10 Things WWE Regrets About Fastlane

8. An Awful Segment

Goldberg Kevin Owens
WWE.com

So WWE Fastlane is a pun, right. It means that we are in the fast lane on the Road to WrestleMania. This marketing, theoretically, should manifest as white-hot angles and promo exchanges and awesome matches that shape or enhance the event Fastlane exists to promote. To be less facetious about things, WWE has delivered the latter on occasion, but nearly f*ck all of the former.

Case in point: at Fastlane '16, WWE did as much to promote The Edge and Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness as WrestleMania 32. The segment was hot sh*t, too; laden with clumsy attempts at pop culture parody, cheap heat and cringeworthy attempts at mocking the League of Nations, that super-sh*tty faction arrived to even the score. They cut a sh*tty promo, and Edge labelled them the "International House of Dumba**es". This, after spoofing the Supa Hot Fire meme with no irony whatsoever. Christian played us out with chants of "Watch! Our show!" in the "New! Day rocks!" cadence, many of us wanted to die, and that was that.

WWE may not regret this segment - it acted as the platform for the New Day's babyface turn, and millions of dollars of merchandise money - but could this TV angle not have happened on TV?

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!