6 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Fastlane 2021

by Scott Carlson

1. Bryan, Reigns Showcase Mad Chemistry

Daniel Bryan Roman Reigns
WWE.com

Regardless of how you slice it, Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan had a banger of a match on Sunday night at Fastlane.

The two told a tremendous story of Bryan promising to make Reigns tap out and constantly targeting the champion’s arm and leg throughout the match. Reigns’ power saved him multiple times, but Bryan wore him down and ultimately got a tap – although it went unacknowledged by a referee.

Despite the goofy ending, Reigns and Bryan had an excellent, excellent WWE Universal Championship match. The two see-sawed back and forth for nearly a half-hour, with Bryan’s usual offense keeping Roman off-balance. And while Reigns’ brute strength let him overcome Daniel several times, he never really steamrolled his challenger, making for a much more enjoyable match.

You can dislike the fracas at the end, but if you weren’t entertained by the bulk of this match, you probably aren’t a wrestling fan.

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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.