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.

Previewing The Fastlane 2017 Undercard Matches

The Raw Tag Team Championships will be decided between Anderson & Gallows and Enzo & Cass. Enzo & Cass deserve an eventual title win. Last year might have been a good time for it, but New Day happened. Anderson & Gallows just won the titles not too long ago, however, so they should win here. Build up the feud to make the eventual title change mean something more.

Neville defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Jack Gallagher. This is another title where they have just been tossing it around in recent months. I will say Neville manages to hold onto it for a little longer.

Samoa Joe faces Sami Zayn. This is obviously not the first feud the WWE would have liked for Samoa Joe on the main roster. He had a feud with Seth Rollins right in front of him. That would have been a bigger deal than this feud with Sami Zayn. No offense to Sami Zayn. These two can put on a great match, unless the WWE just wants to sell Samoa Joe as a destroyer and have him wreck Zayn. Either way, Joe is going to look strong. I will say he wins.

The feud between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman is the top Raw feud outside of the Universal Championship feud. Some might say it has been treated even better than that feud. The contract signing for this match closed Raw this week, the last Raw before Fastlane. And it's not like this is football season, where they sometimes do some questionable booking. They could have ended the show with an angle to hype Goldberg/Owens. Even Seth Rollins could have closed Raw. There was a nice brawl between Reigns and Strowman that saw a bit of destruction, but I don't think that meant the segment had to go on last.

It seems like it is a sign that Reigns is still the centerpiece. John Cena frequently went on last even when he was not involved with the main title matters, and sometimes at the expense of CM Punk. But I don't think the WWE should be doing this with Reigns right now. His push has obviously hit multiple snags. Even Cena's rise to the top was smoother than what has been going on with Reigns. I would keep him in the midcard, especially when he is only feuding with Braun Strowman. Wait until he has a bigger feud, like what might be coming for Wrestlemania.

Some fans are dreading that Braun Strowman will lose to Reigns and get buried. They point to Rusev, who has lost to the likes of Cena and Reigns and suffered depushes after. He has now been stuck with Jinder Mahal, a fate worse than being fired. Some guys only get great pushes because they are being built to put someone else over. And after that push, they typically will get some kind of depush. It is just the way things are. It happens all the time in the women's division. It is one of the reasons most female wrestlers did not become very over in the diva era. Once they were done being pushed to serve whatever purpose, they got depushed and lost their momentum. There is more space for men to be featured, so don't cry too much for a depush that Strowman will eventually be getting one day. He can at least get something to do elsewhere.

Who wins this match? Let it be Reigns. If Strowman gets this big win, where would he go after? Would he be the one feuding against The Undertaker? Will he be added to Lesnar vs. Goldberg? Does he have any great possibilities? If not, what's the point in giving him this kind of win? He would have all that momentum and nothing to do with it. Let Strowman just be a jobber to the stars in this feud. If there was a good storyline reason for Reigns losing, then I would say he would lose. I just can't picture it. Reigns wins.

Previewing The Fastlane 2017 Women's Matches

Another PPV with more than one women's match. I will start with Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax. They have been feuding for a while now. But that feud hit a snag in recent weeks when Sasha Banks spent more time in Bayley vs. Charlotte than feuding with Nia Jax. That feud just became a bit of an afterthought. There is a difference between two feuds crossing paths and one feud just becoming an afterthought. You might have something like Roman Reigns feuding against Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins feuding against Chris Jericho. Those feuds obviously crossed paths, but the individual feuds still remained strong. The WWE just could have done better with Nia Jax in recent weeks.

Who wins? If the WWE had done a better job with this feud, this might be the point where Sasha Banks wins it. But they have not. Since that is the case, they might as well keep Nia Jax strong for Wrestlemania. She'll get another win against Sasha. Will that lead to Sasha turning heel? That is another issue. I do not think the WWE should do it. We have already seen what bad depth can lead to on Smackdown recently.

Onto the title match. Bayley defends against Charlotte, who seems to have a fetish for being handed title reigns at PPVs. She only loses them on Raws. Speaking of that, there was an issue that Bayley is not a draw with the young female demographic. The Raw main event where she won the title did not do as well in that demographic as Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte, so some people want to spin that to mean Bayley is not a draw. There are a few points I want to bring up.

First, the female demographics for that final hour of Raw that night were still better than numbers Total Divas and Total Bellas have been getting this previous season. And all I hear is that these shows are great draws with women. Well, if that episode of Raw, including the third hour, did better ratings in the female demographic, including with younger women, why should you worry too much?

Move on from the fact that the main event still drew decent numbers, when compared to the reality shows the WWE has out. It did do less than Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte. But is it a fair comparison? Sasha and Charlotte were feuding for months before they main-evented Raw, without even including NXT and their feud with Becky Lynch also involved around Wrestlemania. The WWE stuffed a whole bunch of history into this feud. I think they could have booked it better, but you can see why it might draw good numbers. Even then, I wouldn't overrate the numbers it did get.

Compare that to Bayley vs. Charlotte. First of all, Bayley had her push against Charlotte killed off twice because the WWE went back to Sasha Banks. How is that going to make her look? Second, when they finally did let the feud really get started, it had only been going on about two months before the main event happened a few weeks ago. It was a fraction of the development Sasha/Charlotte had. It also does not help that it was not a fresh storyline connected to the feud. Viewers say this story already. It's just not fresh. You can say that Bayley just got Sasha's leftovers. There is a reason I frequently talk about feud development. If you do not develop a feud properly, don't expect it to draw for you as well as a feud that was developed a whole lot better. Bayley should not be blamed for the numbers.

