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WWE shocked the fans by announcing a match between two of the greatest Mexican in-ring technicians Andrade and Rey Mysterio for the kick-off show of WWE Fastlane. A lot of fans have voiced their displeasure on social media as this match deserved to be on the main card of the Fastlane pay-per-view.
However, this is WWE and the craziest things in the world happen here. Thus, we will get a classic match just before the Fastlane main show.
The fans have even complained that it would have been better had this match not been announced rather than having it on the pre-show. In this article, however, we will look at the 5 reasons WWE booked this match on the Fastlane kick-off show of all places.
#5 Because there's no Cruiserweight Championship match
Usually, WWE used to have a Cruiserweight Championship match on the pre-show of the pay-per-views where the champion Buddy Murphy would defend his belt against a 205 Live superstar.
However, this time around the purple brand is running a #1 contender's tournament to decide the superstar who will challenge Murphy on the kick-off show of WrestleMania 35.
Also, Murphy has run out of opponents and practically there is no superstar on 205 Live, who is on the same level as Murphy currently. So, to make up for that position, WWE decided to give the fans a match between Andrade and Mysterio to the WWE Universe on the kick-off show.
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The quality of wrestling that fans will see in this match will be just of the same level as the Cruiserweights and thus, this match makes up for a perfect replacement.
#4 Vince McMahon thinks this match has happened too many times to take place on a pay-per-view
We all know the creative genius that Vince McMahon is but sometimes even the master gets his tricks wrong and it looks like Vince has played the wrong trick this time. Andrade and Rey Mysterio have always impressed the WWE Universe with their battles. The fans would not have minded watching the two lock horns once again.
But, the fact that this match has taken place multiple times on SmackDown Live may just have forced Vince McMahon to put this match on the pre-show.
We all know Vince McMahon had promised us a fresh start in December 2018. He told us we will not see repeated match-ups on pay-per-views and thus, this may have led the Creative team to book this match on the pre-show.
#3 To give Andrade and Rey Mysterio the time they need
The WWE Fastlane match card is really stacked as the WWE had announced the following 7 matches for the show before making Rey Mysterio vs Andrade official-
- WWE Championship -- Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kevin Owens
- Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
- The Shield vs. Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley
- SmackDown Women's Championship -- Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose
- SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Usos (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon
- Women's Tag Team Championship -- Boss 'N Hug Connection (c) vs. Nia Jax & Tamina
- Raw Tag Team Championship -- The Revival (c) vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable
The top 3 matches of this list will mostly take a huge amount of time and 3 of the remaining 4 matches are tag team matches meaning they will also consume a lot of time.
Given that the Fastlane show is relatively shorter than the Big 4 shows, the WWE Creative would have been forced to book this match in a rushed manner for the main show.
The WWE Universe would not have got the match they deserved and thus, the Creative team pushed it to the pre-show to give both the performers the time they need.
#2 To guarantee a hot crowd for the main show
It is no secret that the fans in attendance can either make or break the show. When the 4 NXT superstars made their main roster debut, the crowd was totally dead. Fans like me, who were watching the episode on TV, were not hyped up for the NXT superstars' debuts and the Twitterati was not happy with the crowd.
With the NXT superstars Ricochet and Aleister Black set to make their first pay-per-view appearance, WWE wants the crowd to be hot for their match. The chances of the RAW tag team championship match being the first on the main show are high and thus, WWE does not want a dead reception for these superstars.
Andrade and Mysterio could get the crowd going with their terrific performance. Maybe that's why they are on the kick-off show.
#1 To inform the fans that Andrade's push is over
When Andrade wrestled his first match with the then WWE Champion AJ Styles, Vince McMahon and the backstage officials were very impressed with his in-ring abilities. The rumour mill was abuzz with the rumour that El Idolo would win the Royal Rumble match and headline WrestleMania 35.
However, the Mexican superstar is nowhere near the WWE Championship picture. In fact, he even lost 2 United States Championship matches in the last two weeks. This shows that the rumoured push is over and WWE has cancelled its big plans for Andrade.
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To confirm this, WWE has placed the superstar’s match on the pre-show and there’s nothing more that could have been done to inform the fans about the status of Andrade’s push.
Do you think the match between Rey Mysterio and Andrade deserved to be on the main card? Share your opinions in the feedback section below.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
