WWE Fastlane 2019 results as the pay per view aired last night from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Unlike the previous years, it was an eventful pay per view with a lot of last minutes changes and shocks. The Kickoff match between Andrade and Rey Mysterio was turned in to a fatal four way match for the United States title by adding R-Truth and Samoa Joe and was moved to the main segment.

Vince McMahon tricked Kofi Kingston in to a 2-on-1 handicapped match against The Bar by making him believe it’s a WWE Championship match.

Kickoff Match: The New Day kick things off:

(Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev vs. The New Day)

Nakamura gained the upper hand at the very start. He trapped Woods in the corner but Woods broke free with a spinning head scissors. Rusev then caused a distraction and the heels gained momentum back.

Hot tags, back and forth and near falls followed. The heels tried bending the rules on more than one occasion but the New Day had each other’s back and picked up the win by hitting the Up Up Down Down on Rusev.

Winners: The New Day

Our take from it: This was an entertaining match but one with no consequences. Pairing up Nakamura and Rusev as a heel team has been the most sensible thing WWE has done to either wrestler but then they downplay it by putting them on the kick-off show and having them lose cleanly.

It is understandable that they cannot be made tag champions right off the bat but there should have been more flair and drama to the proceedings. The New Day seem to be even more out of sorts as no one has any clue what can and should be done with them.

Rating: 3.2/5

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The Co-besties implode

(Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (c) vs. Shane McMahon and The Miz)

Shane McMahon and Jimmy Uso started the match. Jimmy got beaten up by the Miz and Shane who worked in tandem. Jey then got similar treatment. The early domination by the Co-besties came to an end when Jimmy managed to hit a nasty Crossbody.

After plenty of back and forth there was a spot where the Miz managed to hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Jimmy but the referee was too busy checking on a down and out Shane.

Shane almost had the match won but The Miz, urged on by his father, went for a glorious looking Frog Splash and ended up being hit by the knees of Jey and being rolled up for the three count. Understandably, Shane was mad at losing yet again due to the Miz’s actions and he laid out the Miz while also taunting his dad.

Winners and still the Smackdown Tag Champions: The Usos

Our take from it: Everyone knew that this whole storyline was setup to instigate a feud between Shane and Miz. This is what happens when non-wrestling family members get involved. It happened between JBL and HBK, between John Cena and Randy Orton and these two are now continuing the trend.

WWE is well within its rights to reuse things from the past as long as it helps the story. Sadly, that is not the case. Shane is never going to achieve anything more than he has already done. Nothing he does now will shine a light to some of the storylines from the attitude era that he was a part of.

Miz is the big loser here. Before this feud started, he was looking well set on being one of the leading faces in the company and now he too is lost. Shane and Miz will put on a decent feud but that is not what the Miz deserves right now.

Rating: 3.5/5

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The ring apron saves Asuka

(Smackdown Women’s Championship Match: Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose)

The match started with a surprising amount of technical wrestling of holds and reversals. Deville caused a distraction which allowed Mandy Rose to get a near fall. A little bit of back and forth followed.

Mandy Rose almost managed to hit her finisher but Asuka countered it. Deville, in a bid to help her teammate, threw a Kendo Stick into the ring while also sending the apron into the ring. Mandy Rose tripped on the apron and Asuka won the match by hitting a head kick soon after. Post-match, this caused tensions between Rose and Deville.

Winner and still Smackdown Women’s Champion: Asuka

Our take from it: WWE has gone to ludicrous lengths in the past to manufacture tension but this has to take the cake. A ring apron tripping a wrestler causing her to lose the match was as ludicrous to see as it sounds.

The other major problem is that it does nothing for Asuka. She is the holder of the biggest championship on SmackDown and at this moment it feels worse than that of US title which is a big shame. It is also sad to note that WWE has very little time left to rectify this situation. What a waste of talent.

Rating: 3/5

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Kofi Kingston endures more punishment

(Kofi Kingston vs. The Bar)

The New Day passionately pleaded with Vince McMahon to insert Kofi into the WWE title match. Vince would not hear any of it and instead decided to punish Kofi by putting him in a match and barring the rest of New Day from ringside.

It turned out to be a handicap match against the Bar. The Bar dominated the entire proceedings. The beat down was so bad that Kofi was not allowed the relief of being pinned. The New Day tried to save him but Rusev and Nakamura thwarted that as well.

