11 WWE Fastlane 2019 Impulse Reactions

5. Samoa Joe Vs. Rey Mysterio Vs. Andrade Vs. R-Truth

Rey Mysterio Samoa Joe R-Truth
WWE

Andrade is a gift that keeps on giving - but when will WWE be as gracious towards him as he's been since his NXT call-up?

The former 'Cien's future belter with Rey Mysterio was thankfully booted from the pre-show in favour of this United States Championship fatal four way, which did as much for the defending Champion as it did his three challengers.

Joe offered out former titleholder R-Truth and the Kickoff competitors just because he could, and paid off his moxey with a powerful first defence against the best of SmackDown Live's rest. Andrade and Rey's exchanges were again scintillating, Truth again didn't look out of place and the 'Samoan Submission Machine' again backed up everything he's been saying since first arriving on the main roster.

A good match made great by the treatment of its talent, this was an unqualified and (particularly considering its place on the card) much-needed success.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. 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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.