WWE Fastlane Review and Reactions

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good. Last night the WWE presented the final pay per view before Wrestlemania, Fastlane. With a decent looking card I was expecting a solid show and by the end of it I was left very impressed. We were treated to some fantastic matches last night including a strong opening divas tag team match. In today's blog post I'm going to recapping all of last nights action, telling you what I thought of every single match and segment that took place. I'm so glad that I was able to write and upload this review for you even though it did take a really long time! Later today I will also be uploading this weeks RAW Predictions so keep an eye out for that as well. I will be brining back my pay per view prediction posts for both NXT Takeover Dallas and Wrestlemania in April.  As always any recent blog posts will be linked bellow and of course you can let me know what you thought of last nights pay per view by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.

Two thousand and sixteen has kicked off amazingly well for NXT graduate Kalisto. Now a two time United States Champion and several fantastic tag team and one on one matches being added to he's name, the lucha superstar has proved that it's not all about size and that he can make it big as both part of a tag team and as a singles competitor. For the past couple of months or so we have seen Kalisto and Alberto Del Rio challenge one another in what has been a great feud for the United States Championship. I have mentioned it several times before how impressed and entertained I have been with this feud. I was never expecting to enjoy the action between these two superstars half as much as I have done and heading into last nights match up I really really was excited to see what was going to go down and how the storyline was going to develop. It was announced on Main Event first this week that the Fastlane match up between Kalisto and Alberto Del Rio would be a best of three, two out of three falls match. Now, I personally am a huge fan of these matches. There's a touch of unpredictability that I love about them and with these two superstars having the rivalry that they have and the history that they do this was going to be something very very special. Out of every match on the card last night I do think this was the most unpredictable match. The build up wasn't the best it could have been and Kalisto did fail to pick up much momentum along the way witch I did have a problem with. I commented in recent RAW and Smackdown Review posts that I felt Kalisto needed to be in a couple of stronger singles matches before heading into this match. Like I said, I did think this was an unpredictable match. I wasn't sure how each win would be picked up and I wasn't one hundred percent certain on who would walk out the victor so keeping everything that I have mentioned in mind, I really was excited to see the outcome and the match itself. After what we had seen in the past between these two I was expecting a lot from this match up. We know they are capable of delivering fantastic matches and I was certain this was going to be another to add to the list. First of all, I hated that this was on the kick off show. I tweeted it about it last night but I really do feel as though the Wyatt family tag team match should have been on the kick off show and this on the main show if anything. I felt like Del Rio VS Kalisto was a much more promising match, there was more at stake and the hype was stronger. It did piss me off a little but I got over it soon. The start of this match was very split. Alberto showed that he's size advantage was really going to be something he uses throughout this match and would benefit him greatly however Kalisto had a counter waiting around the corner almost every single time Del Rio shot something at him. The height of Kalisto amazed me so many times throughout this match. He moves around the ring with such ease and grace everything he does looks beautiful and effortless. The first fall did go to Kalisto after Del Rio used a chair causing a DQ. I'll be honest, I was't expecting that at all but I liked it. I thought it was really clever and made a lot of sense. Using the chair allowed Del Rio to gain control and stay in control long enough to pick up the second fall. After being hit with that chair, Kalisto really did struggle to get back in the game and get back in control of the match. He was like rag doll being tossed around the ring and outside of the ring like dead weight. Throughout this match Del Rio really did show how ruthless,viscous and barbaric he is and I loved that! He had some amazing spots that translated onto TV amazingly well. There was a clear story throughout this match and I really did find myself strongly backing Kalisto. I felt this match really did kick off the night amazingly well. I enjoyed it so so much! Both superstars had a fantastic performance and like I said, I really do think it should have been on the main show. Kalisto did walk away still the United States champion after a quick roll up and I couldn't be happier.  A well deserved victory.

