Below are my top 3 matches of the night!!
- Neville© vs. Jack Gallagher
- Bayley© vs. Charlotte
- Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn
What did you think about the FastLane PPV? How do you feel about Goldberg winning the Universal title? Head to the comments section below and give me some feedback about the PPV.
