Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Indiana, Indianapolis
Attendance: 14,520
It’s time for the next WWE PLE, this time it’s WWE Fastlane and with a 5 match card that went for over 3 hours, I had my concerns going into this that it may end up being a bit of a drag. Was it in the end?
WWE RAW Tag Team Title / WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Finn Balor) (c) vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso
Background:
The Judgment Day had been courting Jey Uso about joining the stable ever since he moved over from Smackdown following the betrayal from his twin brother, Jimmy. Cody had been an advocate for Jey’s move to the Red Brand, despite Cody’s previous issues with the Bloodline earlier this year. When Jey rebuffed The Judgment Day’s advances, it became a problem. Cody made the save for Jey which has lead us to tonight’s Tag Team Match. I had a hard time seeing The Judgment Day losing the belts here!
The Match:
I wish for the love of god the WWE would make new Tag Team Titles. They are the ugliest pieces of garbage in Pro Wrestling.
Cody has really become popular with the WWE audience! They really lit up when he was first tagged in. There was a moment where Jey was fighting back on Balor, and he went to go off the ropes and Damian just kicked him in the back of the skull.
You know what was strange though? As he got kicked, I noticed Jey clapped. I wonder why this is becoming more and more prominent in pro wrestling? Damian was already clapping his leg for the sound effect, so why did Jey feel the need to do it as well?
This Judgment Day stable really has become a triumph hasn’t it – They are literally on every single Premium Live Event and always actively involved in important storylines. Jey finally got a hot tag to Cody and his dive for the tag made me laugh, it was so over dramatic.
Cody comes in hot and the crowd were into this! He hit a stalling superplex after some back and forth with Finn Balor, and Jey came back in. As Jey was building momentum, Dominik and Rhea Ripley came rushing out, to HUGE heat. Rhea started giving Jey the sweet eyes, which was actually… really hot.
Soon after, Rhea NAILED Jey with the briefcase for a near fall. Judgment Day hopeful JD McDonagh went to smack Cody with the MITB Briefcase, and accidentally smashed Damian on the knee! Cody nailed Cross Rhodes on Damian on the announce table, Jey took out Finn and JD with a dive, and they hit an assisted Cody Cutter on Balor for the victory! We got new champs.
Aftermath:
I was surprised at the hot potato of the belts here. Who knows where they go from here, does the feud with Cody and Jey with the Judgment Day continue? All I know is, this association with Jey and Cody is likely to help Cody reconvene his feud with Roman Reigns heading into WrestleMania 40. Which would coincide with the expected Jey/Jimmy match.
Winner/s: NEW WWE Undisputed World Tag Team Champions, Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso in 20:43.
They’ve been implementing a lot of Motorsports in on WWE PLE’s recently. SummerSlam being in the Motor City, Detroit, now Fastlane at the home of the Indy 500. Would have been the perfect opportunity to bring Thurman ‘Sparky’ Plugg back for a few cameos. I don’t see why WWE don’t do fun things like that more often.
Wade Barrett and Booker T were backstage pretending to have a conversation about how exciting Fastlane has been without a TV screen in sight. Xavier Woods shows up and calls Book and Wade legends (Wade was chuffed with it), and then talks about wanting to order some Pizza Hut. Gotta love the product placement. Wade swerves us with some BAD NEWS. Why are they ordering Pizza Hut when they have catering? I recall Nick Khan talking about using things like the ring apron and barricade to use sponsorships and it’s all over the place.
It honestly blows my mind that in 2023, we have a Latino World Order. As far as this new Hurt Business is concerned, boy, I wish they would stick Omos and MVP with them. It’s insane to me to think Omos has only wrestled at the SummerSlam Battle Royal since he stupidly lost to Seth Rollins at Backlash. They don’t know what to do with him do they?
Six Man Tag Team Match
Carlito & LWO (Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar) (w/Zelina Vega) vs. Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Background:
This new alliance with Lashley and the Street Profits are looking to make a name for themselves and have targeted the LWO in recent weeks. Finally, Lashley is back on PPV here! It’s been too long since this guy has been really in the mix.
The Match:
The match began and it was 2 on 3. Early on Escobar hit an amazing hurricanrana from the top rope from a standing position! Lashley and the Profits isolated Santos Escobar early and we got some heat. Rey came in for a hot tag, but got cut off by Lashleys well oiled machine.