Last thing to consider, Sasha Banks and Charlotte, the two supposed draws of the previous two women's Raw main events, were also involved in this. Why should they not shoulder the blame for numbers not being better? I would say they are not draws. What was the draw before was the hype and development. Because that was lacking here, even Sasha Banks and Charlotte being involved in the story could not help it. The WWE probably should have just spent the time properly pushing Sasha Banks against Nia Jax. If they expected her to give this feud a rub, it didn't work. Or is she just in the picture for a heel turn? Again, not what I would do.

Who wins between Charlotte and Bayley? If history is any indication, Charlotte is winning the title. And if I still cared enough to watch this stuff, I would probably throw my TV set through a window. The WWE could pull some swerve and have Charlotte win in some manner that she doesn't get  the title or have the match just get thrown out. Nia Jax can come out and destroy everyone. Charlotte's PPV streak is not broken and Bayley gets to defend the title at Wrestlemania. But I'll go with Charlotte winning, because the WWE seems to want her to be a 16x Champion.

The Wyatts Lose At Fastlane 2016

No title changes at Fastlane last night. The main event didn't feature any swerves. Nothing too exciting happened at all. What I want to talk about is a match I did not preview last week, The Wyatts vs. Big Show, Kane, and Ryback. If the heels had won, there would be nothing to talk about. They lost.

I have said before that the WWE should push The Wyatts better now that many top stars are out and they do not have many great top feuds going. Having them lose to three jobbers to the stars isn't going to do it. The feud wasn't that amazing to start with, but the heels should have won and gone on to something better. They did not get involved with Lesnar later in the night. Bray Wyatt didn't job, but this booking still slows down the group's momentum. Are they building these guys up for something big at Wrestlemania? Recent booking might not suggest that.

Think back a few months to when The Wyatts feuded against four guys from ECW. The Wyatts won that feud and The Dudleys soon became jobbers. The faces winning there might have been a nice gesture. The Dudleys have not won a feud since coming back. Would that loss have ruined the group's momentum? I do not think it would have been worse than the needless loss they took last night. The Dudleys were fresher. Let's just see how the WWE follows up.

Previewing The Fastlane 2016 Main Event

For the second year in a row, the WWE Championship will not be on the line at Fastlane. Instead, once again, the main event will decide the #1 contender for the title at Wrestlemania. Roman Reigns was in this same position last year and won, defeating Daniel Bryan. This time, it is a triple-threat match with Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar also involved. Who wins? I'll go from least likely to most likely.

How often is Brock Lesnar the least likely to win anything? And yet, he seems to be in this situation. The story just doesn't fit him winning. Moreover, there are seeds there for him to face The Wyatts. Many fans have gotten excited over the interactions between Lesnar and Dean Ambrose in recent weeks. The WWE might decide to continue that as a singles feud for Wrestlemania. Last thing to keep in mind, Triple H and Brock Lesnar already faced each other at Wrestlemania a few years ago. No match is necessarily once in a lifetime, even those promoted as being once in a lifetime, but I just don't feel the hype is truly there to do that feud again.

How about Dean Ambrose? He was the last man eliminated in the Royal Rumble. He was that close to winning the WWE Championship. He is the only member of The Shield not to win it. And he just lost his Intercontinental Championship. Holding that title was one of the reasons it didn't seem likely he would win this match. Well, he lost it. With another debacle over Roman Reigns possible, the WWE might want to go with an opponent for Triple H that rowdy smarks might actually like. Would that leave Roman Reigns out in the cold? He could feud with Lesnar in a rematch from last year's Wrestlemania.

Roman Reigns is still the favorite to win. Some people have said that it would have been stupid for the WWE not to want to go with Daniel Bryan conquering The Authority at Wrestlemania a few years ago because they had been building that story for months. Well, here is another storyline that has been developed for months. Roman Reigns finally wins the WWE Championship. Triple H screws him out of it. Reigns eventually snaps and attacks Triple H. He regains the title again, but it is Triple H, the man he attacked and took out for a few weeks, that returns to take the title from Reigns in a match where the odds were against him from the start. It would make storyline sense for Roman Reigns to win the title back from Triple H, especially since he is the new centerpiece. If the WWE shrugged off angry fans last year to have Roman Reigns go over Daniel Bryan, I would imagine they would have no problem having Roman Reigns win this match. Despite Roman Reigns still having some fans that dislike him,  I do not feel things are as bad as last year.

How about this triple-threat match leads to a triple-threat match at Wrestlemania? Some fans have suggested that two of the wrestlers involved in this match can pin the third and both move on to Wrestlemania against Triple H. The popular outcome would be Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose both pinning Lesnar. I do not expect that to happen. I would hope it does not happen. You ended up with a triple-threat match last year, even though it was not advertised as one, when Seth Rollins cashed in to put himself in the match between Lesnar and Reigns. Before that, it was the Daniel Bryan saga. How about a singles match that stays a singles match for this year's Wrestlemania title match? I have nothing against multiple challengers in a title match, but there just seems to be too many triple-threat main events at Wrestlemania recently.

Any heel turns expected? I am not talking about Lesnar. It doesn't really matter whether he is feel or face. He just beats people up. The WWE has teased that tension between Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. The fact that they are facing each other does not mean a heel turn has to happen. They faced each other at Survivor Series last year and no heel turn happened off of that. The storyline here seems rather simple. No heel turn is necessary. Roman Reigns is trying to get revenge on Triple H and get his title back. A heel turn from either Reigns or Ambrose might make things complicated. You can say the WWE might make the predictable decision and be bored with that, but can they create a good storyline if they do decide to do something different?

Any other shenanigans expected? Specifically, interference? If the WWE is still set on Lesnar feuding with The Wyatts, you can expect them to cost him the match. How about Triple H or Vince McMahon doing something to screw Roman Reigns? I do not expect that. This seems like a situation where the heels can just sit back and watch some of their enemies kill each other. No need to make it seem like the odds are that stacked against Roman Reigns.

