Welcome to POST Wrestling’s coverage of the WWE’s Fastlane event from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
QUICK RESULTS:
*Big E. and Xavier Woods over Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev at 13:16
*The Usos over Shane McMahon and The Miz in 14:09 to retain the SmackDown tag titles
*Asuka over Mandy Rose at 6:41 to retain the SmackDown women’s title
*Sheamus and Cesaro over Kofi Kingston in 5:11
*The Revival over Bobby Roode & Chad Gable and Ricochet & Aleister Black in 10:50 to retain the Raw tag titles
*Samoa Joe over Rey Mysterio, R-Truth and Andrade in 10:47 to retain the United States title
*Bayley and Sasha Banks over Tamina and Nia Jax in 7:02 to retain the WWE women’s tag titles
*Daniel Bryan over Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali in 18:41 to retain the WWE title
*Becky Lynch over Charlotte Flair by disqualification at 8:45
*The Shield over Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin at 24:53
The kickoff show began with Jonathan Coachman, Beth Phoenix, Sam Roberts, and David Otunga on the panel.
There was an interview with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, they were approached by EC3 and he can now speak. Deville called him a “human tanning bed” and Rose isn’t interested and told him to get lost.
Carmella has started a petition for R-Truth to receive a rematch for the United States title and got into an argument with Zelina Vega. Samoa Joe walked in and said if R-Truth, Rey Mysterio, or Andrade have a problem he will put them to sleep. Joe signed the petition.
Instead of Mysterio and Andrade having a match it will now be a fatal four-way for the United States title.
Christian was introduced as the newest member of the panel and replaced Phoenix.
Ricochet and Aleister Black were in the locker room with Ricochet speaking about “moments”. Ricochet felt like he was reading off a teleprompter, Black had some incredibly-wordy dialogue that he did his best with.
Kayla Braxton interviews Kevin Owens, he was confronted by New Day and Kofi Kingston wished him luck and doesn’t have a problem with him. They were getting ready for the upcoming tag match when a production assistant told Kingston the McMahon family wants to see Kingston regarding the WWE title match.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA & RUSEV VS BIG E. & XAVIER WOODS
Nakamura and Rusev had the advantage of Woods and went through a commercial. There was another break in the action for a segment backstage with The Miz, his father, and Shane McMahon getting ready for their tag title match.
Big E. received the tag and splashed Nakamura. He went for the Big Ending and Nakamura rotated to apply a guillotine, but Big E. threw him off.
Saxton explained how important this match was for their careers. I wasn’t aware of the stakes for this kickoff match that was added on a social media blast this weekend.
Lana stopped Xavier Woods on the top turnbuckle behind the referee’s back. Woods was caught by Nakamura and Rusev as he attempted a tope con giro and was dropped on the floor. He was rolled into the ring and Rusev eventually applied the Accolade, but he released it when Big E. attacked Nakamura on the floor.
Big E. was tagged in and they hit Up Up Down Down and Big E. pinned Rusev.
WINNERS: Big E. (pinned Rusev) & Xavier Woods at 13:16
This was a good opening match. All four worked well together and is the perfect style of match for the kickoff where it doesn’t have a lot of buzz going in but over-delivers and gets the crowd into things from the start.
THE USOS VS SHANE McMAHON & THE MIZ FOR THE SMACKDOWN TAG TITLES
The Miz got a good reaction in Cleveland and they chanted that he was awesome when he was tagged in.
Shane did the Bret Hart pose before hitting the Hart Attack with Miz lifting Jey. The Usos stopped Shane and attacked him in their corner. Shane came back and hit Jey with a DDT as he crawled to the corner and tagged Miz.
Miz had a shirt that read “Cleveland is Awesome” and landed a crossbody to both Usos on the floor. The Usos caught Miz with a double superkick and Shane saved.
Miz hit a Skull Crushing Finale to Jimmy, he kicked out after the referee was tending to Shane and was late making the count.
Jey snapped Miz’s neck onto the top rope. Shane went for the coast-to-coast dropkick, but Jimmy climbed up across the ring, they each jumped and crashed in mid-air.
Miz followed the advice of his father, went for a frog splash as Jimmy got his knees up and cradled Miz for the win.
WINNERS: The Usos at 14:09 to retain the SmackDown tag titles
The audience was heated for the match with The Miz in Cleveland is an idea that worked well. The story was Miz went outside his comfort zone to impress his father and was burned.
Shane and Miz lifted each other’s arms up, Miz hugged his father and then Shane attacked Miz from behind on the floor. They had the right crowd for Shane to turn heel in front of. He tore off Miz’s Cleveland t-shirt and wiped his face with it. Shane grabbed Miz’s father and then applied the worst-looking inverted triangle I’ve ever seen.
The audience chanted, “Let’s go, Miz” after Shane left.
Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin did their own version of The Shield’s old promo style with each moving the camera when they spoke.
Elias was in the ring to sing for a minute insulting Cleveland and going to hang out with LeBron James. It’s a great gig if you can find it.
ASUKA VS MANDY ROSE FOR THE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE
Asuka constantly went for submissions onto Rose until Sonya Deville distracted Asuka and led to Rose connecting with a flying knee.
Asuka attacked with slaps, she missed Rose and landed on the middle rope allowing Rose to take over.
Deville got a kendo stick from underneath the ring, Rose ran the ropes and slipped on the ring skirt due to Deville and was hit with a spin kick as Asuka won.
WINNER: Asuka at 6:41 to retain the SmackDown women’s title
It was a pretty disappointing match if you came in with any kind of expectations for Rose to have a standout match. Rose and Deville argued after the match as they went to the back.
Kofi Kingston has been waiting outside the McMahon’s office for over an hour. Big E. and Woods stormed in with Kingston and Vince McMahon claimed he’d been waiting for Kingston. They pleaded Kingston’s case and the WWE title match was changed to a three-way with Kingston added.
Kingston came out for the match, but the announcer Greg Hamilton stated it was now a handicap match with Kingston taking on The Bar.
KOFI KINGSTON VS THE BAR
The Bar had the numbers advantage and beat down Kingston forever, leading to a chant of “this is boring”.
Sheamus was going for another Brogue kick as Xavier Woods and Big E. ran down. They were attacked by Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev with Nakamura landing a Kinshasa. The Bar hit White Noise and stood on top of Kingston to win.
WINNERS: The Bar at 5:11
The match dragged but it’s clear what they are building and the positive was a strong reaction for Kingston.
Charly interviewed Bayley and Sasha Banks. Bayley said Kingston inspires them and to “keep fighting.” They spoke about being considered underdogs even though they are the champions.
Elias did another bit in the ring praising the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Kayla asked Shane about his heinous actions against The Miz and he shut the door to subliminally convey that SmackDown numbers need to be higher before they move to Fox, so tune in on Tuesday.
They went through the international broadcast teams and Shun Yamaguchi was calling the show with Sho Funaki after his brother Yosuke “Wally” Yamaguchi passed away over the weekend.
THE REVIVAL VS BOBBY ROODE & CHAD GABLE VS RICOCHET & ALEISTER BLACK FOR THE RAW TAG TITLES
Dawson and Wilder got the heat on Ricochet and cut the ring off. He fought back and it built to a shooting star press onto Wilder with Roode breaking the cover.
Everyone was on the floor and Ricochet climbed to the top but was stopped by Dawson. Ricochet and Dawson fought on the turnbuckle and hit a huracanrana with Dawson hitting the edge of the apron and didn’t look smooth.
Ricochet dove over the corner post for a dive as Gable tagged Ricochet in flight.
Wilder returned to the ring and they double-teamed Gable ending with the Shatter Machine and pinning Gable.
WINNERS: The Revival to retain the Raw tag titles
Bobby Roode attacked The Revival with a Glorious DDT delivered followed by a Black Mass from Black and a 630 splash from Ricochet onto Wilder.
SAMOA JOE VS ANDRADE VS REY MYSTERIO VS R-TRUTH FOR THE UNITED STATES TITLE
Joe hit a tope suicida onto all three on the floor. Mysterio hit a springboard double huracanrana and Andrade and Truth inside the ring.
Truth held Andrade on his shoulders as Rey came off the top with a ‘rana to Andrade.
Andrade hit the three amigos onto Rey and applied a Gori special with Truth breaking it up. Andrade landed a tornillo off the turnbuckle onto Joe on the floor followed by Rey with another ‘rana to the floor.
Carmella attacked Vega on the floor as Joe landed the uranage onto Rey with Truth and Andrade breaking it up.
Truth did the five knuckle shuffle and Cena mannerisms that got over well.
Joe was hit with the 619 but recovered as Mysterio attempted the springboard leg drop and was caught with the Coquina Clutch. Mysterio passed out and Joe retained the title.
WINNER: Samoa Joe at 10:47 to retain the United States title
I thought this was strong and you had a great mix of talent involved.
SASHA BANKS & BAYLEY VS NIA JAX & TAMINA FOR THE WWE WOMEN’S TAG TITLES
Beth Phoenix sat in on commentary for this match.
Tamina and Jax missed Bayley and ran their shoulders into the post. Banks came off the top with a Meteora onto Jax, then a high cross to Tamina on the floor and ended with Bayley diving onto them on the floor.
Bayley was left in the ring with Jax and was hoisted for a powerbomb but turned it into a ‘rana while hooking the leg to pin Jax.
