WWE Fastlane 2018: Star Ratings For All 7 Matches
5. Bobby Roode Vs. Randy Orton - WWE United States Championship Match
Perhaps buoyed by a very well-judged, tone-setting opener, your writer, not usually a massive Randy Orton fan, admired what on paper was a very dull affair.
It was good for what it wasn't, as much as what it was. So many TV matches (and there are so many of them) devolve into a blur of fast moves that it was refreshing to watch two methodical workers, capable of doing much with little - Orton's facial expressions were understatedly great - wrestle a good story match paced to allow the minimal action resonate.
If in fact this acts as the platform for the rumoured (and much-needed) Roode heel turn, the storytelling was excellent; Orton simply out-thought his opponent on the night, applying holds and striking impact moves designed to both gradually wear down Roode's resistance and sucker him into positions of danger. Too often, Orton's glacial pace translates as aloof, boring, phoned in. Here, he wrestled a smart strategical bout designed to end on his his terms. He wrestled Roode as if he could have wrestled all night long (at its slowest, admittedly, it felt like he did) and still emerged victorious. He was always one move ahead on the chess board.
Roode was comprehensively beaten in a straight one-on-one match. There is but one strategy left to reclaim his title - one foreshadowed throughout a cerebral 19 minutes.
Star Rating: ***1/2