10 Ways WWE Screwed Up At Fastlane 2017
Fastlane was a huge speed bump on the Road to WrestleMania 33.
Fastlane 2017 should have been awesome. Though the Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg main event always looked predictable, matches like Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns, and Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair more than compensated for this.
Furthermore, rumours of an imminent appearance from The Undertaker only increased the hype for what was already a highly-anticipated show, and if Fastlane met its potential, it would have continued WWE's hot start to 2017 in spectacular fashion.
Instead of delivering another top-quality pay-per-view, however, WWE laid a giant egg. Fastlane was the company's most disappointing PPV since SummerSlam 2016, and their worst all-round show in many a year. Zayn vs. Joe was fun, as was Neville vs. Jack Gallagher, but everything else flopped, and the big matches didn't live-up to their billing.
The critical response has been justifiably scathing. Even the ever-dependable women's division couldn't deliver last night, and if Roadblock was designed to build anticipation for WrestleMania 33, it failed miserably. It was a surprisingly bad PPV from a company that has hit countless home-runs with their PPVs lately, and almost all of Fastlane's failings came from decisions made in the creative team's office.
Here are 10 ways WWE screwed up at Fastlane 2017.
10. Staging Bad TV Angles On A Pay-Per-View
Fastlane was absolutely stuffed with filler segments last night, and it started with Rusev and Jinder Mahal. The duo came together for no clear reason during the former’s feud with Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and have since become one of Raw’s lowliest tag teams. Last night’s Kickoff Show saw them announce that they’d no longer be teaming, and after turning down the opportunity to face each other, Rusev and Jinder were booked against Big Show and Cesaro respectively.
Theirs weren’t the night’s only pointless segments, however. There was a brief drama between Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley that revealed that Stephanie was missing the show thanks to a delayed flight, but she was disconnected mid phone conversation. Later, The New Day hit the ring with no purpose other than to introduce their latest money-maker: New Day Pops. Another waste of five minutes, and another segment that served no real purpose for Fastlane itself.
It’s strange that WWE decided to fill Fastlane with so many bland segments, particularly given the size of the match card. Pay-per-views are supposed to be all about the in ring action, but this one was continually derailed by angles that would be more at home on a lacklustre episode of Raw. The Steph/Foley segments should at least serve a purpose in their ongoing story, but the Rusev/Jinder stuff was particularly heat-less, and none of these angles belonged on PPV.