source: WWE
With Fastlane two weeks away, tension increases between Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, the Riott Squad comes face to face again with Charlotte and her friends, and the Fatal Five-Way match gets a bit more complicated with an appearance by John Cena.
source: WWE
John Cena seeks a Wrestlemania opponent
At the start of the show, Cena comes out and says he wants in the Fatal Five-way match at Fastlane and wants to know what he can do to get in it. Shane McMahon enters and John makes his case, but before Shane can give him an answer, he is interrupted by Daniel Bryan.
Bryan claims that he thinks he and Shane are on the same page this time, and he says that Cena will face AJ Styles in the main event for the opportunity to enter the match at Fastlane. Cena accepts, but knows the challenge ahead of him. Shane and Daniel converse in the ring, but its hard to tell if they’re in agreement or not.
Do we really need a sixth man in this match? I think many would agree with me that three is enough, and no one initially wanted Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler to enter the match anyway. Adding another person that fans don’t necessarily love might make this match even worse.
source: WWE
Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
Winner: Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin gets the upper hand at first, and looks over to Kevin Owens on commentary. Sami looks to hop over the top rope to jump on Corbin, but Corbin sidelines him with a punch to the face.
Backstage, Bryan is watching the match. Shane walks up, angry that Owens is allowed at ringside. Daniel tells him not to worry, because KO has no reason to interfere. After commercial, Shane returns with popcorn, and Bryan claims that the match has been good, and Owens has had some insightful comments, even though Kevin has hardly said anything other than insults to Byron Saxton and Tom Phillips.
Zayn is hit by a brutal clothesline. When he jumps out of the ring and onto Baron Corbin, he’s caught, and Corbin drops him onto the announce table right in front of KO. They have a brief confrontation and Corbin goes back to the ring.
Sami capitalizes on the distraction, but doesn’t get the three count. As Byron asks Owens if he’s okay the camera goes to Owens as he is viciously kicked in the back of the head by Dolph Ziggler, who emerged out of the crowd.
Distracted by his best friend on the ground, Zayn is caught in the End of Days, and Baron Corbin wins the match. Corbin doesn’t get a chance to celebrate, though, because Ziggler gets in the ring and gives him a Zig Zag. Dolph retreats up the ramp as the record scratch and his music hits.
After the match, an angry Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn confront Shane McMahon. Shane tells them that Daniel Bryan already left, and they better hurry, because Brie doesn’t like it when they are all late for dinner.
This match seemed to be more about Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, which is good, because after a couple weeks of them being in agreement (or not on the show at all), it’s important for them to start having issues if they’re going to meet at Wrestlemania.
Owens was fantastic on commentary, which is a surprise to no one. We didn’t see a lot of actual wrestling in this match as it was more about story building. Ziggler’s kick to Owens was great and completely out of nowhere, and the camera caught it perfectly.
As it heats up between each of the competitors in the Fastlane main event, it looks like Dolph is going to be a babyface. The fans are behind him as much as they can be, but its hard with his confusing character in the past several months. They need to get rid of the record scratch. It’s stupid and the fans go crazy for his theme song when it actually plays, so why not scrap it all together?
source: WWE
Ruby Riott vs. Naomi
Winner: Ruby Riott
Naomi quickly knocks Ruby out of the ring, but after commercial, Riott is in control. Both women go for kicks to the face and they kick each other at the same time. Naomi goes for the Rear View, but Riott reverses with a hard punch and kick to the face.
Naomi scorpion kicks Ruby Riott, but Riott sends Naomi into the turnbuckle. When Naomi recovers, she walks right into a Riott Kick. Ruby wins the match and backs out of the ring with Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan at her side, and Becky Lynch and Charlotte tend to Naomi as Riott makes it clear that it’s two down, one to go.
It makes my heart hurt to see Naomi lose clean. She has so much potential and has proven herself to be one of the most athletic on the roster. It seems strange to me that someone as new to Smackdown as Riott—who, with her squad, hasn’t proven to be extremely dominant in any way—could pull off a victory without Sarah and Liv running interference. Isn’t that what they’re supposed to do?
source: WWE
The New Day confront the Usos
Before the New Day come out to the ring, they meet up with Breezango and Josh Duhamel backstage. As Duhamel promotes his new show, he reveals to Breezango that he’s not an actual detective. Breeze and Fandango are stunned, and New Day escorts Josh out as this is gonna “take some time to process”.
