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WWE Fastlane saw the return of The Fiend after a three-month absence following his Firefly Inferno match against Randy Orton at TLC.
Plus, the show ended with Roman Reigns retaining his Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan. As a result, it seems like that Edge vs. Reigns is now official for WrestleMania.
While several storylines were advanced during last night's show, WWE also made several mistakes on Sunday night. Sometimes, the company has a habit of overbooking their shows, and Fastlane was no exception.
The following list looks at just five mistakes that WWE made at Fastlane, the final pay-per-view stop on the road to WrestleMania.
#5. What purpose did Reginald actually have at Fastlane?
Reginald returned to WWE programming last night at WWE Fastlane, he had a spa day on Friday and missed the action on SmackDown.
Carmella's former sommelier accompanied Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler to the ring and provided a distraction late in their match. His involvement stopped the referee from counting the pin after Bianca Belair's 450 Splash.
Still, Reginald didn't need to be at ringside because the finish of the match could have happened without his earlier distraction. In all honesty, his presence just made it seem like the Women's Tag Team Champions couldn't handle their business on their own.
Jax and Baszler are former Women's Champions who have defeated some of the best wrestlers in the company. It's hard to believe that they need someone like Reginald to help them win matches. Last night's match would have been perfectly fine without Reginald's distraction. In the end, Jax pushed Belair onto Banks, which caused the challengers to turn on each other.
If the plan is for Reginald to come between Baszler and Jax in the future, this development seem like a slow burn. At the moment, Reginald simply comes across as the man in the background who ensures that Jax and Baszler continue to retain their titles.
#4. Where was Cesaro at Fastlane?
Cesaro was attacked by Seth Rollins two weeks ago on SmackDown, so Shinsuke Nakamura stepped up and faced The Messiah at Fastlane.
Many fans belived that Nakamura would be able to do enough to allow Cesaro to make his return and then send a message to Rollins. The Messiah and The Swiss Cyborg are on a collision course that could lead to a potential match at WrestleMania. Naturally, Fastlane was the perfect opportunity to build this match.
While Rollins had a great showing in his first singles pay-per-view match since last year's SummerSlam, it was one that wasn't expected to end clean. Nakamura to take something away from this match. But once again, The Artist came up short, though he showcased a more aggressive side throughout the bout.
Still, Cesaro should have returned and interfered so that Nakamura didn't have to take this decisive loss. Following Sunday's defeat, it will be tough for WWE to push Nakamura into a meaningful storyline just weeks before WrestleMania.
Hopefully, WWE can find a way to set up a tag team match between Cesaro, Nakamura, Rollins, and Murphy coming out of Fastlane. That way, The Artist can quickly regain some of this lost momentum.
#3. Why did Riddle need a backstage segment at Fastlane?
Riddle was able to retain his United States Championship last night at Fastlane, but it appears that the company is still pushing a strange character onto him. His backstage segment with Shinsuke Nakamura was downright bizarre.
In the past, Riddle has been seen pitching ideas for The Hurt Business and The New Day on WWE RAW. But this time around, he decided to try his luck with Nakamura by telling him a story about his cousin.
Nakamura became so overcome by Riddle's excessive talking that he left in the middle of the conversation. To make the scene even weirder, Riddle kept speaking as if Nakamurawas still listening.
It's interesting that WWE chose Nakamura for this Fastlane segment because he's on SmackDown while Riddle is on RAW. It's also important to note that someone actually writes these segments for Riddle, but as of this writing, their purpose is unclear.
Surely, by making the Champion look so odd way in backstage segments, this characterization diminishes the title, too. After another seemingly pointless segment at Fastlane, it's fair to wonder what the ultimate plan for Riddle is.
#2. The ending of the Universal Championship match was definitely overbooked at Fastlane
The Universal Championship match heading into Fastlane was never going to end cleanly. Edge had been announced as the special guest enforcer, and he clearly had issues with both Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns.
The company could have booked the match so that only Edge involved himself and turned heel. This development would have teased a triple threat match at WrestleMania. Instead, Jey Uso's involvement overcomplicated the match, and the the end of the bout dragged on longer than it should have.
There was a much simpler way to get to the ending that WWE wanted last night at Fastlane. Instead, it felt like the company took the longest route possible.
The Roman Reigns storyline is currently the best one on SmackDown, and the Universal Champion will main event WrestleMania. At this point, it's clear that WWE wants to keep Reigns unpinned as long as possible. Inserting Bryan into the WrestleMania main event could protect Reigns in his match at the show.
If Bryan enters the match, Edge could pin him to win the Universal Championship without actually pinning The Tribal Chief. If this is the planned direction, WWE could have made it clearer at Fastlane. Instead, many fans left the show feeling confused.
#1. Was Big E supposed to retain his Intercontinental Championship at Fastlane or was this finish a mistake?
Big E defended his Intercontinental Championship at Fastlane, and he retained the gold in a controversial manner.
Apollo Crews was seen as the favorite heading into the match after he recently rediscovred his Nigerian roots. As a newly established heel, Crews surely would have benefitted from a win on Sunday. But when he rolled Big E up for the three count, the official seemed to forget about counting Big E's shoulders. The referee counted the pin for the champion instead.
This finish was so confusing that even the commentary team was unsure who won the Fastlane match. The beatdown after the bout offered some clarification, but it was still a messy conclusion to this Intercontinental Championship match.
At this point, it's unclear what the actual plan for the match was, but at the very least, fans can assume that this feud is now far from over. The two men will probably collide once again in less than three weeks' time at WrestleMania.
Hopefully, on The Grandest Stage of Them All, WWE will find a way to give the fans a definite winner.
