WWE Fastlane: this weekend

[zep81]

Have Miz/Shane always just randomly hit the 'Hart Attack' in the middle of a match.

[Bus Surfer]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned or posted, but I'm watching the show now and haven't read through the thread and had to take a pic of this amazing scenario. Zelda fans would definitely agree. 

 

[LaGoosh]

7 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Why was Orton in his gear just to hit an RKO on Elias? 

If history has taught us anything it's that Randy is always in his wrestling pants at all times. The guy hasn't worn trousers in years.

[courageous]

7 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said:

The Bar were not booked on the show, so why were they there and in their gear?

 

 

 

This gets pointed out every now and again as a nitpick, but it does happen in "real" sports quite often - motor racing is my field & you'll almost always find a few drivers hanging around the paddock with their racesuit & helmet ready just in case

 

 

As far as the show went, Ali did wonders to not die a death from the crowd, too many multi-person matches, Mysterio is unreal & I'm surprised they haven't gone for Ambrose turning to give Reigns an obvious match for WM

[Supremo]

They should probably stop showing that Ronda/Becky staredown from the night after Royal Rumble. It's night and day between how spectacular that was and want a shit E-Fed storyline it's become. Just when you think it can't get any more convoluted and muddled, they go with that finish. What an anticlimax.

I get the idea of Ronda wanting Becky in the match, and can see how they think they're being clever, but fuck me if that wasn't the worst way possible to do it. Stunned, awkward silence from crowd, with everyone involved looking like a knobhead, Becky especially. What on Earth has happened to the badass who punched people for even saying her name? She's now hobbling about, apologising when told to, and doing a shitty shrug when she wins by default. Terrible. This was the nailed-on Main Event for Wrestlemania and yet now even I'd have second thoughts about putting them on last.

The crux of this Becky thing is their inability to write a main event story or top babyface that doesn't involve building up copious amounts of heat. It has to be about stacking the odds against them and providing endless hoops for them to jump through. What's becoming increasingly clear is that whilst there are some stories and characters where that works (boring chants aside, Kofi's deal being the perfect example), there are also instances like Becky's where it's not suited at all. Sometimes, people just want to see two big stars have a fight. There's an alternative universe out there where that's how Becky vs. Ronda is being sold, they're just cutting promos on each other, and it's absolutely awesome. 

I'm not having anyone trying to use the, "they've got so much TV time to fill," excuse either, because look at Miz vs. Shane. That's been going on forever, simple, steady, predictable stuff and it's by far the best storyline in the company. I loved Shane's turn. Fantastic stuff that you could see coming a mile off. Perfect.

Other than the Becky lowpoint, this was an enjoyable show with good to great matches throughout. 

The Shield are probably my favourite faction ever. If that is their send-off then they went out on a cracker. Tonnes of fun, I was grinning like an idiot by the end. Easily Corbin's best match ever.

I've no idea how long it'll last, hopefully forever, but there's no bigger blast than watching Roman get universal cheers. He looks thrilled himself, too. Do you think Seth realises how much he's the odd man out here? God bless the lad, but the match right now is Roman vs. Brock.

Both the US Title and Raw Tag Title divisions have really caught on recently. Good stuff all round. A Summer-long Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio feud would be delicious.

Between the boring chants and poor Ali and Owens bumping like maniacs for a crowd that didn't care, the Kofi stuff didn't really work on the night. I still think the momentum is there though and in the grand scheme it's going to be great when he gets the shot. The inevitable New Day vs. Vegan Scruffs when Harper interferes at Mania should be good too. I refuse to get my hopes up about Kofi winning the belt. I'll be too crushed if it doesn't happen. Still though...imagine if it does?

Fucking belter!

 

[Daaaaaad!]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

I've no idea how long it'll last, hopefully forever, but there's no bigger blast than watching Roman get universal cheers. He looks thrilled himself, too. Do you think Seth realises how much he's the odd man out here? God bless the lad, but the match right now is Roman vs. Brock.

i both totally agree and yet can't even begin to imagine wanting to see that match again. Never mind how Roman's viewed right now - the minute 'Roman vs. Brock' is even hinted at it just brings back memories of multiple atrocious messes from last year where that match was about as well received as a pork sandwich at a Bar Mitzvah. Roman can, and surely will, be 'the man' again, but right now i'm joining you in just enjoying watching him get cheered and have fun being back.

