8 WWE Fastlane 2021 Impulse Reactions
The Fiend comes back from the dead, and so do Daniel Bryan's chances of headlining WrestleMania!
There was a purpose to this show that had absolutely nothing to do with your enjoyment of it. Well, not directly anyway.
Like NXT Arrival this time seven years ago, this live supershow existed as a technology test before WWE’s biggest event of the year. Unlike that Network bow back in 2014 though, this wasn't exactly highly anticipated. How could it be when the company couldn't make up their minds what it was they wanted any of us to anticipate?
Braun Strowman Vs Shane McMahon was on then off then on then off then on the card, five matches were only confirmed in their final forms in the days leading up to the show and it was as if WWE just plum forgot to include red hot new WWE Champion Bobby Lashley.
All this, plus the robbing of stakes from the Drew McIntyre/Sheamus match when the company revealed that the 'Scottish Warrior' would be competing for Raw's top strap on the 'Grandest Stage' anyway.
In order to test the Peacock servers, WWE and NBC needed an audience in the first place. Could the final stop on the Road To WrestleMania drum up enough buzz during the show itself to make up for the lack of it on the run-up? Your Network issues on April 11th and 12th depended on it...
8. Riddle (c) Vs Mustafa Ali
What a strange company WWE is.
Mustafa Ali's split with his Retribution group has been coming a little while now, thanks mostly to his (fairly reasonable) accusations that they're totally sh*t.
He's the guy that brought them all together. He's the guy that impresses the most bell-to-bell. And he's the guy that finally got them within touching distance of their first piece of WWE gold. Of course, he does little to strengthen any of those argument by always, always losing.
He's as bad as the rest of them, which is probably why they all turned on him following yet another defeat to Riddle.
When this was good, it was great. The escalation in efforts by Riddle to beat Ali came after the Retribution gaffer got violent by folding his opponent's head around the post. It took a super Bro Derek to get it done after several gripping submissions too.
So, the usual fare from the United States Champion - objectively fantastic but subjectively tough to emotionally connect with thanks to Riddle's naming in the Speaking Out allegations. Meanwhile, Reckoning and Slapjack walked before Mace and T-Bar levelled Ali with a double chokeslam.
The stable that never worked in front of a crowd fell apart on a Kickoff show twenty days before WWE got some butts back in seats. Harder to find a more fitting conclusion.