The LWO were really struggling to get any momentum, and finally, Carlito makes his entrance and joins up with the LWO! Finally, Carlito is back. Within a few moments, Carlito, Rey and Santos pick up the huge win when Carlito hits the Backstabber on Montez Ford! That was (pun intended) cool.
Aftermath:
What a nice surprise, I have a feeling this feud may continue for another ‘PLE’ cycle, but we will have to wait and see. Looks like the WWE have a few stables aligned at the moment, it will be interesting to find out what comes next for Carlito, Rey, Santos and the LWO, as well as Lashley and the Street Profits. I’m just glad that it won’t lead to pointless Trios Tag Titles, at least.
Winner/s: Latino World Order in 10:02.
Michael Cole gets a Pizza delivered to the commentary table. Xavier rocks up and all 3 of them enjoy a slice.
Jade Cargill apparently showed up on the Pre Show and Jesus H Christ DID YOU SEE THE SHAPE SHE IS IN? Unbelievable. I know she’s really fit, but it was super eye opening when she stepped out of her car. Triple H greets her upon arrival and they go walk off to talk business. That’s how you make somebody seem important. The boss is greeting her upon arrival, there’s photographers snapping pictures, everybody that saw this definitely widened their eyes.
WWE Women’s Title Triple Threat Match
WWE Women’s Title Triple Threat Match
IYO SKY (c) vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
Background:
What do you think? The storyline built to get to this point really was uninspiring. I’ve made this point for the longest time. They have not made an effort to give the Women stories to really be invested by.
I am also getting tired of seeing Triple Threat matches! I am sure this will be fantastic either way – but gee, is anybody else out there a little over seeing Charlotte in the title picture? I really like Iyo Sky as the champion because it’s something different. It gets a little old seeing the same ladies in the title picture.
The Match:
Charlotte kicks Iyo in the skull to start the match and then Asuka blinds Charlotte with mist to the eyes. They really need to thicken up that mist to we can actually see the mist stain. This was a good match on the surface, I think what the issue is, the quality of a match like this will always go down when you add more elements. With the story leading to this destination being so simple, the effect of what takes place doesn’t mean as much because there’s no heat.
The lack of angles and story is a detriment to the wrestling industry, because it leads wrestlers into relying on high spots and nonsense to ensure they get a reaction from the audience. The ladies are doing all these moonsaults and such to the outside, and it literally made no sense to how the match was going at that stage, and it was just so out of place, but again, it just seems like something that wrestlers hang their hat on because the creative team haven’t done their job to get the right HEAT on the match so that they don’t need to, again, rely on out-of-place nonsense for the highlight reel. This isn’t the fault of the ladies, they have to do what they have to do for a reaction.
We get a tower of doom spot, except Iyo got samoan dropped instead of superplexed! Man, there was a spear from Charlotte and I thought she might have won there and I would have been livid. Bayley comes out and screws everything up for Iyo, and my eyes are rolling. The spot was a little off. The crowd obligated into a ‘This is awesome’ chant. Bayley gets in the ring during Charlottes Figure 8, AND THANKFULLY, Iyo Sky hit a Moonsault on Charlotte and she retained the title. Thank. God.
Aftermath:
It looks like something with Bayley and Iyo is slowly starting to be built up, with Charlotte involved for the time being. I would probably remove Asuka from the situation for now, hopefully with the impending return of Kairi Sane, something interesting can happen there.
Winner: Still WWE Women’s Champion, Iyo Sky in 17:15.
LA Knight arrives in his Slim Jim car, does a skid and just leaves his car running and in the way of the entrance to the parking lot. I actually spat with laughter.
Pat McAfee makes an entrance and pumps up the crowd. Just like Cena in London, Pat McAfee goes on about WrestleMania in Indiana. Pat’s going to be on commentary for this one.
Tag Team Match
John Cena & LA Knight vs. The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa) (w/Paul Heyman)
Background:
John Cena has been dealing with drama with the Bloodline since his return to WWE, as has AJ Styles. Jimmy and Solo took AJ out a few weeks ago, leaving Cena to potentially face them in a Handicap match. LA Knight came to Cena’s aid, and then joined the fray to team with John Cena to take on the Bloodline here at Fastlane.
