Did WWE Fastlane Take Us Through The Slow Lane?

The road to Wrestlemania went into high gear at last night’s WWE Fastlane.

A few matches were officially announced (Sting/Triple H and Reigns/Lesnar), while the seeds for other matches were planted (Undertake/Wyatt and Rollins/Orton).

After watching the PPV ended, I felt like it was a tale of two lanes: stuck in reverse and ahead of the pack. There were strong elements to the night, but there was a lot of aspects I felt lacked and even made some of the wrestlers look weaker. Let’s examine this.

Stuck in Reverse

Ziggler/Ryback/Rowan vs. Rollins/Kane/Big Show

The opening six man tag match was essentially fodder for Randy Orton’s return and beat down of Seth Rollins. Here’s where I have my beef.

1. Kane and Big Show going over Dolph Ziggler – So Ziggler shines at Survivor Series, then gets beat by two wrestlers, who at this point in their careers should be used as enhancement talent? I am happy Orton didn’t cause a DQ, but what is the plan with Ziggler. The WWE is treating Ziggler like a woman who plays hot and cold with a guy. She likes him, so things are going well. Then she pulls back a bit , does not call for a week or two, leaves him hanging, then comes back and resumes whatever relationship it is defined as. WWE is the woman and Ziggler is getting the shaft and not in a good way.

2. Rollins runs away – Rollins not only ran away, but he ran to the parking lot. Rollins once attacked Brock Lesnar, yet when Orton returns he looks like he is going to cry and runs away like a coward. That completely took away from what Rollins as become as a heel.

Ambrose vs. Bad News Barrett

Ambrose was on fire after The Shield broke up. He was in a good feud with Rollins. Then he was put in a random feud with Bray Wyatt, which resulted in piled up losses and did nothing for his credibility. Now he is facing off with Barrett and wanted the IC title so he could have his picture hung up at WWE Headquarters? What is going on with WWE creative writing? So Ambrose pushes for the title match only to get himself disqualified. If I am clamoring for a title shot, the last thing I do is get myself disqualified. Take Sami Zayn for example. He wanted the NXT title so bad, and he knew he had to be careful not to make one bad mistake, which includes being DQ’ed. You saw the fear in his eyes during his match, which sold the importance of that title match so much more. Here Ambrose gets disqualified. I get that Ambrose is a bit of a loose cannon, but it goes completely against his reasoning for wanting the match in the first place.

Stardust vs. Goldust

This match should not have taken place at Fastlane. Yes, we will most likely get a rematch at Wrestlemania, and I would guess with Goldust’s career on the line, but to hotshot a match like this onto Fastlane’s card just killed any momentum the two were building. The crowd did not seem to care, but if this feud could have the time to build for their first match at Wrestlemania, I think it would have come off much stronger. Goldust could play the sympathetic face who does not want to hurt his little brother. Stardust continues to spin into a darker place. Maybe Goldust beats his little brother again at Wrestlemania and because he is so broken up about the situation he retires. Or he loses and the same scenario plays out. Either way the buildup has been rushed and last night was underwhelming.

Where does Daniel Bryan fit in at Wrestlemania?

I am a huge fan of Bryan. I am not putting him in this category because of the match, but more so putting WWE officials here. So the match only prolonged the inevitable – Reigns heads to Wrestlemania to face Lesnar. But where does that leave the “best wrestler in the world” at the grandest stage of all? If Bryan is facing off against Sheamus, I have no interest. If Bryan faces off against Ziggler just to tear the house down, I am fine with that. They need to start Bryan’s program on RAW tonight. He is too important to be thrown into some random feud.

Diva’s title match

Until the Divas division gets treated like a strong female division and the attention is not built around those who cannot wrestle, it will be hard for me or anyone to care about this match or any other match. If I were Divas in NXT I would stay there!

Ahead of the Pack

Bray Wyatt

Wyatt’s character had been stuck in neutral the past few months, but I think last night he shined. A match with Undertaker looks to take place at Wrestlemania. This is essentially the passing of the torch match. Wyatt relates to the early Undertaker years. Both characters were/are built around the supernatural. A match with Taker will (in my eyes) enhance Wyatt’s character even more and help him take the next step in his character evolution.

Rusev

I wrote an in depth piece on Rusev and Cena a few weeks back. Coming out of Fastlane, I think Rusev was the MVP of the entire night. I did not like his cheap setup to get the win, but Rusev really stepped up his game and has constantly improved with each match. Last night, he hung with Cena and looked strong both physically and in terms of in ring psychology he understood the pacing of the match. If there is a rematch at Wrestlemania between the two, I hope Rusev wins again.

Sting’s bat

I hope the Triple H/Sting feud does not just focus on WWE/WCW. And I hope Triple H does not continually berate Sting. The high point, again, was how Sting was used. No words. No overexposure. Just Sting and his bat. Every time Triple H thought he had the upper hand, Sting used his bat to get what he wanted. Triple H thought he could continually one up Sting, instead it looked like Sting always had the upper hand.

Like most of the PPVs recently, there have been some good and some bad. Sometimes last night felt like another RAW and then there were moments of importance. The backstage skits were minimal and there was no “comedic” filler.

One thing I continue to preach, and I know I am not the only one saying this, but WWE creative needs to become more…creative. The product is a bit stale. Hopefully the Road to Wrestlemania stays in the fast lane and doesn’t take us on a slow trip behind grandma’s Ford 1989 Ford Taurus.

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised.

The real DZ is out! Tweet me @darrenmzancan