Putting it all together, I would say Roman Reigns does win. No heel turns from anybody. I would say the WWE could go either way with Brock Lesnar when it comes to him entering a feud with The Wyatts or Dean Ambrose for Wrestlemania. If he gets The Wyatts, they will likely interfere in this match. If the WWE does do that, however, what is left for Dean Ambrose? It would be a shame for him to be stuck in some multi-man match for a midcard title, again. As for fan reactions, I would hope some of them just relax. I don't think the situation right now is as terrible as it was in recent years for Wrestlemania, in terms of the WWE not being eager to push someone more over at the proper level. Let Roman Reigns get this push.

Previewing The Other Fastlane 2016 Undercard Matches

The Intercontinental Championship changed hands on Raw this week. Dean Ambrose lost it to Kevin Owens. That might make it more likely that Dean Ambrose wins his own match this Sunday, but that is a subject for next time. How about Kevin Owens getting the title back? For a guy that lacks the look and was having some people write his career eulogy after he lost his first feud against John Cena, he has done pretty well for himself in his first year on the main roster. He won a feud against Cesaro after moving on from Cena. He won the Intercontinental Championship soon after that. He entered a feud against Dean Ambrose. He lost the title to him, but has now gotten it back. In between that, he was getting a mediocre feud with Dolph Ziggler. I am not talking about match quality. I am talking about feud development. Well, a title is now on the line. These two will go at it again at Fastlane for the title. Since Owens just won it, I say he retains.

Did the title have to go back to Kevin Owens? He did just hold it a couple months ago. There were a few other guys in that match on Raw. There are other guys on the roster, despite all the injury problems. Dolph Ziggler hasn't held a title in a while. As I said, I doubt he wins it this Sunday. They could have taken the opportunity to kickstart a push for Tyler Breeze. I have seen some people say that Chris Jericho should have gotten it so AJ Styles could eventually win the Intercontinental Championship off him in their feud. Not a bad idea. There's always Miz. Kevin Owens is definitely not a horrible choice, but I don't think he really needed to be the guy to win it back. The WWE will probably not continue to feature him this well throughout his career, but fans shouldn't be complaining about how they push him for a while.

Onto the United States Championship. It will once again be Alberto Del Rio and Kalisto. This is a 2 out of 3 falls match. There is a pretty good rivalry developing here. They have already traded the title between themselves. Something to keep in mind is that Kalisto's partner, Sin Cara, is back. I am expecting Del Rio to get the title back. If the WWE wants to continue to push the Lucha Dragons as a team, it will be awkward with one guy holding a singles title. The New Day seem to be lacking a true direction at the moment. Could the WWE be saving them to continue that feud with Sin Cara and Kalisto? I think it is a possibility. I do not know how much further Kalisto can go in a singles push. The League of Nations will probably get involved here, helping Del Rio get the title back. There is another group without much direction. Four members and only one real feud for them recently. And it's against a midcarder for the United States Championship.

The last match I will talk about is AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho. This match was made official on Smackdown this week. This will be the third encounter between these two. It will likely be the last in this feud. Styles will hopefully move on to something better for Wrestlemania. Might these two continue the rivalry down the line? That is another issue. Styles took the first encounter and Jericho took the second. It would make sense for the third encounter to be the end. And it will likely go to AJ Styles. He's the new star that just debuted. Jericho is a part-time jobber to the stars.

Some fans might be expecting a heel turn. Jericho snaps at his inability to beat Styles this Sunday and that continues the feud to Wrestlemania. If they were going to do something like that, they wouldn't have let Jericho beat Styles on Smackdown recently. Jericho has already proven he can beat Styles. Snapping at losing to him again would not make sense. I say this stays a face vs. face feud.

Even though I doubt this feud continues to Wrestlemania, I believe they could have developed it to be worthy of Wrestlemania. Have Styles vs. Jericho I on any Raw or Smackdown before Fastlane. Styles wins there. Have Styles vs. Jericho II at Fastlane. Jericho wins this one. That leaves Styles vs. Jericho III for Wrestlemania. And Styles would win that one. Build up to the matches better. It wouldn't have made AJ Styles' debut as amazing as it should have been, but it might have let a a feud that was developed a little better. This feud might end up just being a few weeks long. It could have gone all the way to Wrestlemania and led to a big match there.

Let me go back to talking about past debuts. I talked about Kevin Owens and his first feud against John Cena. Even though he lost that feud, his career did not take a hit. Moreover, that debut feud felt better than what you have with AJ Styles and Chris Jericho. I doubt it is only because a title was involved. They didn't just rush through their series of matches. It started with a promo between Owens and Cena. Owens can hold his own on the mic. That set up the first match, where Owens beat Cena clean. Owens, the top star of NXT at the time, beat the face of the WWE cleanly in his first match on the main roster. Again, things soon went downhill for him from there, but it was still a good debut and he has done well since.

AJ Styles is likely to win his debut feud, but this feud does not feel the same way as Owens vs. Cena. There was never that same in-ring segment to set up Styles vs. Jericho. AJ Styles debuted in the Royal Rumble match and was wrestling Chris Jericho the next night. And beating Chris Jericho cleanly really is not that impressive. Fans weren't reacting the same way to that as Owens beating Cena. There really was no big storyline or debut vignettes for Kevin Owens, but his debut was still better than what the WWE did with AJ Styles. 

Previewing The Diva Matches For Fastlane 2016

This is one of those rare times where there will be 2 diva matches at a WWE PPV. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks team up to take on Naomi and Tamina, while Charlotte defends the Diva's Championship against Brie Bella.

The tag match is pretty straightforward. Sasha Banks turned face and split from her stable. This is the customary feud you would expect to see. Faces win.

