“I’m Better Than You, And You Know It”

"Every Man Has A Price For The Million Dollar Man"

"The Best There Is, The Best There Was, And The Best There Ever Will Be"

"Whatcha Gonna Do, When Hulkamania Runs Wild On You"

"And That's The Bottom Line Because Stone Cold Said So"

<h3><strong>Expected</strong></h3>
<p>Side-note: Hot damn, Rusev has his own microphone sleeve now, and it actually looks good. We would buy it if any of us ever bought a microphone.</p>
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<p>What a good match this opening contest was. Even though Nakamura winning was not surprising, there were times Rusev looked like he might actually win. Nakamura was still vicious with his kicks, but so was The Bulgarian Brute, connecting with two MASSIVE KICKS, both instances seeming to have secured him a victory. Also, the finish was really neat – Nakamura crawled out of the impending Accolade, and blew a nasty Kinshasa into the back of Rusev’s head before finishing him off with another. We liked that finish, since it did not hurt Rusev’ legitimacy too much, yet still put over Nakamura as a wrestler with a dangerous finisher that he could pull off very fast. It was worth noting that the crowd was really hot throughout the showdown, with the “NAKAMURA/RUSEV DAY” dueling chants being audible in a large proportion of the match.</p>
<p>Fastlane was off to an auspicious start.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Grand Slam</strong></h3>
<p>Another side-note: Awww Bobby and Randy have complementary red trunks. How cute. It actually was a nice touch, and if that was intentional, then kudos to the guys.</p>
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<p>Now to the actual match. This match (and what followed) was really, really satisfactory. From bell to bell, it did not feel like either man was phoning it in. Even though the match certainly was not the most exciting tonight, but it was definitely enjoyable. The finish was really unexpected, too. Well, not because of the #RKOOuttaNowhere itself, but rather because of the outcome. We never thought Randy would have come out victorious, but there you have it – The Viper will walk into WrestleMania 34 as United States Champion.</p>
<p>Congratulations on him achieving the Grand Slam, too. At long last.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Better Than Non-descript</strong></h3>
<p>So Natalya did not <a href="http://api.wrestlingworld.co/editorial/fastlane-2018-six-booking-decisions-we-would-love-to-see/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">play with cats</a> at all. Sad. But at least she put in a good effort. And so were the other three women in the match. In-ring-wise, we had to give it to Carmella – the affair we saw tonight was one of her best performances on the main roster so far. The finish was quite creative as well – it made the match better than the non-descript affairs we see so often on Smackdown Live. Anyways, on this occasion, we feel the right team won. Carmella really needed that victory to boost her profile so that when she finally decided to use the Money in the Bank briefcase for something other than hitting other wrestlers, she will have already been well-positioned.</p>
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<p><strong>Update</strong>: Graphics guy was still high at work.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Lay Down the Hammers</strong></h3>
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<p>The Usos vs The New Day match (kind of) had an interesting narrative to it – the teams knew each other so well that they could execute each other’s personal AND tandem moves flawlessly. Until before The Bludgeon Brothers interfered, we felt that the match could really become a classic with the appropriate finish. But read that sentence again, slowly. Correct: The Bludgeon Brothers are now officially in the fold for the Smackdown Live Tag Team Championship. Rowan and Harper were booked like absolute monsters tonight, almost reaching Strowman-level even. Finally, FINALLY, the long-overlooked big guys have been given a decent push. And with Erick and Luke’s impressive wrestling abilities, we should be in for a tag team treat at WrestleMania.</p>
<p></p>
<h3><strong>Her Majesty</strong></h3>
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<p>Charlotte Flair played babyface so well tonight she might as well have been called John Cena. She really elevated Ruby Riott’s offense, making Ruby look like she was dominating Charlotte the whole time. But then again, there were the interferences from the rest of the Riott Squad and Naomi and Becky Lynch. Any other time and they would have been perfectly fine, but we did not feel there was a need for intercession tonight, since Charlotte had been selling nicely already.</p>
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<p>Alright, now we shall eagerly anticipate for the dream match that is Asuka vs Charlotte. This is finally happening, yay!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Through the Skin of His Teeth (And Through a Table, Too)</strong></h3>
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<p>What an absolute cracker of a main event it was. We had some fleeting doubts before the match started, seeing that 6 men might just be a few too many for a gripping multi-man match, but the guys made it work. There was very little clunkiness, few dead spots, and all the stars were given moments to shine. Many looked like they were actually going to win (except for Corbin and Ziggler, though – poor them). AJ Styles had a really close call. He was all over the place from the beginning of the match before being AA’ed through the announce table by Cena, only recovering just in time to deliver the last move of the match to Kevin Owens. Speaking of Kevin Owens, the feud between him (together with Sami Zayn) and Shane McMahon had restarted. The theme is, once again, Shane McMahon screwing Owens’, and then Zayn’s would-have-been winning pinfalls.</p>
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<p>Quality in-ring action, multiple feuds being forwarded, and the right person emerged victorious, giving us a dream match at WrestleMania – fantastic offering to end the Smackdown Live PPV.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Overall Review:</strong></h3>
<p>A PPV that confirmed TWO WrestleMania super-matches? You better bet your last penny we had enjoyed that. All the matches delivered in-ring, the featured ones advanced storylines, and a championship changed hands. Seeing AJ Styles holding the championship up high, we thought to ourselves: “Wait what? The PPV is over already?” Yep, it was THAT fun to watch.</p>

WWE Fastlane 2018 Review & Results

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