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The Road to WrestleMania has never been this eventful, and last night’s Fastlane was arguably the best edition in the pay-per-view’s history.
The event was headlined for SmackDown by Kevin Owens challenging Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship, and for Raw by the reunited Shield battling Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre in a six-man tag team match.
With a number of title matches and last minute additions, the event was as unexpected as one could have imagined.
Becky Lynch's last chance to ensure the grandest women's title match of them all turned out to be expected, yet the fans were glued to their seats waiting to see what would happen if The Man couldn’t do what they wanted her to do.
The show was good overall, and only the SmackDown Women’s Championship match did not deliver the way it should have.
Take a look at the 5 things we learned from the event, and share your favorite moments from the show in the comments section.
#5 WWE has built a surprisingly good storyline around The Miz and Shane McMahon
It started off slow and failed to really pick up even when The Miz and Shane won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
Everyone knew that this would lead to a clash between the two men at WrestleMania 35, and no one expected things to go any other way.
The two men battle The Usos on Sunday for a chance to win their titles back, with fans almost certain that they would fail to do so and The Miz would turn on Shane in the process.
However, WWE had other plans which seem to have breathed life into this rivalry which will unfold at WrestleMania 35.
McMahon's heel turn was the first truly interesting development in the story and one that will provide the WWE Universe a fresh take on The Miz's character and a new dynamic to a WrestleMania match they have expected for months.
With WrestleMania not too far away, it will be interesting to see how things heat up between the two men, and how The Miz handles the situation as a babyface while Shane plays the villain in this story.
#4 The Shield managed to do it right for the last time
Who knows if it was the final go-round for The Shield, but if it was, it was everything fans wanted from the storied faction.
The trio battle the villainous Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, and Bobby Lashley, who have been on their back for quite some time now.
While the match was expected to be a repetition of what we’d seen for months, it clearly wasn’t and managed to deliver in almost every way possible.
The match was brutal, physical, emotional, power-packed, and everything the fans expect from the trio.
A final turn from Reigns or Ambrose at the end of the night did not take place, which helped increase the emotions behind the match.
If this was actually the final big match for the three men together, then they sure did it in grand fashion and sent the fans home happy.
#3 Samoa Joe has finally found form
It took a long time for a superstar as talented and as accomplished as Samoa Joe to win his first main roster championship, but it seems like the perfect time that he’s won one.
What was supposed to be a match between Andrade and Rey Mysterio was turned into a championship match involving the two men, former United States Champion R-Truth, and current United States Champion Samoa Joe.
Last week when Joe won the championship, he delivered one of his best performances in WWE which made his win special.
Last night, he one-upped that performance and delivered another great match which included three other highly talented superstars. Joe was in the spotlight throughout the match, even though the match went all over the ring which speaks volumes for how far Joe has gotten in the past few weeks.
If Joe continues to deliver such performances, it will be his ticket to the WWE Championship in the future.
#2 Mustafa Ali was the right man to call up to the main roster
Earlier in the show, Vince McMahon continued mixing up the card and made the one-on-one WWE Championship match between Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan a Triple Threat Match.
He did so by adding Mustafa Ali to the mix, making up for the opportunity he missed out on at Elimination Chamber.
As the match progressed, it was largely pulled away by the chants of ‘We Want Kofi’ from the WWE Universe, but the three performers inside the ring didn’t seem to get distracted at all.
While Bryan has been one of WWE’s biggest superstars of the decade, and Owens has competed in countless high-profile matches and pay-per-views, it was extremely pleasing to watch Mustafa Ali perform at par with the veteran superstars.
Ali is still quite new to the big league, and he showed why his call up to the main roster was the right decision by the authorities. Ali’s performance in the match was a treat to watch and could spill over to a feud between KO and himself.
#1 Kofi will have his moment at WrestleMania 35
At the start of the night, the first match to kick off the show was between The New Day and the team of Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura.
As Xavier Woods and Big E made out their way to the middle, Kofi Kingston was summoned to the McMahon family offices and wasn’t able to join his teammates at ringside.
While Kofi Kingston was extremely excited as he believed he was heading to the squared circle for a WWE Championship opportunity, but his excitement was turned to agony as he was faced with a 2-on-1 Handicap match against Sheamus and Cesaro.
While this was unfortunate for the superstar, veteran fans of the company would know what is coming next for Kofi.
WWE has had a habit of screwing over superstars at the hands of Vince McMahon or the McMahon family before giving them the opportunity the fans want for them.
This will prove to be a great chapter in the story to success for Kofi Kingston, who will possibly follow in the footsteps of Daniel Bryan and achieve his dream just like Bryan did at WrestleMania 30.
