Sunday, March 11, 2018

WWE FASTLANE

Columbus, OH


BREEZANGO & TYE DILLINGER vs. CHAD GABLE, MOJO RAWLEY & SHELTON BENJAMIN (7:25): If Gable was in Ring of Honor, he'd probably be having four star matches. Alas, he's on another pre-show match that occurred four hours ago that I've already forgotten. Wait! I remember Fandango put on wrestling head gear before going in against Gable. That was somewhat amusing. There really isn't any other wrestling company on earth with the high number of great stars underutilized. 'Tis a shame. *

SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. RUSEV (14:50): Nakamura still hasn't been in a good match since his excellent NXT debut against Zayn. He is facing Styles at 'Mania so perhaps this will change (the last time Styles and Nakamura wrestled, in NJPW, I mentioned that the last ten minutes of their match was the greatest wrestling you will ever see in your life). The end of this was at least fairly fast and entertaining. Rusev has always sucked, though, and that ain't changing. *1/2

RANDY ORTON vs. BOBBY ROODE (19:15): What happens when you put the WWE's two most boring wrestlers in a match? This happens! These two are so often in dull matches that I can clearly recall the last time they were in great matches. Roode had a super bloody weapons brawl at a TNA Bound for Glory against James Storm that was superb. And Orton had a stellar, never-ending feud and great series of matches with Christian a long time ago (obviously, as Christian's been retired for years). Orton won the coveted U.S. title here. This wasn't awful. Just pedestrian. Jinder Mahal showed up after to beat up Orton. *

NATALYA & CARMELLA vs. BECKY LYNCH & NAOMI (8:55): Lynch should be feuding with Charlotte. Lynch is the real deal. Or is she? Since they haven't pushed her or given her a meaty story line ever I kind of forget. I think she was great on NXT. Anyway, this was a pointless, stupid, forgotten black hole of a match. But these days are over! This is the last B-show PPV. It took them a year and a half this time to figure it out but after Wrestlemania every PPV will have both RAW and Smackdown folks. -No Stars-

THE USO'S vs. THE NEW DAY (9:00): Great match...until it was interrupted by The Wyatt Family dressed as He-Man characters (they're The Bludgeon Brothers now...which is just as dumb a gimmick as it sounds). **

CHARLOTTE FLAIR vs. RUBY RIOTT (13:45): Riott is as green as fresh grass. So this didn't entirely work. Flair did a moonsault off of the ringside barrier. That was cool. *1/2

JOHN CENA vs. BARON CORBIN vs. SAMI ZAYN vs. KEVIN OWENS vs. AJ STYLES vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (21:55): Excellent match. Fast paced. Pin fall break-ups. Table breaks. Interference. It was awesome. Pointless, as everyone knew AJ would win and retain the title, but still excitingly alive. Zayn and Owens ended up turning on one another. Owens super kicked Shane, who was sitting at ringside. Shane then broke up an Owens pin fall and then a Zayn pin fall. Not sure what this means...as Shane already faced Owens in the Hell in a Cell. Wait...another Hell in a Cell! Or have Zayn vs. Shane. Or a three-way. Or, who fucking cares? Zayn is one of the WWE's best singles wrestlers (perhaps the best). He should be having glorious singles matches with real, famous competitors. Lame show...but this main event was a good end. ***1/2