Some people were ready to say Becky Lynch was buried after the Royal Rumble. She lost to Charlotte, then Sasha Banks popped up and made her intentions clear that she wanted the title. What followed was Sasha turning face and eventually finding an ally in Becky. I have said before that the WWE could develop an elaborate storyline for Becky Lynch against Charlotte. They aren't doing it. Even if they do go back to that feud, it has lost some of its heat. Instead of Becky being that determined to prove herself and get revenge on her former friend, she's teaming with Sasha Banks while Charlotte is busy with something else. If they wanted to make this elaborate, they would have Becky still remain on the fringes of Charlotte's current feud, not plug her into Sasha's feud against Naomi and Tamina. Regardless, I would not say she is buried. There are some women in the division that don't even have as much to do as Becky currently has.

Onto Charlotte. She has Brie Bella. This is another feud that isn't too intriguing, in terms of how it has been built. But there are those rumors going around that Brie Bella will retire. That might make the winner of this title match obvious. Charlotte retains. Of course, The Bellas are no strangers to getting a short title reign prior to leaving the WWE. It happened with Nikki years ago. Moreover, there were rumors of AJ Lee leaving the WWE back in 2014. She went on to still get another title reign, take more time off, come back for another Wrestlemania win, and then seemed to pull the rug out from under the WWE by retiring soon after that. There certainly would have been some angle if the WWE knew she was retiring in advance. Point is, a lot of things can happen, despite these rumors. I will say Charlotte retains, but a title change here would not be shocking.

Let's assume Brie Bella is leaving. Nikki Bella has been out with an injury and her in-ring career may be done. The WWE really has no stars in the diva division. Before anyone bites my head off, I am not saying there are no women with talent. I am not saying they have no fans. I am saying no one really has A-tier overness. I am saying there is no centerpiece right now. I am saying AJ Lee, the WWE's top periphery diva, retired last year and the WWE never got around to replacing her. I am saying the eye-candy periphery divas that are around aren't featured very well. I am saying that what you are pretty much left with are a bunch of credible jobbers that made a lot of noise in NXT, and some of that overness is carrying over in some cases, but none of them are really stealing the show. Moreover, the WWE cannot make the mistake of thinking that these women are really over just because of NXT fans or fans complaining on Twitter for better matches. Even if both Bellas were here and good to go, that would not fix the WWE's problems.

I do not think the WWE needs to immediately debut anyone from NXT to fill the void Brie Bella might leave. Keep in mind that the WWE debuted three women in one night a few months ago. That left them with more women than they could properly handle. It's probably a good thing to let some women go to become more efficient with the women they do have. After they do that, then worry about debuting more women.

How about that centerpiece position? Charlotte is definitely not a good long-term option. I doubt the WWE is ready to put an end to the status quo of the diva division. You can look at how they have stuck with Roman Reigns to get the idea that they will not give up easily on something they want to work. The status quo of the diva division has existed before Roman Reigns even joined the WWE. Some might say it has flopped even worse than Roman Reigns, but the WWE will probably still be just as stubborn with it. If the WWE is moving on from Nikki Bella and still want an eye-candy centerpiece, I can imagine them either going to Summer Rae, going to NXT for someone like Alexa Bliss, or try to bring back a former eye-candy diva, like Eve Torres.

Roman Reigns Vs. Dean Ambrose Vs. Brock Lesnar For Fast Lane 2016

The WWE didn't waste any time in making the main event for their next PPV this month. It will be Brock Lesnar going against Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns in a triple-threat match at Fast Lane.

Some fans immediately rolled their eyes at The Authority giving Roman Reigns this opportunity. Don't they hate the guy? Why would they do this? I don't think this is so bad. I've seen worse. Ever since The Authority was created, they have consistently teased tension within their own group. And not always to set up an angle where someone was leaving the group. It was just dumb. It made the group look bad and it took away from feud development at times. What are fans supposed to make of this inconsistency with the group? I found that more annoying than recent developments.

Can you make sense of what the heel authority figures want to do? Could they be trying to drive a wedge between Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns? The two are as close as brothers. Can the opportunity to headline Wrestlemania cause a split? Don't forget Brock Lesnar is in there. Could they want the mercenary to destroy both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in one match? And don't forget, it isn't like The Authority is just handing Roman Reigns his rematch. They are forcing him to win this match if he wants a shot at Triple H for the title.

Will Roman Reigns even win this match? In terms of the storyline, it would be obvious to have Roman Reigns win here and face Triple H at Wrestlemania. Lesnar can move on to something else, like The Wyatts. Dean Ambrose has the Intercontinental Championship. Roman Reigns would be the one left with no real direction if he does not get to continue his feud with Triple H. But fans still do not like him as much as the WWE would like. Roman Reigns was in a similar position last year, where he faced Daniel Bryan with a shot at headlining Wrestlemania on the line. Reigns won that match at Fast Lane. Is the WWE ready to give up on Roman Reigns? Or will he get the likely win? Time will tell.

Let me do an aside. The WWE took some heat last week for certain angles involving the divas. Ric Flair kissed Becky Lynch and The Rock made some comments towards Lana in his return segment that have led some to say the WWE is sexist towards their women.

I did not have a problem with anything that happened last week. Did Ric Flair do anything that crossed the line? This kind of thing happens all the time. Chris Jericho kissed Stephanie McMahon. Jeff Hardy kissed Stacy Keibler. Brie Bella kissed AJ Lee. You have instances of men spanking women in wrestling. There are a lot of interactions of women being handled like this. Happens all the time.

As for what The Rock said to Lana, implying she cheated on Rusev with him, that was also no big deal. I know dirtsheets tried to spin things like Lana is in the doghouse. The Rock referred to Lana as a "Russian Streetwalker" during his first segment with Lana and Rusev a few years ago. Any reports of Lana in trouble back then? The Rock is walking backstage, verbally owning people along the way. He owned Miz. He owned Big Show. He left Lana and Rusev in a sticky situation. His whole return segment on Raw was filled with things that probably pushed the limits of what the WWE would normally allow. His exchange with Lana was the least of it.

