10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Fastlane 2017

6. Mankind's Plight

Chris Jericho
WWE Network

It wouldn't be a Raw presentation without the complete evisceration of Mick Foley by Stephanie McMahon, and their physical separation didn't get in the way of that at Fastlane as one of the more unpleasant storylines in the entire company bumbled on.

Speaking of bumbling, Foley doesn't do himself any favours, stumbling through his hackneyed dialogue with increasingly less energy as life appears to be imitating art for the maligned General Manager.

Sunday's exposition was designed to build tension over Samoa Joe's possible involvement in the main event to protect the Universal Title for Kevin Owens, which McMahon barked to Foley about before his attempt to take her off speakerphone resulted in the line dropping dead altogether.

Mick Foley was once a maestro at playing a triumphant loser, with his Mankind persona taking unthinkable beatings en route to unbridled sympathy and three reigns as WWE Champion. Scoring points for hanging the phone up on his belligerent boss looks utterly pathetic in comparison.

Foley ended his night on a low with some p*ss-poor acting, when the 'Hardcore Legend' appeared to shout down a thousand mile corridor for a Samoa Joe stood inches in front of him.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett