The last pay per view before Wrestlemania is now official behind us and what a disappointing show it turned out to be. On what was supposed to be a night that built all the big feuds going into the final stretch on the road to Wrestlemania, Fastlane failed to deliver on most fronts.
This was the biggest opportunity to build some real hype for The Grandest Stage of Them All but we ended up with an episode of Monday Night Raw dressed up as a PPV in the form of Fastlane.
Fingers can be pointed squarely at WWE Creative for the underwhelming event, as questionable booking decisions left wrestling fans around the world disappointed by the lack of initiative to the make the event something special.
So, without any further ado, let’s take a look at 5 terrible booking decisions from Fastlane 2017 which made the show so forgettable:
#5 Braun Strowman losing clean
Braun Strowman has been billed as an unstoppable monster in recent months and it has done wonders for his image. He has been genuinely over with the crowd and his wrestling ability has come along leaps and bounds. The man did a kip up for Gods’ sake!
This feud with Reigns was basically expected to be an opportunity to bring The Undertaker into play and set up Taker vs. Reigns for Wrestlemania, while still giving Braun a legitimate push by taking on The Big Dog.
The most logical thing to do would have been to introduce The Deadman into the mix and allow Strowman to walk away with the win. But, Vince McMahon deciding to be Vince McMahon, just said screw it and booked Reigns to win the match clean after eating a Running Powerslam through the announce table.
This soured a great match between the two and only further alienates the crowd from Roman Reigns, while stopping Strowman’s momentum dead in its tracks. Great booking decision, WWE. You should be proud of yourselves.
#4 Ending Charlotte’s Pay Per View streak
Charlotte’s Pay Per View Streak has been at the forefront of every PPV that The Queen has been a part of these past few months. It has been hyped up to epic proportions and despite not being the greatest of things, it has pretty good value. Well, it had pretty good value before last night.
An absolutely messy finish to the match between Bayley and Charlotte sucked all the energy for and in the match right out of the arena. When Sasha Banks randomly decided to interfere on Bayley’s account, everyone was confused.
Things only got more bizarre when Bayley wasn’t disqualified despite Sasha attacking Charlotte. And then Bayley just kind of won the match. What was the point of it all? Why give away the streak just a month before Wrestlemania – an event where it would have felt more momentous and really made Bayley a star.
It would have at least made some sort of sense if Charlotte got the win via DQ if they wanted to keep the RAW Women’s Title with Bayley so badly. Baffling booking on the part of the WWE.
#3 Not doing enough to build Wrestlemania feuds
The major expected feuds for Wrestlemania involve Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg. The Undertaker vs Roman Reigns. Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens. And most likely something between Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Bayley.
Absolutely none of these feuds received any sort of hype at all, apart from one short backstage segment involving Paul Heyman talking about his client for the millionth time and a short cameo by Jericho which cost Owens the Universal Title.
There was no effort made to feel like these matches should mean something other than these little segments and to be frank, the Heyman thing did nothing for the Lesnar vs. Goldberg matchup. And, while the shock of Jericho appearing was great, it was overshadowed by our next point...
#2 Goldberg squashing Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens is one of the most gifted wrestlers in the world today. The man has constantly been at the top of his game and his performances since The Royal Rumble, in particular, have been nothing less than stellar.
Goldberg is an old man who has come back for one last payday as a part time wrestler, whose only job will be to put over Brock Lesnar in their bout at Wrestlemania. Everything since Survivor Series has been building up to this.
Firstly, there was absolutely no need for the Lesnar vs. Goldberg match to even have the Universal Title in the picture, but they decided to do that anyway. But, even if the WWE has their hearts set on that, the way Goldberg won the title was atrocious.
It absolutely destroyed Kevin Owens’ reputation and after carrying the belt for six months, he deserved more. Jericho’s reappearance was completely overshadowed by the fact that a part-timer had just squashed one of the most over wrestlers in the WWE for the Universal Title.
#1 The Jinder Mahal and Rusev matches
Just why?! What was the point of this?! It completely ruined the great start to the PPV that nobody now remembers. Everyone turned on the show after these atrocious segments and it completely telegraphed the fact that the main event was going to be an extremely short affair and hence a squash for Goldberg.
Great job, WWE. You really screwed the pooch on this one.
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