WWE Fastlane 2019: Star Ratings For All 10 Matches
3. Daniel Bryan Vs. Kevin Owens Vs. Mustafa Ali - WWE Title Match
Totally baffling but ultimately quite brilliant, it is to the profound credit of the three performers involved that this didn’t descend into the realm of the infamous.
As cheekily promised, this did become a Triple Threat match. Let’s try to parse the logic here, because the mystified crowd naturally struggled.
Obnoxious heel owner Vince McMahon stacked the deck against heel Daniel Bryan by opposing him with two babyfaces, who by virtue of not being Kofi Kingston—who was met with “Boring!” chants earlier (!)—were received as heels (!). One babyface slash heel, the returning Mustafa Ali, was selected in place of Kofi, even though he is a cult favourite cruiserweight and thus not at all the sort of act McMahon would historically wish to promote. Kofi, as part of the New Day, makes Vince a boat-load of merchandise money.
So why would Vince risk more of that for...Ali?
Brain-melting in logic, when you finally slurped the sloppy matter back into your head, the pulsating closing phase blew your mind straight back out: Daniel Bryan turned Ali inside out with a wicked lariat, Ali, recovering as part of a typically spirited and exciting babyface performance, spiked Kevin Owens with a sick poison ‘rana before drilling Bryan with a top-rope Spanish Fly.
Twisting, rocket-paced drama loaded with character and danger—Ali’s 450 to an apron-bound Bryan illustrated his incredible will to win, where Owens narrowly avoided splitting his skull open on the corner of the announce table following his somersault plancha—Bryan’s peerless cut-off timing and sequencing IQ informed both the drama of his victory, and a change in atmosphere from bemused to electrified.
Ultimately, somehow, WWE pulled it off: Kofi emerged from the show as a super-over babyface, and we were treated to an outstanding—if counterproductive—WWE Title match.
Star Rating: ****1/4