WWE Fastlane 2018 Review

WWE Fastlane 2018, the last Pay-Per-View before Wrestlemania, took place on Sunday 11th March at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Will the event throw up some surprises or will it be in a holding pattern before Wrestlemania? let's take a look.

The match on the Kick Off Show is the team of Breezango and Tye Dillinger taking on Chad Gable, Shelton Benjamin and Mojo Rawley. After a little comedy, Gable hits an awesome monkey flip on Breeze to give his team the advantage. Breeze hits an enzurgi on Rawley, giving him the chance to tag in Dillinger. Dillinger goes on to get the win for his team after hitting Rawley with a knee to the side of the head. This was a good match, although there were some obvious botches.
Winners: Breezango and Tye Dillinger (N/A)

The first match of the show was Shinsuke Nakamura taking on Rusev. Rusev takes out Nakamura while he was getting back into the ring to get the advantage. He continues to wear his opponent down but Nakamura makes a comeback with kicks to the head. Rusev comes close a couple of times, but in the end, Nakamura hits the Kinsasha to get the win. I enjoyed this match and it was a fun way to start the show. Shame Rusev had to lose on Rusev Day.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (1 for 1)

We now get our first Championship match as Randy Orton challenges Bobby Roode for the United States Championship. Orton tries to hit a RKO a couple of times but Roode avoids them. After some back and forth, Orton comes close after a hitting a superkick. Roode tries a move from the top rope but Orton hits a Super RKO to become the new Unites States Champion. Afterwards, Jinder Mahal attacks Orton and Roode gives them Glorious DDTs. Whilst I'm not happy that Orton, I really enjoyed this match.
Winner: Randy Orton (1 for 2)

The next match is Naomi and Becky Lynch taking on Carmella and Natalya. Naomi goes for a split-legged moonsault on Natalya but she is distracted by Carmella. This gives Natalya the chance to hit a sit down powerbomb. After a while, Naomi gets out of a suplex and she gets the hot tag to Becky. Becky almost gets the win with a top rope legdrop. However, it was in vain as Becky stops Natalya from giving Carmella the Money in the Bank briefcase and she gets advantage of the distraction to hit a brutal kick to Becky to get the win. This was a good, yet short match.
Winners: Carmella and Natalya (2 for 3)

Now a match that I was really looking forward to: The New Day challenging The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. Xavier Woods doesn't see Jey Uso get tagged in and gets blindsided by a super kick. The match goes back and forth with with both teams using moves from each other's arsenal. After The Usos take out all of The New Day with suicide dives, The Bludgeon Brothers come down and fuck everyone up ending the match. I thought this match was really good up until the end. Whilst the appearance of The Bludgeon Brothers has led to having them a Championship match at Wrestlemania, I would rather have a rematch between The Usos and The New Day.
Winners: No Contest (2 for 4)

The penultimate match is for the Smackdown Women's Championship as Ruby Riott challenges Charlotte Flair. Ruby's pals, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan, make an appearance early on and this gives Ruby the advantage. Naomi and Becky Lynch come down to even the odds. The match goes back and forth before actions by Naomi, Becky, Sarah and Liv fall foul of the referee and they get sent to the back. In the end, Charlotte hits a brutal spear then gets Ruby to submit to the Figure 8 to get the win. Charlotte doesn't get long to celebrate as Asuka comes out to challenge her to a match at Wrestlemania.

The match was pretty good but the main talking point is Asuka coming back. I love Alexa Bliss but I think that Asuka facing Charlotte instead will be the better match. My only worry about is Carmella. There is no way that she is going to cash in and lose, especially after the furor over how she first won it. That, and the fact that I don't want Asuka to lose that way. Hopefully, WWE will find a way to make it work.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (3 for 5)

The main event is a Six Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship. AJ Styles will be facing the challenges of John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Highlights of the match include: Cena hitting everyone but Styles with an AA in the beginning; Styles hitting Cena with the Styles Clash; Corbin hitting Styles with possibly the best Deep Six I have ever seen; and Zayn hitting Owens with a tornado DDT through the ropes. Zayn and Owens come close to winning but Shane McMahon, who was watching from ringside, decides to be a dick and stops those chances from happening. In the end, Owens hits Ziggler with a pop up powerbomb but Styles hits him with a Phenomenal Forearm to get the win. This was a good match although it was tarnished by Shane McMahon. He got accidentally kicked by Owens during the match so I can just about justify him stopping Owens from winning. However, he had no reason to do the same to Zayn. Shane is the worst person on Smackdown right now and this needs to stop doing things like this.
Winner: AJ Styles (4 for 6)

I thought that even though most of it felt like WWE were in a holding pattern, Fastlane was a pretty good event. We are in the final stetch before Wrestlemania and I'm quite looking forward to it.