5 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE Fastlane 2017

Ups...

5. Cruiserweight Tag Pumps Up Crowd

fastlane kick off
WWE.com

PPV kickoff show matches can be a mixed bag. They can be wonderful hidden gems that outshine several bouts during the PPV proper, or they can be forgettable matches that perhaps should never have taken place at all.

Fastlane’s kickoff match, a cruiserweight tag match between Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar versus Akira Tozawa and Rich Swann, actually worked pretty well, giving the wrestlers just enough time to hit a few primo spots, including stereo dives to the floor and a Swann Phoenix splash for the win. It’s not going to be remembered beyond Sunday, but it did enough to engage the fans and remind them what the cruiserweights are capable of.

Sure, we would have rather seen more flash and substance from the foursome, but given the lowered expectations these days with the division, what we got was perfectly acceptable.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.