As it currently stands, the WWE are doing very very well with it's divas division. We are finally starting to see some good writing and storyline's for the women of the WWE and it's about damn time. I have been sitting here complaining about the poor booking and stories for the divas division for what seems like forever and finally we are starting too see some improvements. It was also great having three, yes three, divas segments this past week on RAW, so we are heading in the right direction. Now, last month at the Royal Rumble pay per view, Sasha Banks made her return and sent a huge message to the WWE universe and Charlotte making it perfectly clear that she was coming after that divas championship and wasn't going to allow anyone to get in her way, attacking both Becky Lynch and the champion on the night. The entire world knows I am a massive Sasha Bank fan. I walk around talking as though she is the best thing since sliced bread. The past thew weeks has seen Sasha ease away from the championship picture a little. She sure as hell hasn't taken her eyes off the top prize but she has been keeping herself busy and keeping her momentum strong. After being attacked by her former Team B.A.D partners, Naomi and Tamina the boss was left with no option but to team up with Becky Lynch, a women she knows all too well, in order to silence her former partners and make her way closer to the divas championship. Now, we all knew that Banks was better off outside of Team B.A.D. It never did her any real good an they were holding her back. Sasha turning her back on Naomi and Tamina was something we all saw coming the moment they were put together and I have to give it to the WWE, they pulled it off very very well. I do like the fact that we have seen Sasha and Becky forced to team up. We have seen them work together before as part of team B.A.E in NXT and of course they have put on some brilliant matches in the past so there is great chemistry between those two. The build up for this tag team match was very strong. I found myself really entertained and interested in everything we saw week after week. What has been so great about it is that that the WWE have taken what I love the most about NXT and put it into this. The story has been simple and basic but very entertaining. There has actually been a reason to be interested and entertained. I really have loved the story and the build up and with so much amazing talent between these four women I was seriously hopeing they would get a great amount of time last night to put on a great match up because they really were capable of it. Now, the match last night was fantastic. They opened the show witch was interesting and a nice little surprise. There was clear story throughout. Becky and Sasha failed to get onto the same page at the start of the match but once they got over that little hiccup they managed to work very well together and the chemistry of course was very strong. The first half of this match saw Becky take a real beating. Naomi and Tamina were very dominate throughout this match, working fantastically well together. Naomi in particular was seriously impressive last night. Cole did make a comment about her being the most underrated diva of today, what he should of said was most underutilised. She killed it last night, very impressive. Throughout that first half of the match, Naomi and Tamina did everything they could to stop Becky from making the tag, all that did was make the intensity grow, allow everyone to gain more interest, and anticipate Sasha Banks tag even more. The we want Sasha chants were as loud as ever and the moment she got into the match the place went crazy for her. Rocking an awesome new ring gear, the boss proved why she is just that, continuing to impress everyone. She was on fire last night, performing to the high standard expected of her. In the end Sasha was able to get Tamina to tap out to score the win with Becky locking in the disarmer at the same time on Naomi. Everything about this match was right.  It all fitted together so well, a great story being told, fantastic wrestling, and a decent amount of time. Well received from the fan and a strong way to start the show.

This past Monday on RAW Dean Ambrose was forced to defend he's Intercontinental Championship in a fatal five way against Tyler Breeze, Kevin Owens, Stardust, and Dolph Ziggler. After a great performance it was Kevin Owens who walked out the new Intercontinental Champion and despite being the worlds biggest Dean Ambrose fan I was very very happy for Owens. He was a great champion before and he is bound to have a fantastic second reign and with Wrestlemania season around the corner the timing could not have been any better. For the past thew weeks we have seen Owens feud with Dolph Ziggler and after becoming champion again on Monday, Ziggler requested a championship between the two for the Fastlane pay per view and on the same night the match was made official. Now, I'm going to be honest, I have mentioned it already, but I am not the biggest fan of this storyline. I'm not denying the fact that these two have put on some fantastic matches because they have. Since Owens made he's main roster debut we have seen some great matches between these two, no one could deny that fact at all. However, I really aint the worlds biggest Dolph Ziggler fan. Its rare that I ever find myself full interested and entertained by he's feuds and storyline's so for me this match  last night was all about the wrestling and not the story and I was hopeing that this would be the last we would see of their feud. What is great about these two is they do have good chemistry and they really do divide opinions and separate the fans witch I love. I of course was backing Owens, I felt this was a predicable match but one that was bound to be entertaining. Keeping it simple, these guys killed it. I may not be a Dolph Ziggler fan but he put on the performance of a lifetime last night. He sold every single move almost perfectly and he's offence was fantastic. The two had such great

chemistry and has such an amazing flow throughout their match. They worked so well together and put on a match bound to be not only one of the best of the month but a possible contender for one of the best matches of the year. Bold statement but I honestly loved it that much. It was a true, basic, entertaining wrestling match up. There was so much skill and amazing wrestling that you couldn't keep your eyes off of the TV. When you add how much of an entertainer Owens is no one can deny how simply fantastic this match was. A big victory for Owens and phenomenal performance from Ziggler.