Is it all sexist? You can make the argument that it is. Thing is, is it really worth condemning to the point that the WWE has to issue a statement about it? I don't think so. I am a fan of horror movies. There are definitely sexist things that happen in a lot of horror movies I have seen. You get gratuitous nude shots of women. You sometimes see the "airhead" slut character. You see some girls portrayed like sex, drugs, and other such things are all they have on their mind. I am sure there are a lot of people that dislike this stuff, but I have never come across anyone in the horror business have to justify what they do. These kind of things are still featured in these kind of movies. One of the tricks is to make sure that is not all you feature. Also feature women with different characters.

I have talked about the Sleepaway Camp movies before. Angela, the killer in these movies, is not portrayed as the women I just talked about. And what draws me towards Pamela Springsteen's version of the character is that she is just entertaining. I found her cute. She was never slutty. She was never nude. And she was the main character in some of these movies. And there are a lot of other horror movies where I am more drawn to other female characters, like the serious heroine, than to one of the other female characters portrayed in a sexier manner. I sometimes like that strong female character. I try to watch Friday The 13th: Part 3 whenever I can because I like the character of Chris, played by Dana Kimmell. Cute, but with a strong character. Never nude. Never too slutty.

Back to wrestling, as long as there is variety, I do not see a problem. You will get sexist segments and characters here and there, but you will also get other things going on. I do not think the WWE pushes things too far. I would say they need to give their women fair opportunities to succeed. I would say they need more unique gimmicks for their women. I would say they need better character development. Of the many problems I see in the diva division, I do not see a problem with what they did last week.

In the end, I think the WWE has pretty much asked for this. They are running a family-friendly product. Their television shows are PG. They do not hide that they target kids. When you do these things, you have to watch what you do. I have said many times that the WWE pushes the limits. I do not think what they did last week with Becky Lynch and Lana was even the worst of it. They are asking for trouble. Horror movies are not PG. If they tried to draw in little kids, then they would face heavy criticism.

The WWE needs to find an identity. They cannot please everyone. They cannot be family entertainment to draw in kids and still be edgy to please fans complaining for the Attitude Era to come back. No matter what, someone will complain. Even with the WWE being edgy here and there, fans still complain about them being PG. Even though they do try to be a family-friendly product, people still call them out for certain angles. Sitting on the fence is not going to protect the WWE from criticism. They will be criticized from both sides. They may think they are producing a product that appeals to all kinds of fans, but they might just be producing a product that gives all types of fans reasons to stop watching. 
     

Randy Orton Returns At Fast Lane 2015

Randy Orton finally made his official return last night. As you would expect, he returned as a face and continued his issues with The Authority. A feud between him and Seth Rollins should be good for Wrestlemania.

How will his return affect the mild crowds and bad ratings you have gotten in recent weeks? Randy Orton is a popular guy and he is a guy the WWE will definitely want to use in a big way. Problem is, you have a lot of guys like that around. Daniel Bryan has been back for a few weeks. Fans talk about Cena being such a draw. He has been active. Part-time big names have been appearing. And yet, there is still that sense that something needs to happen to make things interesting. Randy Orton will probably get some good reactions now, but it will not be enough to really excite these fans. As far as ratings go, Randy Orton has never really proven to be a huge draw, but with all the other returns coming up and the road to Wrestlemania really taking shape now, viewers should start tuning in more.

Roman Reigns Vs. Daniel Bryan At Fast Lane: Final Preview

Fast Lane? Fastlane? Should I throw a "WWE" in there somewhere? Whatever you want to call it, the main match this Sunday will be Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. The winner faces Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania for the WWE title. A lot to talk about here.

I said the WWE could approach this match in two ways. Either use it as a way to help put Roman Reigns over or put Daniel Bryan in the title match, if fan support for him was that insane. Let me start with that second possibility. Has fan support been that insane for Daniel Bryan? I would still say Daniel Bryan has A+ overness, but it feels like a few cracks in his armor have appeared. I have been paying attention to how fans have been reacting to him in recent weeks. It isn't as huge as it was last year. Again, he is still very over. I am not denying that. It just appears the fans have cooled a little. Is it because they find this whole thing stale? Are they just bored right now? Whatever the exact reason, I would stick with Roman Reigns in the title match at Wrestlemania.

I am not saying that because of any kind of favoritism for Roman Reigns or hatred for Daniel Bryan. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would make the same decision to stick with the original result. If Daniel Bryan had won the Royal Rumble, got a negative reaction for winning, Roman Reigns was the guy that they seemingly wanted to win, and everything else played out the same, I would stick with Daniel Bryan. Fan reaction isn't crazy enough to force the change. It is like when the referee reviews a play in football. If there is reason to believe that the original call might have been wrong, but there is not enough evidence to be sure, the ruling on the field stands. Wrestlemania plans already got messed up for the benefit of Daniel Bryan last year. He deserved it last year, but again this year? The fans better want it bad enough. And I do not see enough there that they do want it that badly. For the sake of not repeating last year and at least trying to make a new star, I would stick with Reigns.

Now that I have already said that they should stick with Reigns, let's talk story of the match. Putting over Roman Reigns in this match doesn't just mean Daniel Bryan loses. Roman Reigns has to give an impressive performance if he hopes to win over some of his critics. Daniel Bryan is a great worker to put against Reigns. This has to be a back-and-forth match. If Daniel Bryan is going to lose, you can imagine him dominating most of the action and Reigns pulling it out in the end. This match has to be about more than just putting Roman Reigns over a former World Champion prior to facing Brock Lesnar. Help him connect with the fans even better. Make him work.

