Kickoff Match
2-Out-of-3 Falls United States Championship Match
Kalisto (c) def. Alberto Del Rio
In a surprising move by Del Rio, he actually threw away the first fall by blatantly getting himself disqualified when he hit Kalisto with a steel chair right in front of the referee. Then, before the second fall got underway, Del Rio brutally threw Kalisto around outside the ring. After the second fall got underway, Del Rio would go on to win the second fall and tie the match up 1-1. In the end, it would be Kalisto who would prevail, win the third and final fall and retain his championship. I am definitely glad that Kalisto pulled it off because Del Rio, among others, has been referring to all of Kalisto’s recent victories over Del Rio as flukes (which there are no such thing as, might I add). If Del Rio would have succeeded, then there is no doubt that the WWE Universe would never have heard the end of it from Del Rio and others who backed up his arrogant claims. Del Rio has been sent to the back of the line.
Pay-Per-View Matches/Segment
Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks def. Team B.A.D. (Naomi & Tamina)
Recently, after Team B.A.D. had turned their back on Sasha, this lead to an unlikely alliance between she and Becky. Despite the fact that the two remaining members of Team B.A.D. had better chemistry with one another, it would be Becky & Sasha who would pull off the victory at Fastlane. I knew it was only a matter of time before WWE would turn Sasha into a face because the WWE Universe had been cheering for Sasha for months. As John Cena stated while talking about Daniel Bryan, “Sometimes you just cannot fight the biggest superstar and that is the WWE Universe”.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Kevin Owens (c) def. Dolph Ziggler
Recently, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens have had a series of one-on-one matches against one another and Dolph has usually come out on top. At Fastlane, however, it was a different story when Owens was able to knock off Ziggler and retain his championship in a hard-fought match between both combatants. I hope that AJ Styles will be Owens’ next challenger for his championship because Styles has proven himself worthy ever since debuting in WWE last month at the Royal Rumble event.
6-Man Tag Team Match
Ryback, Big Show & Kane def. The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper, Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan (w/ Wyatt Family leader Bray Wyatt)
The Wyatt Family has made it their mission to take out WWE’s titans. The Wyatt Family may have been able to handle one titan; however, once Ryback, Big Show & Kane formed an alliance against The Wyatts, it became harder for them to accomplish their mission. This was proven when Ryback, Big Show & Kane knocked off The Wyatts at Fastlane. Hopefully, WWE’s titans will keep up this strategy because it is the only way that they will be able to conquer The Wyatt Family.
WWE Divas Championship Match
Charlotte (c) (w/ her father and 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair) def. Brie Bella
It was a back-and-forth contest between two of WWE’s greatest divas. At one point in the match, Brie hit Charlotte with her finisher the “Bella Buster”, but surprisingly, Charlotte was able to kick out. Eventually, Brie hit Charlotte with a dropkick off the top rope, but Brie had landed awkwardly on her leg. Charlotte wasted no time in going to work on the bad leg. Brie was eventually able to counter the attack into the “Yes! Lock” submission hold. When Ric Flair tried to interfere, Brie turned her submission hold into a “Half Boston Crab”. Unfortunately, Brie’s bad leg gave out and Charlotte then locked in her “Figure Eight” submission hold and Brie had no other choice but to submit. Brie’s husband Daniel Bryan recently announced his retirement as a competitor and shortly after, Brie had announced that she will be retiring come this summer. I think that Brie will either have one last WWE Divas Championship run or go out as Champion.
AJ Styles def. Chris Jericho
Prior to this match, AJ Styles had owned a victory over Jericho and Jericho had owned a victory over Styles; therefore, this match at Fastlane was the rubber match. It was back-and-forth action between the two and the match could have gone either way, but in the end, it was Styles who would force Jericho to submit. After the match, both competitors showed a class act and shook hands. I truly believe that this was the match that stole the show.
The Cutting Edge Peep Show hosted by E & C (WWE Hall of Famer Edge & Christian) with Special Guests WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston & Big E)
After back-and-forth verbal jabs between the two teams, The New Day then had some choice words for The League of Nations (Sheamus, Bad News Barrett, Rusev & Alberto Del Rio). This would cause The League of Nations to crash The Cutting Edge Peep Show. After The League of Nations dared The New Day to say the choice words to their faces, The New Day decided to leave the ring. The League of Nations then turned their attention to E & C. They had some choice words for E & C, including Del Rio taking credit for ending Edge’s career as a competitor. In the end, however, it was E & C who got the last laugh by referring to The League of Nations as “The International House of Dumbasses”. I would also like to point out that just for the record, it was not Del Rio who ended Edge’s career as a competitor, it was a neck injury that Edge had suffered in 2003 and in 2011, the injury had taken a toll on Edge’s body; therefore, he was forced to retire as a competitor.
Curtis Axel (w/ fellow Social Outcasts cohorts Heath Slater, Bo Dallas & Adam Rose) def. R-Truth (w/ Goldust)
In a Fastlane bonus match, Curtis Axel went one-on-one with R-Truth. Since Axel had the rest of The Social Outcasts in his corner, Goldust, who has been trying to recruit R-Truth as his tag team partner, came out to even the odds a little better for R-Truth. At one point during the match, The Social Outcasts got involved. Although Goldust tried to neutralize them, he ended up mistakenly throwing Adam Rose into R-Truth’s path, which allowed Axel to rollup R-Truth for the pin and the win. After the match, Goldust tried to apologize, but R-Truth was not in a good place at the moment and chose to take a walk, leaving Goldust alone inside the ring. Goldust has been trying to recruit R-Truth as his tag team partner for quite some time now and despite the fact that R-Truth has been declining, I think that eventually R-Truth will give in and agree to become Goldust’s tag team partner.
Triple Threat #1 Contenders’ Match
Roman Reigns def. Dean Ambrose in match that also included Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman)
Whoever came out as the winner of this main event match would earn the right to face WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H for his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the upcoming WrestleMania 32. In this match, there were no countouts and no disqualifications, whoever was the first to gain a pinfall or submission would be declared the winner. I was rooting for Ambrose in this one since he has never held a World Championship throughout his entire wrestling career. At one point in the match, Ambrose and Reigns, who are normally allies, decided to take out Lesnar so that it would come down to just the two of them. Lesnar would eventually bounce back and towards the end of the match, Lesnar had Reigns in the “Kimura Lock” submission hold. Before Reigns could potentially submit, however, Ambrose hit Lesnar over his back with a steel chair, which forced Lesnar to break the hold. Ambrose then used the chair on Reigns as well. Ambrose then drove Lesnar out of the ring with the chair, which allowed Reigns to capitalize, hit Ambrose with a “Spear” and get the pin and the win. Even though I was rooting for Ambrose, I am still happy that Reigns will be going on to face Triple H for the championship at WrestleMania. The only thing I would not have been happy about is if Lesnar would have come out on top.