The Wyatt family over the past couple of months have been picking up a lot of momentum and have been seriously dominate. For weeks they have been targeting mountains of the WWE sending a big message to the locker room and the WWE universe. This is the type of booking that they have all needed. The beat downs on big superstars, the strong promos, they have all benefited from the past month greatly. I know the WWE are very high on Braun Strowman and have some big plans for him but personally I'm yet to be impressed. He hasn't done anything yet that has really grabbed my attention. Yes, he's very dominate, big, intimidating, and he has loads of potential I can see that but right now I don't see they hype what so ever an he isn't someone I'm paying as much attention too. We need to see more of im and he's wrestling ability and he's power before I'm really impressed and can start speaking highly of him. Now, the match last night I don't think should have taken place. I would have much rather had seen the Wyatts continue to cause havoc, interrupt matches and take out superstars. Of course this match was going to greatly help them develop more momentum and continue proving their point but I don't think it was completely necessary. I will admit I had very little interest in this match and I did actually use it as a bathroom break. I mentioned already and I mentioned last night that I felt as though this should have been on the kick off show. What I did see of this match I found difficult to get into. There were some impressive moments, particularly from Ryback and Rowan did have a couple of solid spots that allowed him to stick out. When it came to wrestling skill Harper for me was walking over everyone. Now, with superstars of the size these six possessed this was never going to be a strong wrestling, skilful match and was always going to be more about strength and power and that is exactly what we saw. I did think the booking for this was absolute bullshit. Harper did land really bad on he's arm and he did look like he was legit hurt but I was not expecting the Wyatts to take that loss. I was expecting Strowman to have a much stronger performance and for the Wyatts to score the win. I literally have no idea what the WWE were thinking with this booking. I can't even tell you how much this actually pissed me off. It made no sense at all. It's like the WWE want to screw up one of the best things they have. Not happy at all.

The past month has been extremely emotional for Brie Bella. After defeating the divas Champion Charlotte she was faced with two tough life changes and developments. First her sister Nikki was forced to undergo serious neck surgery and shortly after just a couple of weeks back Brie had to watch as her husband Daniel Bryan retired from the WWE as an in ring competitor. With so much on her mind and so many life changed, Brie headed into a huge championship match last night at Fastlane with a lot on her mind and very very emotional. I have already mentioned it today but I really have been impressed with the WWE and their current storyline's in the divas division. Finally and it's about time, we are starting to see slight developments and improvements in the divas division particularly when it comes to storyline's. The build up to this match wasn't the longest at all but both Charlotte and Brie have made the most of the time that they have had and as a result we have a solid story and I was actually very interested in watching this match up. I was hopeing that they would get a good amount of time to be able to put on a great match. During the divas revolution last summer Brie really did show everyone how much she had improved in the ring and it was clear that she was capable of putting on a great match given enough time. So yes, I was expecting a lot from this match and I was much more excited for it than I was expecting to. If I'm being completely honest, I know there were a lot of people backing Brie and wanting so much for her to pick up the victory and with the build up looking the way it did if Sasha Banks wasn't on the main roster right now I would have predicted Brie to score the victory because of the current situation with the storyline and Brie's future. However, last night I wasn't expecting her to get the win at all. My opinions and predictions for the Wrestlemania divas championship match hasn't changed and so I was expecting Charlotte to walk away still the divas championship regardless. It was a slow start. The action as a whole wasn't very fast paced in this match but it was very matt based, pure wrestling. Charlotte was very dominate as usual using her strength and her long legs to her advantage but Brie had this fight in her that she kept alive throughout and she really had the crowd behind her. There were a couple of awkward and  messy moments that really didn't help this match at all. For me this just didn't live up to the expectations. The wresting wasn't as strong as I would have liked it to have been and I don't think either diva was pushed to their limits enough. There were some close calls and the match did get better as it went on but I was disappointed. A turning point in this match was when Brie hurt her leg during the leg drop from the top rope. It allowed Charlotte to use that figure eight to add the extra pressure forcing Brie to tap out. A good performance from Brie but a predicable ending. 

It was only a little under a month ago that we saw AJ Styles shock the world when he entered the two thousand and sixteen Royal Rumble at number three, making he's huge WWE debut. For weeks there had been speculation surrounding the arrival of AJ Styles with everyone predicting when and if he would arrive in the WWE. Of course on the night itself I marked out like a complete idiot and I did note this as my highlight of the night and also claimed that this could easily be the number one holder for the most shocking and awesome moment of twenty sixteen. After an impressive performance at the Rumble Styles continued he's wave of momentum when he defeated Chris Jericho in he's first match on Monday night RAW less than twenty four hours after he's debut. Growing up a big big fan of both Chris Jericho and AJ Styles and wanting to see the two collide for so long this match really was a special one for me personally and for so many fans across the world. The expectations were high and the pair exceeded them greatly although I do wish the match was longer, I could have easily watched them go at it for hours. It was was Styles's shock victory over Jericho that has been the driving force in this storyline. Being the true WWE veteran that he is loosing to styles was a huge bruise to the ego for Jericho and its something that he hasn't been able to let go of all month long despite picking up a win against AJ on Smackdown a couple of weeks back. The Miz of course hasn't helped, stiring the pot and playing the third wheel in this storyline. I have mentioned it a couple of times already over the past thew weeks but I have personally absolutely loved the involvement of the Miz and I will link bellow my last RAW Review and Reactions posts where I talk more about why I have been loving he's involvement.  After  Jericho refused to accept Styles' request for rematch at Fastlane the "red neck rookie" was left with no option but to push all the wrong and right buttons of Jericho eventually giving him no choice but to accept. And so that brings us onto last night where the two big names stepped back in the ring together for a third time as they went one on one with both having their own point to prove and with Wrestlemania just around corner this match was anyone's game. Now, out of all three matches we have seen from these two, this was by far the best. This was a phenomenal match. Honestly, I did not want to take my eyes off of the TV. This is such a dream match for so many people and they did not disappoint in the slightest. I know this is the second time I have said this already today but this is easily a potential highlight match of the year. he fantastic chemistry, the phenomenal wrestling, the crowd reactions everything about this was amazing. Jericho played a great heel and the story really was about Styles proving he deserves to be in the WWE. It was a make or break match for Styles and he killed it last night. He's walking into the last month before Wrestlemania with loads of momentum and what follows tonight on RAW for him is going to be interesting. It was also great seeing Jericho show he's respects towards Styles after the match. An intense, entertaining, awesome wrestling match up between these two. Amazing.