Winner: No Contest

Our take from it: Maybe Kingston isn’t totally out of it and WWE does have big plans for him. Just imagine the WWE Universe erupting if Kofi somehow wins the title at WrestleMania. This was the most exciting thing that happened all night and Kofi Kingston seems to be gearing up for the underdog of the year spot.

Ironically, it was a similar spot that made Daniel Bryan the star he is today. This whole segment while painful to watch was the best thing WWE has done in a long time.

Rating: 4.5/5

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The Revival retain but at what cost

(Triple Threat Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Revival (c) vs Ricochet and Aleister Black vs Bobby Roode and Chad Gable)

Ricochet and Black did their cool superhero pose after they had cleared the ring. It was pure mayhem after that. The action took place at a very frantic rate. There were wild swings, near misses and near falls.

Ricochet looked to be on the path of winning it for his team but Gable managed to tag himself in with a well-placed tag only to eat a Shatter Machine and then be pinned by the Revival. Post-match, the champions ended up getting beaten up by their opponents.

Winner and still Raw tag champions: The Revival

Our take from it: The last time such a tag match was showcased by WWE was when the Hardy Boyz, Dudleys and Edge and Christian were still in their prime. This was one of those matches where it did not matter who won.

Followers of NXT will know that Ricochet and Black are excellent single’s wrestlers but their run on the main roster has shown that they are equally adept at being a tag team and could very well prove to be the saviors that the tag team has been yearning for quite some time now.

The same cannot be said about Chad Gable and Bobby Roode and they should go their separate ways once this feud is over.

Rating: 4.3/5

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The stock of the United States title rises considerably

(United States Championship Fatal Four-Way Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs R-Truth vs Andrade vs Rey Mysterio)

The match started with a strange mix of styles from the four men involved. No one managed to get the upper hand during the initial stages. There were some impressive Lucha style wrestling exhibited by Mysterio and Andrade.

There was a wonderful Snap Ranna by Mysterio. Even R-Truth managed to hold his own, even hitting a five knuckle shuffle, but it was Samoa Joe who proved to be a class above the rest when it came to being a total beast. In the end, he won the match by making Mysterio pass out to the Coquina Clutch.

Winner and still United States Champion: Samoa Joe

Our take from it: This was another of the matches on the card that managed to impress beyond expectations. Samoa Joe has never been this comfortable and suited to a role in WWE before. Andrade and Mysterio were great at promoting the Lucha brand of wrestling and R-Truth is aging like a cheap wine but in a very entertaining way. The right man won too and this does hold some exciting prospects for the future.

Rating: 4.1/5

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The Boss n’ Hug connection reign supreme

(WWE Women’s Championship Match: The Boss and Hug Connection vs. Tamina and Nia Jax)

Bayley and Tamina started the match off and the two managed to tag in their partners after a small scuffle in the corner. Banks and Jax went at each other before Bayley got tagged in. The heels isolated her and worked on her.

Bayley managed to hot tag Banks who hit a plethora of kicks. Jax countered with a Samoan Drop for a near fall. Some aerial maneuvers later, Bayley countered a powerbomb from Jax into a Hurricanrana for the win.

Post-match, the heels attacked the winners and Beth Phoenix who was on commentary got involved. Beth got attacked and so was Natalya who tried to make the save.

Winners and still the Women’s tag champions: Boss n’ Hug connection

Our take from it: Tamina stood out like a sore thumb in this match. She is in the worst shape an active wrestler can be. Her knees don’t work and it takes her ages to get up once she is down. Nia Jax isn’t all that great either and that makes their team the worst option to be the first challengers for the women’s tag titles.

Thankfully, Bayley and Banks retained and they have to be commended for doing such a great job despite getting the most lackluster opposition. Vince’s love for big men seems to extend to women as well. There can be no other reason Jax and Tamina are in the position they are in right now. The post-match scuffle seemed to be a way to enter Natalya and Beth into the feud which wouldn’t be the worst thing.

Rating: 3.8/5

It is a triple threat match

(WWE Championship Match: Daniel Bryan (c) w/ Rowan vs Kevin Owens vs Mustafa Ali)

The crowd wanted Kofi and almost hijacked this match with their loud chants of “We want Kofi”. Mustafa Ali did his best to hang in there with the best on SmackDown.

