Fastlane was quite the speedbump on the Road to WrestleMania.
Personally, I thought the show was bang on average. However, what did you expect a Fastlane show to be? The first half was confusingly booked close to being really bad. I was preparing to write a rant Takeaway feature today. However, on a brighter note, the second half was storytelling at its finest and ranged from good to Rated R.
Regardless, this is ‘Mania season and therefore, the smell of a delightful, wrestling takeaway is in the air. Here are the ‘Six Biggest Takeaways From WWE Fastlane 2021’:
6. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair Lose Three Weeks From WrestleMania
The main show kicked off with the Women’s Tag Team Championship match as Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler took on Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair.
The match started off rather physically. Banks and Belair wanted to prove their might, not just to their opponents or the fans, but to each other. This match aside, they are scheduled for a bout against each other at WrestleMania 37.
However, WWE happily placed themselves in a no-win situation with this one. If Banks and Belair won the tag titles, it seems likely that they would forget about the titles and just have them drop them on night one of WrestleMania. This wouldn’t have been good as they would be beaten before their huge ‘Mania fight.
Then, on the other hand, Jax and Baszler just beating the SmackDown Women’s Champion and Royal Rumble Winner would hurt their momentum. Which is exactly what happened. Yeah, Reginald got involved but why book the two biggest women on SmackDown to lose?
At least Banks showed disapproval of this result and slapped Belair hard. This doesn’t seem to be a full heel turn but is certainly shades of a more aggressive character. I can totally see her doing the entire switch on a SmackDown show before ‘Mania to heighten the interest. Let’s just hope that this storyline can solely focus on them now. Not Baszler, Jax, or Reginald!
5. Big E vs. Apollo Crews Ending… Botched?
The show was literally theirs for the taking, so, how did it all go so wrong?
Big E is a phenomenal wrestler and promo. His trash-talking throughout this Intercontinental Championship fight was intense. Then there is Apollo Crews. He has managed to rejuvenate his career from the guy who smiles and bench presses you to the Nigerian warrior that is here to win.
With both men on a streak of success, this match was engaging and unpredictable from the get-go. How could WWE screw this up? Maybe, by not actually screwing it up at all…
The conclusion saw a confusing leverage pin that helped Big E retain and then he was attacked afterwards by Crews leaving no man in a better situation. This ending was rather strange as both men’s shoulders seemed to be down during the ref count. Plus, there was no following replay to aid the confused fans. Botch or not, this sucked.
Nevertheless, it is obvious their actual plan was to have Big E retain to advance the storyline towards the Grandest Stage of Them All.
4. RETRIBUTION Turn On Their Leader
One of the biggest Takeaways shockingly happened before the show even began.
Riddle defended his United States Championship against Ali in a rematch from the prior episode of Raw. This actually got the time and energy it deserved and saw Riddle retain via a Broderick from the top rope.
After the match, RETRIBUTION turned on Ali, with Mace and T-Bar hitting a double chokeslam and leaving his laying.
Even if RETRIBUTION isn’t gone per se, Ali is out of the group now and there is only a matter of time until the rest follow. Despite this, I do think Mace (Dio Maddin) and T-Bar (Dominick Dijakovic) will remain a tag team; which is great as WWE really do need some new formidable ones.
3. Drew McIntyre Picks Up Win Over Sheamus
Ultimately, McIntyre vs. Sheamus in a No Holds Barred was definitely the most predictable match on the show. There was no chance McIntyre was losing three weeks out from his WWE Championship match against Bobby Lashley.
Regardless, this was the turning point of Fastlane. This was electrifying, literally and figuratively.
Firstly, McIntyre came out in his traditional kilt wear but this time bearing Scottish facepaint. Like William Wallace, he may let Sheamus take his life but he will never take his freedom. Hopefully, he upgrades to a live pipe band, bagpipes and all for his ‘Mania entrance.
They took each other to war! McIntyre threw the Celtic Warrior through a panel of the Thunderdome screens. I wonder if the fans on those screens got kicked out of the stream during that epic spot?
Then Sheamus slammed McIntyre into the announcer table and decided to take a piece of the war-damaged table into the ring. Was this memorabilia? Nope, it was an extra layer of damage for McIntyre hitting the future shock then the claymore for the win.
Such a fun match which proved once again that McIntyre deserves to remain at the top of the Raw card.
2. “The Fiend” Returns From The Ashes
The final pit stop before WrestleMania saw Randy Orton face his worst nightmares. Bliss has been terrorizing him since he burned The Fiend alive at TLC.
However, I don’t understand who is the face or heel in this feud? As even though Bliss has made goo come out of Orton’s mouth and tried to bring the lighting down on him during this match, if Orton got his hands on Bliss, it would have been scary to see the result.
If you are a regular reader of my Takeaways, you would notice that I’ve believed Wyatt would be returning at every pay per view this year. Better late than never as he has finally lit a fire in this feud.
I mean he literally lit a fire as he crawled out from under the ring, burnt and crispy. The corpse from their Firefly Inferno Match was rebirthed and looked like a zombie from The Walking Dead. This attire was great and decently fitted the storyline.
1. Universal Championship Triple Threat Happening At ‘Mania?
Despite having a disappointing first half, Fastlane ended with a terrific Universal Championship match.
Roman Reigns’ character change last year was honestly the best thing to happen to him. Reigns vs. Bryan was everything you would expect. It was grueling, painful, and technical. Bryan worked on the arm like a man determined to prove the Head of the Table wrong.
Reigns had vowed he would never tap but Bryan was persistent that there would be a first time for everything. Then everything went from good to WrestleMania-worthy. Bryan accidentally hit his running knee on the referee. A ref bump was suitable here as Edge was a bit pointless as an enforcer. Until this point, he didn’t have much to enforce.
Edge was now fully involved in this match, giving us a visual of what a three-way between these stars would look like. Jey Uso then sneakily decided to help out but nothing could keep Bryan down. That was until Bryan snapped. He picked up the chair and went to whack Reigns but his timing was off once again and he smacked Edge instead.
Continuing with the classic that was going on in the ring, he then instantly returned to grappling the Tribal Chief and he actually kept his word. Roman Reigns tapped to Daniel Bryan! This moment would have been so awesome in front of fans. Instead, this wasn’t the result. No ref, no win.
Then it was Edge’s turn to snap. He returned the favor to Bryan, hitting him with a chair and leaving him prone, allowing Reigns to get the pin.
A triple threat for the Universal Championship sounds dramatic on a whole other level. This ending has left me anticipating WrestleMania much more than I was going in.
What are your thoughts on the above story? Let us know in the comments on Twitter or Facebook.
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