I have seen more than one fan bring up the possibility of Sheamus returning this Sunday as a heel and costing Daniel Bryan the match. That sets up Sheamus vs. Bryan for Wrestlemania. That would be an even worse idea than having Roman Reigns get beaten down all match and still pulling out the win cleanly. Roman Reigns is supposed to be a face. If you have him win like that, and against a guy as popular as Daniel Bryan, you are only giving fans more reason to hate him. The logic is that Sheamus would absorb that hatred because he was the one that actually cost Bryan the match and he is heel now. But you are not doing Roman Reigns any favor with this match outcome. Do you want fans to respect him more or not? If they really want to turn Sheamus heel and have him go after Daniel Bryan, start that feud the Raw after Fast Lane.

Just to summarize my prediction, I think Reigns will win. If not that, I think you are more likely to get some situation that sees both guys go on to face Brock Lesnar than to see just Daniel Bryan getting the match. Fan reactions have not been scary enough to make me believe the WWE will change their original plans. But as important as who the winner will be, how they handle the actual match will also be important. If you want to help Roman Reigns, let him work. If he cannot, he might really need more time before he is the next top star of the company.

I already said everything I wanted to say about the match this Sunday, but let me talk about the feud development. It has been pretty lackluster. Some fans might even say it was worse than that. Always putting Big Show and Kane against Reigns and Bryan has been repetitive and boring. Some fans simply hate Big Show and Kane these days. Reigns and Bryan did not need to wrestle these two guys so much. They did not even need to be feuding against The Authority so much right now. There were other heels they could have worked against. Have The Authority put better focus feuding against Ziggler, Ryback, and Rowan, which would be better development for that match at Fast Lane. I would even say that Reigns and Bryan did not need to be wrestling so much as they have recently. There have been some nights where they were featured too much. I brought up how they ran through much of the tag division. I get that they want to tease the idea that they can't get along, but it was not done in a fresh manner.

This whole feud has been kindergarten. I don't want to imply that it was childish. It has been basic and simple. It is what you might expect from a face vs. face feud. You could have done better. I have mentioned that fan reactions don't seem to be as killer as they used to be. Ratings also indicate that the product is not on fire right now. The WWE is struggling to get Raw to average over 4 million viewers. During Wrestlemania season? Really? The WWE needs to do something to wake these fans up. Simply having Sting around is not creating that hype. You have to do more with your full-time performers. And it definitely starts with the top feud you have going on, especially when there was so much room for improvement.

What would I have done? You go back to the Royal Rumble. You go to the night after. There was some real tension there. There was real excitement there. And I am not talking about The Rock coming back and getting involved to help Roman Reigns. That is the kayfabe controversy the WWE utilized to help create the lackluster feud you have been getting. The real controversy was over the WWE once again pushing what they want to work out over what the fans want to see. Fans were upset that Daniel Bryan lost the way he did and Roman Reigns won. They even talked about this the night after on Raw. Why wouldn't you make a storyline out of that? Let this feud be based on something real. Instead, you have a feud based on The Rock saving Roman Reigns from two guys that were already eliminated from the Rumble and Daniel Bryan seemingly forgetting he deserved a rematch for the title he never lost and instead entering the Rumble. Base this feud on the real tension that was there. That should get the fans interested. Create a "pipe bomb" atmosphere. Neither guy would have to turn heel. CM Punk did not turn heel back then. Cena remained Cena. Some fans love it when someone goes out there and gives a self-righteous speech. Nikki Bella went out there and gave a promo on Smackdown a few months ago that got her cheered. She was a heel at the time. She just went out there and spoke in that kind of tone that some fans love and respect. Have Daniel Bryan talk about busting his ass to finally get to the top, then having to lose it because of injury. Have Roman Reigns talk about never having the kind of opportunities Daniel Bryan has had. Embrace the fan reactions. Play off of it more. I am not saying either of these guys are like CM Punk on the mic, but Nikki Bella was able to go out there and get a positive reaction from the fans with this kind of promo. This feud between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns needed less matches, more promos, and more working off the real controversy. What kind of "Reality Era" is this? They are not even trying and it is not energizing the fans and drawing.

Seth Rollins On A Slow Fast Lane

Roman Reigns is not the only guy being developed to be a star. Seth Rollins, holder of the briefcase, is also in a good spot. And yet, he has not had clear feud development since the Royal Rumble. It is not unusual for even the guy that won Money in the Bank to sometimes be lost in the shuffle or be booked to look weak for a period of time. Regardless, the WWE should have done better here.

You have quite a few guys without an official match at Fast Lane that might end up with something. You probably will see Seth Rollins, Kane, and Big Show vs. Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Rowan. That is where this week's Smackdown seems to be leading to, although I do not think the match was officially announced for the PPV. Those three heels have also been involved with Bryan/Reigns recently. It has not been a clean road to this Sunday.

They should have done better with Seth Rollins. And they could have. Why not pick one of those faces and develop a proper feud for Rollins? Rowan is too lowly. Ziggler vs. Rollins probably would be the best option in terms of match quality, but a feud between Ryback and Rollins also could have been nice. Rollins should have individual focus on him. He did not need to be involved with Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. He is coming off looking like another Authority henchman. Again, you can let little periods of questionable booking go now and then. But when you have the issues making stars that the WWE has, can you afford to make too many mistakes? I would still not say Rollins is at a point where he can really stand on his own. The WWE has to keep on working.

Cena Vs. Rusev At Fast Lane: Final Preview

An element that had popped up in the storyline between John Cena and Rusev was that Cena was old. He's over the hill. In terms of years, he is not old yet. Even in the wrestling business, many guys wrestle after turning 40. Cena is not there yet. I think a lot of fans have overreacted to that part of this storyline.

