WWE Fastlane 2017 Review

Raw's path towards WrestleMania sees Kevin Owens putting his Universal Championship on the line against Goldberg. Who will walk into the biggest show of the year with the belt around their his waist?

Match 1: Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe
How cool is it to see two guys who used to be the hottest guys on the indy scene kick off an important WWE PPV? This is also the PPV debut for Samoa Joe who the WWE seems to be high on with a little push from Triple H himself. Good physical match here with Sami Zayn being his normal self and selling all of Joe's attacks nicely and really adding another layer to the match in the process. Joe is still new to the WWE audience and Zayn did a fantastic job of selling all of his major moves. That also includes the Coquina Clutch that saw Joe seal the win as Zayn became unresponsive. Great PPV showing for Joe and a great way to really get his name on the board. Zayn, however, continues to fall down the ladder. He's definitely reaching the audience and grasping their attention... but something is just missing.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Rating: ***

Match 2: WWE Raw Tag Team Championships - Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (c) vs. Enzo & Big Cass
Enzo & Big Cass get their big opportunity to finally gain some tag team gold against the team of Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in the second contest of the night. But really, the most of this match just consisted of Enzo Amore getting beaten down with Big Cass playing the role of a cheerleader and trying to tag himself in. Finally, Cass gets in and tries to turn things around but after Enzo gets back in the ring, a knee to the face from Anderson proved to be too much along with Gallows tossing off the foot of Enzo from the bottom rope on the pin. Just a bland tag team match with too much of it just being Gallows & Anderson beating down Enzo.
Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Rating: *1/2

Match 3: Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks
Nia Jax works so much better as a heel, she was great on the mic and looked ruthless here against Sasha Banks as she used her larger size to her advantage easily. Just like the last match, this one really just consisted of Jax dominating the smaller Banks throughout until finally, Banks was finally able to get in a little bit of offense before she was able roll up Jax for the surprise win. I get that Banks is supposed to play the role of the underdog against the bigger Jax but it definitely dragged on at points and would have loved to see Banks get in more offense then what she was able to muster.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Rating: *

Match 4: Jinder Mahal vs. Cesaro
Before the contest, Jinder Mahal and Rusev slugged it out before Mahal took Rusev out by tossing him over a barricade. With Sheamus by his side, Cesaro looks to score the win over the reinvigorated Mahal. Solid action here which unfortunately wasn't enough to really keep the crowd into the action despite the best efforts from the two in the ring. With Rusev finally getting up from his beating, he distracts Mahal from his game as Cesaro takes advantage of the situation with an uppercut to seal the win. Again, solid action for the fairly small amount of time they were given and especially with a lackluster crowd to go with it.
Winner: Cesaro
Rating: **1/2

Match 5: Rusev vs. The Big Show
Rusev enters the ring after the Jinder Mahal vs. Cesaro match and attacks Mahal before The Big Show comes out to face Rusev. Let's cut to the chase, Rusev was booked like a chump here against Show. Rusev was able to get a few pieces of offense in but really, this was just an odd showcase for the veteran in Big Show. Big Show hits three Chokeslams on Rusev before following it with a Knockout Punch in the corner to seal the fairly easy win against Rusev. Not really sure why someone like Rusev continued to be booked like a chump at this point. This dude went from facing John Cena at a WrestleMania to losing to The Big Show in a glorified squash match.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: *1/4

Match 6: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - Neville (c) vs. Jack Gallagher
Time for the usual bathroom break... just kidding. Seriously, I am... relax. Like Nia Jax, I always felt like Neville worked so much better as a heel and having him go up against someone as nice and innocent as Jack Gallagher works nicely for him. Gallagher played his role nicely here of being the underdog as Neville used his strengths against Gallagher by tossing him around like a doll and taking the fight to the outside. Back and forth they went until Gallagher went out of his range by placing Neville up on the top rope before Neville made him pay. With Gallagher being dropped to the canvas, Neville lands a perfect Red Arrow to seal the win. Solid match here from the 205 Live crew which unfortunately won't get the love it deserves. Wish they would have just ditched the purple theme from the beginning, though.
Winner: Neville
Rating: ***1/2

Match 7: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
After costing Roman Reigns the Universal Championship against Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble event, Braun Strowman looks to finish what he started here at Fastlane. The two had a great buildup to this match with some epic spots on Raw that cemented Strowman as a top figure for the brand. With Strowman still being fairly new to being on the top spot of a card, he more than held his own against Reigns here. He does such a great job of working as a dominant big man and is able to sell the attacks of Reigns brilliantly. Despite Reigns playing the role of the underdog and trying to catch up against Strowman the entire match, the two didn't let it drag out too much as Reigns was able to show throughout the match that Strowman was not only human, but beatable. Strowman climbed up the top rope and tried to splash on top of Reigns before missing and being hit with the second Spear of the match. Reigns pins Strowman and successfully becomes the first person to beat Strowman individually. Solid match here that doesn't necessarily slow down the momentum of Strowman since after all, he still is new to the main event scene. As for Roman, a big win for him heading into another marquee WrestleMania.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: ***

Match 8: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
Undefeated in singles PPV matches, Charlotte Flair looks to regain her Raw Women's Championship against Bayley. Charlotte dropped the championship to Bayley on an edition of Monday Night Raw as Bayley's moment she had dreamed of since she was a child finally came into fruition. As for the match here, it was a lot of Charlotte beating down Bayley throughout the match and taunting both Bayley and the fans. Sasha Banks comes out to help Bayley and distract Charlotte which would eventually lead to Bayley hitting a Bayley-to-Belly to secure the win. Pretty bland match and a disappointing way to end Charlotte's streak. Feel like there should have been more hype for that with a bigger payoff.
Winner: Bayley
Rating: **1/2

Match 9: WWE Universal Championship - Kevin Owens (c) vs. Goldberg
Bill Goldberg's epic return to the WWE looks to reach its peak as he challenges Kevin Owens for the richest prize in the game. With Goldberg making his grand entrance, Owens didn't look to be too bothered as he made his way into the ring after and quickly showed up his belt in front of the face of Goldberg. However, Owens seemed to play mind games with Goldberg before the match as he constantly got in and out of the ring and paced around as he stared down Goldberg. However, once Owens was ready, he got in the ring and began screaming at Goldberg only for Chris Jericho to make an appearance out of nowhere. Goldberg took advantage of the distraction with a Spear and a Jackhammer to win the match in less than half a minute to win the Universal Championship. Never thought we would ever see the day where Jericho helps Goldberg win a world championship. As much of a cool moment it was to see Goldberg win, the novelty was really wearing thin at this point. But of course, setting up another match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania just sounds best before anything.

Winner: Goldberg
Rating: n/a

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Bullshit aside, this was easily one of the worst WWE PPVs I have ever watched... EVER. None of the matches on here blew me away and nothing that made me feel like I was watching a PPV and not an episode of Monday Night Raw. Pass on this.

Rating: 4.75/10