They come out to the ring, and after Kofi “spritzes” Big E’s inner thighs (I cringed writing that), they claim that they will go to Wrestlemania as Smackdown Tag Team Champions. The Usos interrupt, saying that they used to be like them with colors and dancing.
They say they’ve been getting passed over for nine years, and they haven’t had one Wrestlemania match. They say that this year is different—they’ve beat New Day before, and they will again, because they don’t live 5 years in the past.
Angry, Big E interrupts, saying they hosted Wrestlemania and broke records, and they didn’t get here because of their dads. They say that they’ll be five time champions, and when they get in each others faces, the Bludgeon Brothers come out to the ring.
Mallets in hand, Harper and Rowan stare both teams down and the New Day and Usos all exit the ring and leave up the ramp, leaving the Bludgeon Brothers alone in the center of the ring.
The Bludgeon Brothers interference makes me nervous. While I understand it’s important to make them look dominant and scary, I feel like it’s too close to Wrestlemania to make a new, unestablished team so prominent in the title picture. No Bludgeon Brothers match deserves to be at Wrestlemania yet.
Seeing New Day and the Usos tonight was more than enough for me to get excited. Both teams are so talented on the mic and in the ring, and even though we’ve seen this rivalry before, it didn’t take much to revitalize it.
source: WWE
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Aiden English
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Earlier in the night, English spoke with Shane McMahon, angry that Rusev Day hasn’t had a match in a couple weeks. Shane tells him that they can have a match, but when Aiden celebrates for Rusev, Shane tells him that its not Rusev but English himself who has a match against Shinsuke Nakamura.
Aiden gets a brief advantage, but as he shows off, he receives a kick in the head by Nakamura. As Aiden distracts the referee in the ring, Rusev attacks Nakamura outside with a hard kick to the back of the head. English gains control after Shinsuke tries to kick Rusev in the head and plants him with a bodyslam.
Shinsuke delivers some strong style kicks to English in the center of the ring, then placing him on the top rope and kneeing him in the chest. Following a Kinshasa, Shinsuke Nakamura gets the pin and victory. As he walks out, he comes face to face with John Cena outside the ring. They both point at the Wrestlemania sign before Cena enters the ring.
source: WWE
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
Winner: John Cena
As the main event begins, Cena gets AJ to the mat with punches and holds him in a headlock. He hits him with a Tornado DDT, but doesn’t get the early pin. He goes for an AA, but when AJ grabs onto the top rope, he counters with a neckbreaker.
Cena climbs to the top rope with AJ on his shoulders, but Styles slips out and grabs Cena, dropping him in a rack bomb. Styles hits Cena with a hard dropkick to the head, and then a Styles Clash, but John kicks out.
Cena traps AJ in the STF, and after struggling for a second, AJ turns it into a pin, forcing Cena to break the hold. AJ delivers a Phenomenal Forearm, but can’t get the three count. Styles’ 450 splash is countered with knees to the chest, and Cena hits the AA, but AJ escapes a second one by fleeing the ring.
As Styles sits at the outside by the steel stairs, John barrels toward him. AJ moves, and Cena runs shoulder first into the stairs. AJ gets back in the ring, but before Cena’s counted out, he goes back to ringside. Cena picks him up and sends him through the announce table with an AA.
AJ barely rolls back in before the countout, and reverses an AA into a Calf Crusher. Cena struggles, but rolls out of it and picks AJ up for an AA, getting the pin. KO and Sami Zayn come out to the ring as their music hits, but Baron Corbin attacks Cena from behind.
As the numbers game takes out Cena and Styles, Dolph Ziggler’s music (no record scratch this time). He clears the ring and stands tall with John and AJ, but then delivers a super kick to AJ. Cena picks Ziggler up and gives him an AA, closing the show.
Adding Cena into this match almost doesn’t even matter anymore—making this go from 5 to 6 men isn’t positive, but isn’t as “bad” as making the match from 2 to 3 to 4 people. While 5 is just extra, at this point, it doesn’t matter.
I’m so glad we are starting to get more development in the Dolph Ziggler character, even in the slightest. Slowly but surely, we are starting to see a character who isn’t necessarily a bad guy, but is only in it for himself. He’s not a heel, but he will do what he can to get his opportunities.
Comments