[Yakashi]

I don’t get the kofi stuff. He’s a mid card joke act. I just can’t take him seriously after 2 years of pancakes. I get I’m in the minority as far as internet fans go, but it just does nothing for me at all. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, Yakashi said:

I don’t get the kofi stuff. He’s a mid card joke act. I just can’t take him seriously after 2 years of pancakes. I get I’m in the minority as far as internet fans go, but it just does nothing for me at all. 

Have you seen those recent matches?

[big7thletter]

Kofi has always been a terrific performer, but it's just a shame that he's only just being noticed by a lot of people. For shame...

Last nights card was meh... But the Shield match was fantastic. I'm a massive Shield fan but completey unbiased, but loved it. Exciting all the way through

[Accident Prone]

10 hours ago, Supremo said:

Between the boring chants and poor Ali and Owens bumping like maniacs for a crowd that didn't care, the Kofi stuff didn't really work on the night. I still think the momentum is there though and in the grand scheme it's going to be great when he gets the shot. The inevitable New Day vs. Vegan Scruffs when Harper interferes at Mania should be good too. I refuse to get my hopes up about Kofi winning the belt. I'll be too crushed if it doesn't happen. Still though...imagine if it does.

Totally agree with this sentiment. I don't get my hopes up with WWE much any more but once the bell rings I'm going to be 100% drawn into Kofi vs Bryan.

Also, whilst it's a shame that the crowd decided to dump on the majority of the Ali/Owens/Bryan match, Ali AGAIN overcame the odds and got the crowd behind him at the end (despite Corey Graves mistaking the big "Ali! Ali" chants for Kofi ones. What a massive tool, he is).

[BomberPat]

Have WWE even bothered giving a justification why Vince doesn't want Kofi in the title match, or is it just "the fans can't have nice things" being the only story they know how to tell any more? Because from what I've seen of Fastlane so far, the announcers were openly saying "we don't know why Vince is doing this", which is hardly a compelling story.

It's staggering that they're obviously capable of making a star out of whole cloth, as they took Kofi from a career midcarder to a main event prospect in one night with zero build, yet they're intent on doing the Bit Of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Where Chris Tarrant Says "But We Don't Want To Give You That" with every babyface, because the only way they know to get babyfaces over is to pretend that they don't want them getting over.

[Grecian]

My high point of the entire show was Rollins yelling 'One more motherfucking time!' as they prepared to Shield-bomb Corbin.

Mustafa Ali's whole costume makes him look like a Seth Rollins cosplay who found a cool Naomi mask to chuck into it.

Becky Lynch is just the absolute worst at using crutches.

Aside from that, it was okay. Miz vs Shane is probably my pee-break match at Mania, it's probably going to be the most stacked Andre Battle Royal ever with the amount of talent with nothing to do.

[Onyx2]

37 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Have WWE even bothered giving a justification why Vince doesn't want Kofi in the title match

Of course the answer is no, but WWE's trail for this week is Kofi will be calling out Vince McMahon for an answer. 

[Bohan]

35 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Have WWE even bothered giving a justification why Vince doesn't want Kofi in the title match, or is it just "the fans can't have nice things" being the only story they know how to tell any more? Because from what I've seen of Fastlane so far, the announcers were openly saying "we don't know why Vince is doing this", which is hardly a compelling story.

It's staggering that they're obviously capable of making a star out of whole cloth, as they took Kofi from a career midcarder to a main event prospect in one night with zero build, yet they're intent on doing the Bit Of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Where Chris Tarrant Says "But We Don't Want To Give You That" with every babyface, because the only way they know to get babyfaces over is to pretend that they don't want them getting over.

They should go all the way with a Vinnie Mac dementia angle!

[AdamTH17]

Mustafa Ali is great. Did an excellent job at turning that crowd around in his favour. Horrible booking decision regardless, you're absolutely setting him up to fail with how he was presented, but he did really well to get the crowd back on his side.

Enjoyed the show as a whole. Despite how predictable it may have been, Miz/Shane is a clear, logical storyline which has been built up simply. None of this worked shoot bollocks which has shoehorned its way into nearly every other feud. Babyface Miz could be decent. 

Becky/Charlotte was really bad. The complete wrong way to present Becky, who seems a completely different person to the one who was invading RAW and smacking HHH about. A genuine shame that they've muddied the booking of this incredibly simple match into something so needlessly convoluted. 

Four-way match was good, though. Joe is probably one of the best all-rounders in the business at the moment and it wouldn't shock me one bit to see him drop the US belt at Mania to go ahead and challenge for the WWE Championship once more. Rey continues to surprise me with how good he is after a so-so run on the indies, Andrade is another guy you could feasibly have challenge for the top titles and even R-Truth played his part!