WWE Fastlane 2018: Star Ratings For All 7 Matches

4. Becky Lynch & Naomi Vs. Natalya & Carmella

Shanes FACE STARS
WWE.com

The sort of match that instills in a reviewer a specific, word count-induced dread. Translated: this was a nothing match fought for nothing with little of interest happening throughout.

Becky Lynch, Naomi, Natalya and Carmella operated - by design, to save something for the feature bouts - in full Tuesday night mode. It was a filler match designed as filler. Cards require a low gear match to avoid fan burnout. This was a low gear match booked to avoid fan burnout. Judging it optimistically, Carmella was great value. A rare triumph of the Road Dogg Era, she continues to perfect her posturing heel character with small moments of pr*ck brilliance.

Pessimistically, she was at fault for a sloppy finishing sequence of the sort that contrived to take the crowd out of action they weren't particularly invested in in the first instance. You'd think, given the sheer amount of tag team matches the SmackDown Women's roster wrestle every week, such sloppiness wouldn't be possible. Those matches serve no purpose in the fiction of SmackDown - and worryingly, on this evidence, they serve no purpose in improving the division's limited resources.

Star Rating: *3/4

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!