WINNERS: Bayley (pinned Nia Jax) and Sasha Banks at 7:02 to retain the WWE women’s tag titles
The match was average at best. Bayley and Banks are a very solid babyface pairing and the audience was at least into Jax and Tamina as heels.
The big angle was after the match where Jax and Tamina laid out Banks and Bayley and then attacked Beth Phoenix. Natalya ran out and was beaten down, too.
At the start, they announce the match is still going to be a triple threat match. They revealed Mustafa Ali has been inserted into the match.
DANIEL BRYAN VS KEVIN OWENS VS MUSTAFA ALI FOR THE WWE TITLE
Ali was booed because it wasn’t Kofi Kingston. This is baffling.
There was a chant for Kofi as the match began.
Ali was on the middle rope, dropkicked by Bryan and he flew into the barricade on the floor. All three were working hard but the audience didn’t seem into it and were pissed about Kingston.
Ali returned minutes later and was beaten down by Bryan. Ali was on the back of Owens, who leaped in the air with a senton to Bryan with Ali.
Ali landed a Spanish Fly off the top to Bryan. Owens is down in the corner, Ali climbs up and missed the 054. Owens hit the stunner and Bryan broke up the cover.
Bryan attempted the Busaiku knee and was caught with a pop-up powerbomb for a near fall.
Ali hit a 450 splash onto Bryan on the edge of the apron. Rowan tried to get involved and was attacked by Owens and Ali with superkicks. Owens landed a somersault to the floor onto Rowan. Ali and Bryan fought on the turnbuckle, ending with a spinning DDT from Ali to the floor. Owens hit Ali with an apron bomb. Rowan attacked Owens and sent him into the timekeeper’s area.
Bryan and Ali traded slaps and it ended with Ali going for a moonsault off the middle turnbuckle and was caught with the running knee in mid-air and Bryan pinned Ali.
WINNER: Daniel Bryan at 18:41 to retain the WWE title
Rowan choke slammed Ali.
They gave these three guys such a tough scenario to overcome but it was a very strong match.
They never brought up Ali’s pinfall victory on Bryan in a tag match on SmackDown. The audience begrudgingly got into it, but they were upset throughout with Kingston not being added. All three worked hard and it seemed the idea was to protect Owens from being pinned.
CHARLOTTE FLAIR VS BECKY LYNCH
Becky came out on a crutch and Charlotte went after the knee at the start of the match. The attack by Charlotte lasted a long time as Charlotte was trash-talking throughout the beating. Becky finally knocked Charlotte off the apron into the barricade on the floor.
Back in the ring, Charlotte broke out of the Disarmer and applied the Figure 8. Ronda Rousey ran down and attacked Becky Lynch and the disqualification was called.
WINNER: Becky Lynch by disqualification at 8:45
Ronda Rousey knew what she was doing as they announced Becky Lynch has been inserted into the WrestleMania match. Rousey got a lot of boos and pointed to the WrestleMania before going to the back.
They announced that Bobby Lashley will defend the Intercontinental title against Finn Balor on Raw in Pittsburgh Monday night. Plus, the face-to-face segment with Triple H and Batista is on the show.
Elias returned, he continued to insult Cleveland and was interrupted by Lacey Evans walking out. Elias was standing in the ring watching Evans and got hit with an RKO out of nowhere. AJ Styles appeared and took out Orton with the phenomenal forearm.
THE SHIELD VS DREW McINTYRE, BOBBY LASHLEY & BARON CORBIN
Reigns tagged in early and got a strong reception as he entered. Ambrose was tagged in and hit an elbow drop off the post to the floor onto McIntyre. Lashley caught Ambrose with a spear and was sent to the floor with a Claymore kick. He was beaten down for a long time.
Ambrose was hit the lariat off the ropes and tagged Reigns in. Everyone came into the ring, Rollins and Ambrose knocked Lashley to the floor and hit stereo suicide dives. Reigns went for a dive and cut off with Deep Six by Corbin.
Ambrose, Rollins, Lashley, and McIntyre fought into the crowd. They fought by the kickoff show set and Rollins leaped off the balcony onto the three.
Reigns hit a Last Ride sit-out powerbomb, Corbin was hit with a superman punch and kicked out. They all returned, Reigns took End of Days but was saved.
Ambrose and Rollins prevented the three from hitting a Shield powerbomb onto Reigns on the floor. Rollins stomped Lashley on the announcer’s desk and Reign speared Corbin on the floor. It was a 3-on-1 attack on McIntyre. It ended with a Shield powerbomb through the announcer’s desk.
They attacked Corbin together, ending with Dirty Deeds, they screamed “one last time” and Rollins added a lot more colorful language than that. They hit the triple powerbomb and Reigns pinned Corbin.
WINNER: The Shield at 24:53
The hugged after the win and Michael Cole was hitting it hard that this was their last time together and an end of an era.
They did the fist pose and the show ended.
