Previewing The Fastlane 2017 Main Event

I was going to title this "Should Kevin Owens Get Squashed?" What else was there to really talk about with this match? It just seemed obvious what the outcome would be. Kevin Owens does not need the Universal Championship for his feud with Chris Jericho, who still holds the United States Championship. The WWE loves giving big names that are coming back as part-timers title reigns. Goldberg vs. Lesnar might be better if something more was on the line than just Lesnar trying to finally beat Goldberg. Fans were just anticipating Goldberg getting the title. Even without bringing up dirtsheet reports, it just seemed obvious that Goldberg wins. Now that there is more speculation about a possible finish that might lead to Owens retaining, I have to bring that up.

But let me start with the original question I brought up. Should Owens get squashed? Why even ask such a thing? Because Goldberg's last singles match was him squashing Brock Lesnar, a guy that no one expects to get squashed. After something like that, you just expect to see Goldberg run over basically anyone else, and that includes Kevin Owens. It would just look weird to see a competitive match between Goldberg and Owens.

Of course, they could give Owens some time to put up a fight. Maybe not for his own benefit. They might expose some weakness in Goldberg to make him look more human for his rematch with Lesnar. Fans have already seen Goldberg get the best of Lesnar multiple times, including the squash I brought up. Maybe the WWE might feel fans won't be as interested as they were the last time these two wrestled each other at Survivor Series. Adding the title is one thing, but they might lower Goldberg's power level a bit to make people think Lesnar vs. Goldberg III will be competitive.

Looking at both arguments, I say the former option is the best. Let Goldberg squash Owens. Keep him strong. Make it look like Lesnar has a real challenge in front of him. Too many of Lesnar's matches since he came back as a part-timer have been him just dominating. A lot of fans want to see something else. This could be the best singles match Lesnar has had in a while. And it would help the feel of this feud even more if Goldberg was kept strong heading into it.

Or will Goldberg even have the Universal Championship? There is speculation and rumors that the WWE might officially make Triple H, Kevin Owens, and Samoa Joe a stable at Fastlane. I brought up the possibility of this stable recently. The group could screw Goldberg out of the title. I just think now is not the time to do that.

So many of the feuds for this Wrestlemania season have just been developed poorly. I could just run down the list, but it would take me an hour. You have Triple H not showing up for months and Seth Rollins getting injured hurting that feud. You have the WWE getting way too fancy in the feud between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. You have John Cena stuck in a feud with Miz that was just thrown together a month before Wrestlemania.

Even this feud with Goldberg and Lesnar is not something I would have done. Even then, it could have been handled better. Goldberg comes out after beating Lesnar at Survivor Series and says he's coming after the Universal Championship and entering the Royal Rumble to get there. The WWE once again proves that wins and losses don't matter. Goldberg loses the Rumble, shows up on Raw to accept Lesnar's challenge, and then gets a title shot against Owens, anyway. He doesn't even need to win a #1 contender's match. The WWE could have done better to build an epic feud. And if the title is not involved in Goldberg vs. Lesnar, that might hurt this feud even more.

Of course, there is a counterargument. If Goldberg wins the title and loses it to Lesnar, does Goldberg get a rematch? The Rock didn't get a rematch at the WWE Championship after losing it to Cena a few years ago. And if Goldberg does get a rematch, and likely loses, guess what? They're tied! Both Goldberg and Lesnar would have beaten each other twice. Doesn't that call for another match? Enough is enough with this feud. Both of these guys should be having fresh feuds with new people. They are still in a rivalry that started over ten years ago.

All that out of the way, who wins and how? I will say Goldberg wins and it is a squash. Save the shenanigans for after Fastlane. What about Jericho? What about Triple H? What about Owens getting a rematch? If the WWE does do some stupid booking, well, they boxed themselves into that corner.