The Match:
Do you think Michael Cole actually spoke to LA Knight earlier and LA Knight told him what he apparently said? Cena starts with Jimmy Uso and and Jimmy struggles with the apparent “GOAT”. Solo comes in and does what Enforcers do, he got control of the match and the heat on Cena began. LA Knight is being featured here, he’s awaiting that hot tag after Cena did nothing but sell to begin the match. Paul Heymans demeanour on the outside of the ring is rather strange. I think John is doing the right thing here by LA Knight! Cena hit the AA on Jimmy Uso out of no where, which surely would lead to a hot tag. It’s comical somebody could be so beat up they’re literally crawling like John was, before he was cut off by Solo. You see how simple it is? Building drama, the selling by the babyface, it’s always going to work.
John FINALLY made the tag LA Knight comes in hot. It’s so funny how Michael Cole called LA Knight the fastest rising star in WWE. Imagine a rising star being 40 years old? The fans love this dude. Cena hit a crossbody on Solo Sikoa which was fantastic. So the crowd are going to say ‘Yeah’ every time Knight does anything? John Cena hit the 5 Knuckle Shuffle before Knight hits the BFT on Jimmy for the win.
Aftermath:
I have to assume Crown Jewel is going to feature LA Knight Vs Roman Reigns. Roman needs a fresh opponent, Knight is hot right now, and honestly, I’m not usually one to complain, but Reigns needs to defend the belt again soon.
Winner/s: John Cena & LA Knight in 17:21.
Judgment Day are backstage in their locker room and it’s set up with purple lighting. Damian Priest wanted to cash in his briefcase tonight on Rollins, but Rhea talked him out of it.
Shane McMahon’s son Declan McMahon is in the audience. Geez I feel old.
They promote RAW, Becky is defending the NXT title against Tegan Nox, Kofi takes on Ivar in a Viking Rules Match, and Raquel takes on Nia Jax. They nearly had me interested in checking out RAW this week!
Ridge Holland and Butch are backstage promoting the new WWE “The Mattel Wrecking Slam Crusher Monster Trook” I rewound this 10 times. Hilarious.
WWE World Heavyweight Title Last Man Standing Match
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Background:
They have been feuding for 2 PLE cycles, and I hope this is the end of the feud. Seth’s first two programs since winning this new world championship have been a little tough for me personally to get into. I didn’t like the feud with Balor, I like Balor as a heel, I’m not into the feud with Nakamura, I like Nakamura as a heel, it’s an issue thats just been so forced. If Nak had been built up in any way then maybe this might mean more!
The Match:
Lots of back and forth, Nakamura targeting the back of Seth Rollins for most of the match. Nakamura started using some nunchucks which was awesome. Seth finally fought back by belting Nak with a Kendo stick, then smacking Nak in the skull with a trash can. Seth hit a frogsplash. This is kind of why I don’t like Last Man Standing matches because it drags on sometimes.
Seth set Nakamura on the commentators table, then set up a ladder, but Nakamura powered. Nakamura and Rollins brawl into the crowd and Nakamura pushes Seth off some stairs and lands on some kind of staging, and he gets up at 9.
Seth’s issue with his back and getting belted with a chair was actually making me uncomfortable. I have a history of back issues myself, and seeing Seth get back dropped onto concrete was extremely messed up. Seth hit a pedigree and Nakamura was down for a 9. Nakamura puts Seth through a table on the outside with double knees… I’m surprised Nakamura didn’t smash his face into the barricade. Rollins fights back and they both end up on top of the ladder. Nakamura mists Rollins with this blood rest mist, and shoves Seth through the announce table. Michael Cole screaming for Seth to stay down.
Seth gets buried through a table in the corner. It’s starting to get a little long in the tooth here, Seth managed to get to his feet by going to the outside which was actually pretty clever. They brawl through the crowd, again, and Seth Pedigrees and stomps Nakamura on some staging. Seth then hit a Falcon Arrow through some tech tables. Seth gets to his feet, Nakamura dramatically falls over before the 10 count.
Aftermath:
For the love of god, I hope this feud is over.
Winner: Still WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins.
Final Thoughts:
This was kind of a stock WWE PLE for me, I think they could be telling more stories, and this show could have had 8 matches if they didn’t plod along so slowly. Gunther should have been defending the IC title tonight, a Women’s Tag Title Match with a pre-existing angle would have been good, and Raquel Rodriguez could have faced Nia Jax here instead of tomorrow on RAW.
All the babyfaces won on this show, nothing happened that changed the landscape in anyway, there were no major advancements, I would say the best parts were Carlito’s return, the Tag Titles changing hands and Jade Cargills appearance during the pre-show. Everything else was just a bit there, a bit bland, very stock. Nonetheless, I still think WWE are doing good business at the moment, I just think they could be doing EXCELLENT business.
