10 Things WWE Regrets About Fastlane

3. WWE Resists Logical Booking

Goldberg Kevin Owens
WWE

WWE promoted Nia Jax with major conviction ahead of WrestleMania 33; sensing her unique and perhaps cynical marketability, and the narrative possibilities her physique created, she was an instant office favourite. We know now that she was promoted to the main roster prematurely - she is promoted as the Irresistible Force, though we know her by the trail of dead - but her lack of experience didn't matter to WWE. Jax, who is actually quite entertaining in dismissing all around her with a roll of the eyes in 2019, existed in 2017 as a one-dimensional destroyer.

Irrespective of whether or not she was qualified, Jax did lend - or would have lent - an intriguing variable to WrestleMania 33's Fatal 4-Way equation, from both a storyline and meta perspective. On a winning streak resented by the taste-making hardcores, the idea of Jax winning the RAW Women's Title was as viable as it was unwanted. Heat, no matter how incidental, is still heat.

WWE doused that heat by jobbing Nia to Sasha Banks at Fastlane '17, a night defined by baffling booking decisions, in order to set up an internecine multi-woman match.

She entered 'Mania as just another performer tainted by an arbitrary win/loss record, carrying a hollow threat undermined by Michael Cole's hollow, over-compensating rhetoric.

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!