It was a match fought on three fronts. Owens provided the ground and pound, Bryan the technical wizardry and Ali the aerial acrobatics. There were plenty of back and forth action.

Rowan managed to pull Bryan out of a couple of sticky situations. Towards the end Rowan took out Owens and Bryan countered a springboard from Ali with a Busaiku Knee, while Ali was still airborne, for the win.

Winner and still WWE Champion: The New Daniel Bryan

Our take from it: Even if WWE had no plans to include Kofi in this feud, it would be hard for them not to include him in it now after the way the crowd wanted Kofi during this match.

As far as this match went, it was very exciting and fun to watch. Ali played his part brilliantly and it is a travesty to think that he is almost being invisible just because the attention is on someone else right now. That is one of the hard realities of professional wrestling. The great thing though is that this feud wasn’t expected to do great things at WrestleMania but is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ones.

Rating: 4.4/5

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Becky Lynch gets added to the WrestleMania match! Duh!

(Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch)

Lynch still had to use her crutches to walk down to the ring. She managed to hit Flair with a flurry of right hands on one leg but Flair mocked her by asking if that was all she got.

Flair then set off trying to work on Lynch’s knees. This included a single leg crab and a spear to the knee. Lynch managed to get a near fall with a small package and sent Flair face first into the barricades that almost got her counted out.

Lynch then tried to put Flair in the DisArmHer that Flair countered into a Figure Eight. Ronda Rousey promptly appeared and broke it and punched Lynch to cause the DQ.

Winner by DQ: Becky Lynch

Our take from it: Of all the ways WWE could have gone about getting Lynch into the match between Charlotte and Rousey, this was perhaps the most ludicrous.

This match was supposed to be the super showdown worth headlining WrestleMania and instead it is now a cheap whimper that wouldn’t feel out of place on the kick-off show.

This was one feud that seemed to be out of WWE’s petulant reach but WWE managed to find a way to screw it up like they always do.

Rating: 2.5/5

The most random segment

Elias had been providing a running satire through songs the entire night where he took a dump on Cleveland and the various faces on the card. This was the third such instance and Lacey Evans walked out for no reason at all. Then Randy Orton RKO’d Elias out of nowhere. AJ Styles then hit a Phenomenal forearm on Orton.

Our take from it: This was the most illogical segment of the night. Why did Lacey Evans interrupt Elias? Why did Randy Orton RKO Elias? Why did AJ Styles defend Elias? Somebody on the creative team probably felt like doing something crazy and this segment seemed to be a result of that. Sometimes, random is good but this wasn’t one of those times.

Rating: 2/5

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The Shield stand tall in their Last Ride

(The Shield vs. Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, and Bobby Lashley)

The match began with the expected brawl between all six men. Once order was restored, it was Rollins and Lashley who started things off. Initially it was Rollins and Ambrose who took turns and faced off against the three men. Reigns got tagged in only at about the halfway point.

The match was all about back and forth action and the wonderful camaraderie between the Shield members. At one point, it seemed the heels had turned the tables on Reigns and almost sent him through a table but their team spirit was so good that they managed to gain control back and were able to Triple Powerbomb McIntyre first and then Corbin for the win.

Winner: The Shield

Our take from it: The only thing missing from this match was a Queen’s soundtrack. This was an awesome main event and further highlighted why Ambrose should never leave the WWE, not in this current state.

The Shield did not miss a single beat and showed how strong factions can always be entertaining. This was also the best way to handle Reigns’ return without undermining his position. Overall, a very satisfying end to the PPV.

Rating: 4.6/5

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Overall Fastlane Review: Fastlane was one of those PPVs that blew hot and cold at different sections. Some of the matches like the WWE championship match, US title match, RAW tag team match and the main event were simply awesome while the rest were simply lackluster.

Not a single title changed hands like we predicted but it didn’t feel like a show without consequences. The stage is set for an awesome Kofi Kingston push. The US title can have big implication and so can the RAW tag division.

Where the Shield goes from here is still a big question mark. Hopefully WWE handles that well. This was an OK PPV that just about managed to entertain.

Moment of the Night: R-Truth hitting the Five Knuckle Shuffle

Overall Rating: 3.6/5

WWE Fastlane 2019 Results, Review and Highlights

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