You see this kind of thing with Cena a lot. They put his back to the wall, often making him look weak, and he overcomes. After losing to The Rock the first time at Wrestlemania, an angle eventually came about selling it as the worst year of Cena's career. He went on to beat The Rock at Wrestlemania to win the title. He got completely decimated by Brock Lesnar at Summerslam last year to lose the title. Some people loved seeing that. He bounced back and destroyed Bray Wyatt in one of the most awkward matches I have seen, not including botched matches. He also came close to regaining the title from Lesnar. Did anyone make a big deal about that treatment hurting Cena's popularity or star power? And yet, that is how a lot of people have reacted just because of this current storyline about calling Cena old. Do you ever think the WWE acknowledging Cena has a lot of haters might hurt his popularity? No one puts that much thought into it. Again, I think people are just overreacting.

Did you see what happened with Cena and Rusev this week? Cena turned the tables and destroyed Rusev. That was to be expected. It would seem like the WWE is already going that path of Cena proving himself in this feud. But I don't think this feud is over yet. Rusev will likely retain at Fast Lane.

What happens after that? Continue the feud to Wrestlemania? One of the reasons I did not like the idea of this being Cena's Wrestlemania feud is that it didn't seem good enough. But with this new storyline detail, they might lead it to something worthy of Wrestlemania. If they do not, saying Cena was old was just overkill. You already had enough in this feud. Rusev is undefeated. He has an anti-USA gimmick. He is holding the United States title. There is enough there for Cena to try to accomplish. Rusev can just continue his gimmick and put over his undefeated streak to keep this feud up. No need to make it seem like Cena doesn't have it anymore. You are just putting too much in there. And if what you are putting in is confusing some fans and possibly hurting the feud or one of the performers, you have to wonder even more if it is worth it. If this is all part of developing to an epic feud, it will be worth it.

One last thing. I just have to shake my head at some fans. For years, they have complained about Cena being pushed so hard and the WWE not pushing other talent. What is going on right now is exactly what these fans should want. Cena is not chasing after the main title and he is not involved in the main storyline. They have done this with him before. His feud with Bray Wyatt last year is an example of that. A lot of the same fans I have seen complain about Cena are confused by what is going on and some even seem to feel bad for him. It is just stupid. With fickle people like that always voicing their opinion, the WWE might be justified in ignoring them. John Cena will one day not be the centerpiece anymore. I do not think that is this year. He is just taking a backseat as they try to develop a new star. Last year, it was supposed to be Cena taking a backseat as they pushed Batista with Randy Orton and The Authority. That crumbled to Daniel Bryan getting the attention. I would not make too much of this feud currently going on. It is just a variation of what they have already done with Cena in the past.

Paige Feuds With The Bellas

Paige finds herself feuding against Nikki Bella for the Diva's Championship. Unless some big development happens between now and Fast Lane, this will probably be the only preview I do for this match.

They are doing the bullying thing. I immediately got flashbacks of what they did with Mickie James against Michelle McCool. As I have pointed out numerous times, Paige is getting the type of career Mickie James had. Paige is being pushed as a credible jobber, a diva with wrestling credibility used primarily to put over the centerpiece and used for filler. I have also said that Paige has the potential to do what Mickie James did with that career and overcome it to get over. But she is not there yet. No reason for the WWE to go overboard in an attempt to bury her.

What about what this means for The Bellas? Obviously, they are meant to be the primary benefactors of this storyline. I have held off on saying Nikki is the new centerpiece. I was waiting for them to actually start booking her as they would someone like Sable or Trish. And this kind of feud going on now is that kind of treatment. This is kind of a step back. The Bellas were being pushed so strongly last year. They just seemed to have lost that momentum. Of course, this is not too different from what happened with Trish Stratus. She got some huge storylines in the main-event scene prior to being pushed as centerpiece. Pushing her as centerpiece might have seemed as a step down in some ways, but being pushed as the A+ player in the diva division is worth more than those periphery pushes. But I don't know how much this will help The Bellas. The division is inefficient and I don't think they have solidified their overness.

I also had some flashbacks to what happened just a few months ago with Paige. Because of how they were tossing the title around between Paige and AJ Lee, the feud ended up getting extended and the WWE created this angle of Alicia Fox being Paige's new best friend to make things more interesting. That angle went nowhere. The two split soon after. AJ Lee moved on to something else. Will that kind of thing happen again? Does the WWE even have the mindset to keep the ball rolling with The Bellas? The idea is that all they need is a spark to start running the diva division efficiently again. AJ Lee did not provide it. The Bellas don't seem to have provided it. These are women they have pushed to be stars that have gotten good reactions at times. Problem is, the WWE has not been able to follow through and these divas don't seem to be able to maintain their own momentum with the fans the way they should.

Who wins? I would say Nikki retains. Wrestlemania is just around the corner. Why would the WWE want Paige to hold the title heading into that? If recent history is any indicator, the WWE will just develop some kind of multi-diva match or get celebrities involved. The last singles title feud for the divas at Wrestlemania that was just between two divas and did not even include lumberjills happened in 2006. If the WWE is ready to put better focus on one diva being developed to be centerpiece, that would be one of The Bellas. They could have Nikki regain the title from Paige at Wrestlemania or drop it to Paige there just to give her a Wrestlemania moment. I am not convinced the WWE is ready to break away from the tradition of weak diva matters heading into Wrestlemania. Back to what happens at Fast Lane, if Paige has the momentum heading into the PPV, she will likely lose. If the feud seems too much on the side of The Bellas, Paige would probably win the title. Does not mean she will be pushed as a star. I will say Paige does regain some momentum and Nikki retains at Fast Lane.

