5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Fastlane 2023 (Results & Review)
A title change, a surprise return, mist, more Charlotte Flair, and a dose of John Cena.
How does one rate a WWE PLE that has only five matches, a few mild surprise returns, and a pretty major title change?
WWE Fastlane 2023 was the definition of a B-show: an event with a couple of memorable moments but nothing that stands out in a significant way. One of the returns was an on-air personality who was in his hometown, and the other was a guy who last appeared in WWE five months ago, but his return was indeed very cool.
Titles changed hands and got a huge reaction, but that was the least-surprising title switch of the night once anyone stopped and thought about it.
Still, Fastlane avoided any huge pitfalls and kept this entertaining overall, with Carlito’s return to join the LWO being a really fun talking point, as it adds a new wrinkle to the faction. And really, Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso are too big of stars to come up short in their tag title bout with the Judgment Day. The loss also only serves to stir the pot with the faction, which is WWE’s bread and butter these days.
Fans however had to deal with another Charlotte Flair title match, a new faction losing at an inopportune time, and two matches relying on an identical gimmick that ultimately didn’t pay off.
While not something that will make anyone’s top 10 list for the year, Fastlane gets passing marks for its even keel.
Let’s get to it…