10 WWE Fastlane 2018 Impulse Reactions

10. Mixed Emotions

'The King Of Strong Style' could only share a throne with the WWE Champion himself when it came to sartorial choices on the show (more on that later), but a fiery opener with Rusev proved that Shinsuke Nakamura was finally willing to earn his stripes.

Questions have been raised of Nakamura's validity atop the card despite assured displays dotted throughout his NXT and WWE runs thus far. It's an imperfect resumé no doubt, but he seems to be hitting form at just the right time after surviving risky booking against cult favourite Rusev as a follow-up to his dramatic Royal Rumble triumph.

The audience was predictably divided on the night, with 'Rusev Day' chants battling ones for Shinsuke's surname despite Aiden English's transparent heeling on the locals in his introductory effort. The buzz carried the contest through an indifferent middle third before 'The Bulgarian Brute' hoofed the WrestleMania contender inside out countering the Kinshasa.

From then, Nakamura's often-indifferent babyface selling was exquisite. Rebounding from the vicious strike, he fired back and literally slipped out of Rusev's grasp to nail variants of his finisher to the back and front of his opponent's ample dome. 'Rusev Day' is still frustratingly on hold, but in every sense and at just the right time, Shinsuke's looking good.