What is more important than who wins? How about whether this storyline helps anyone? The bullying angle you had with Mickie and McCool was obviously meant to help a centerpiece that was failing to properly connect with the fans at the expense of a credible jobber that got over on her own. McCool could not keep a lasting connection with the fans. The only reason she got the great reactions she did get at times during that storyline was because Mickie James was there to cry for her. The Bellas are not as bad as Michelle McCool in terms of connecting with the fans. They are not A players, but they are somewhat over. Nevertheless, a diva pushed as an A+ player should get A-level results. How do you get that back for them? The bullying angle back then did not help McCool get long-term results, so I don't know why anyone should think it is a great idea to try it again. Just a lack of fresh ideas. I don't think it is helping The Bellas. I don't feel it is helping Paige too much. How about just interesting the fans in general? I don't feel the fans are that into it. It is not pushed at the level as what you had on Smackdown a few years ago. Moreover, it does not involve anyone that is very over. If it did, people would definitely be talking about it and reacting to it more. To put it simply, will this feud and storyline end up failing? There is a possibility.

I once had a conversation with a Paige fan on Twitter. I was talking about Paige getting over. He told me that Paige getting over is not something she needs to be concerned about because she's already over. I felt like bashing my head through a wall. Yeah, Paige is over. She has her fans. I like her. But she can definitely be getting better reactions from the fans and support for her could be better. Just because there are a bunch of Paige hashtags floating around Twitter does not mean she as A+ overness. You cannot just look around Twitter to determine whom is really over. The WWE probably wishes it was that easy. They can see a whole bunch of people talking about things they are doing and think those things are legitimate draws, even though other indicators would say otherwise. Paige has a lot of potential and she is being pushed in a manner from which almost no one ever gets over. She has not yet brought the results to be an A+ player, and I am not blaming her for that at all. Thing is, should she bring those results, would it be fair for the WWE to still push her as a C+ player?

Daniel Bryan Gets Another Shot To Headline Wrestlemania

It was not hard to predict that Roman Reigns might be in for a rough time during this push. He is limited in the ring, was in line for a big push, and was going to be pushed ahead of certain wrestlers vocal fans love. That is a recipe for disaster. Of course, I did not think the reaction would be that horrible. Looking at how fans reacted at the Royal Rumble and immediately after, I was ready to say I was wrong about that. This week, it looks like the fans have mellowed down a little. Roman Reigns is not the most hated man in the WWE. It is not as bad as it was for Batista last year. I think there might even be a good amount of fans who want him to get this push and not Daniel Bryan. But I am not going to change my tune every week. I'll just wait until Fast Lane is closer to give my final thoughts on how the fans seem to be reacting.

Daniel Bryan won a match to earn the right to face Roman Reigns to decide who will face Brock Lesnar for the title at Wrestlemania. This is like last year all over again. If Daniel Bryan had just been booked to win this year's Royal Rumble, that would be one thing. Sure, let him go on to face Lesnar. But to have him possibly get there by the same kind of story you had last year just annoys me. Blame the WWE booking, not Daniel Bryan or the fans.

I am not going to predict right now who wins this match. I will say that there are two different ways the WWE can use this match. First, if the fan reactions continue to be extremely one-sided for the sake of Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns is getting crushed, the WWE can use this match as an easy way to change things. Second, if the WWE is bent on pushing Roman Reigns, they could use this match to really put him over.

Let me look at the first possibility. Last year, it was a match with Triple H at Wrestlemania that propelled Daniel Bryan to the main event later that night. This year, it could be happening at Fast Lane against Roman Reigns. I would say this is a chance for the WWE to legitimately pay attention to the fans. If the fan support remains as insane as it was last year, you pretty much have to put Daniel Bryan in. If it does not? Stick with Reigns. I have said before that he does have fans. He is over. He just doesn't have the kind of overness that Daniel Bryan has. But if the Daniel Bryan fans cannot really make as big a scene as they did back then, why should the WWE go down the same path with Daniel Bryan two years in a row? If the fans want him that badly, give him the push. If enough fans still support Roman Reigns, let him have this match to himself. But the WWE actually has to pay attention to how fans are reacting.

The second option involves the WWE already making up their minds. Roman Reigns is getting Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania and Daniel Bryan will do something else. The match at Fast Lane will just be meant to put Reigns over. I have seen some fans say that Roman Reigns putting on an amazing performance might warm him up to those fans that are against him. Who better to help him look amazing than Daniel Bryan? If Roman Reigns is putting on a monster performance against Daniel Bryan, the smarks will cheer him out of respect. Just keep in mind that John Cena, despite not being an amazing in-ring performer, frequently is involved in some great matches. He can get those kind of fans to respect him during a great match at times. Problem is, it doesn't last. He still continues to get those mixed reactions. True overness isn't just about getting a good reaction on one night or after doing one certain thing fans like. It is that consistent connection with the fans. Putting on the match of the night at Fast Lane may help Roman Reigns earn a few respect points, but it does not mean he will have A+ overness.

One of the things mentioned on Raw was that Daniel Bryan never lost his World title and should have had a title shot coming. Instead, they brought him back and booked him into the Royal Rumble match. And we all know how that worked out. That is actually a good point. Instead of people debating how the Rumble match could have gone down to appease Daniel Bryan fans and help Roman Reigns connect with those fans better, why didn't they work him into the WWE title match that night? It was already going to be a multi-man match. Would one more person have hurt it? Considering that one more person happens to be Daniel Bryan, I do not think it would hurt. He gets his rematch, might help the match be even more exciting, gets to go at it with Brock Lesnar, even though it is not the same as a singles match, and you probably shut down that issue with no problem. Brock Lesnar would still retain. No one would complain because Daniel Bryan gets a title match at the Royal Rumble, which is better than competing in the Royal Rumble match just to earn a title match and being eliminated. You could have even had The Authority force Daniel Bryan to beat someone like Kane to get into that title match, just to make the road seem more difficult. Further his underdog character. It really might have been smarter to not put him in the story with Roman Reigns.