We then had an epic edition of the cutting edge of peep show. Hearing Edge's entrance music again really did make me very very happy. I cannot even tell you how much I have missed these two. I grew up a huge fan of Edge and Christian and so this was just a real highlight of the night for me. The fact that Edge and Christian and the New Day were in the same ring at the same time all holding mics, it just put a huge smile on my face. This really did give the show that something it was missing. What I did find weird and really unexpected was the role the League of nations played. The segment really took an interesting turn but I liked it. I really liked it. We also had a little one on one between R-Truth and Curtis Axel but that really was only to push the idea of the Golden Truth even more. To be honest I would have loved to have seen a retirement between Goldust and Stardust at Wrestlemania but I'm going to talk about that more in an up and coming post.

It was then time for the huge main event. A main event with everything on offer. A triple threat between Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar. The prize, a one on one WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H in the main event of Wrestlemania thirty two. At first I wasn't completely sure about the booking mainly because it wasn't what I was expecting but the build up has been so so strong  that once the pay per view rolled around last night I was super excited. I have to be honest, Dean Ambrose is the main reason I was so hyped for this match. He really was right at the forefront of this build up. He was the main reason I gained so much interest. He's story telling abilities are insane and he was so so strong over the past month. In fact two thousand and sixteen has kicked off amazingly well for the lunatic fringe and regardless of the outcome of this match he was bound to be a highlight superstar of the night. Now, the general feel for this match was clear. We all pretty much had one main prediction. Reigns was walking out the victor and Ambrose was taking the pin. Regardless of how well the build up was and how well Ambrose has been used over the past month, this match remained very very predicable. Saying that, I was excited to see how the match would play out and how Ambrose in particular would fair against Reigns and especially Brock Lesnar. We had some great stories heading into this match making it a real must see and a great pay per view main event. This was a very intense match, right from the very start, before the bell had even rang. As soon as the bell had rang it was Suplex city time, it was literally a matter of seconds before Lesnar took complete control of the match. Going straight for Ambrose targeting the ribs, Lesnar then turnt he's attention Reigns sending him straight to suplex city once again. Ambrose of course got straight back up and kept fighting on trying to prove he's point but every single move he hit on Lesnar had literally zero effect. He literally caught Ambrose mid air during a
suicide dive and hit another suplex. It doesn't matter how many times I watch this man compete, he always amazes me and leaves me speechless. Ambrose really did take a massive beating throughout this match. There were times I genuinely thought Ambrose was hurt. The live crowd were very much team Lesnar with Reigns being far from the favourite. We did see Ambrose and Reigns work together to try and take out Lesnar. They knew that in order for one of them to make it to Wrestlemania they had to take out Lesnar and that is exactly what they did and once Lesnar was out Ambrose took full control and the crowd were firmly behind the lunatic fringe. The match was so physical, so intense, and so barbaric. Each one of these superstars were so desperate to head to Wrestlemania and they put everything on the line. Ambrose and Reigns did everything to keep Lesnar down including sending him through two announce tables. Reigns was hesitant at first to go after Ambrose but after Lesnar went through the second announce table he laid everything out. The ending to this match was predicable but very well done. Ambrose may have lost this match but he was a serious stand out and the man I haven't stopped talking about since. A fantastic main event and a possible match of the year candidate.

I thought this was a really really good pay per view. Strong kick off show match, great opening match, the divas had a strong night and a phenomenal main event worthy of going down as a potential match of the year candidate. I did think the WWE made a mistake with putting Kalisto VS Del Rio on the kick off show and booking the Wyatts to loose their match but all round it was a strong pay per view. Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.