Fastlane 2017: Smart or mistake?

This past Sunday I gathered around the television with friends and watched the WWE pay per view, a tradition that has been ongoing since 2014. This time it was the Raw brand pay per view Fastlane. Fastlane is a brand new pay per view that debuted in 2015 in Memphis, Tennessee. My buddy Ryan and I made the six and a half hour drive from Kentucky to watch in person and it did not disappoint. This past Sunday’s version however, did just that.

It was about 10:40 PM and the women’s championship match had just ended. I immediately began to sense a squash about to happen. Now it’s time for the main event. Both superstars made their entrances and then Kevin Owens exited the ring and began to pace the outside. It was then brought to my attention by the broadcast team that the bell had not yet rung (insert eye roll here). Owens then enters the ring, taunts Goldberg, and demands the bell to be rung. Then somewhat predictably, Chris Jericho’s music hits. The camera pans to the stage to him walking out into the arena, the camera pans back to Owens who is beside himself at the sight of his former best friend, and THEN the bell rings. Owens’ attention then shifts back to his opponent who charges forward and hits his signature spear, and then lifts the champion up over his head for his finisher, the jackhammer. Cover. One, two, three.

I had shifted from the TV to my iPhone at this point and as soon as the bell rung I double tapped my home button and closed the WWE app. Why squash your champion in that fashion? I was thinking we’d get a Lesnar run in to cost Goldberg the match putting more heat on their match heading into their April 2 bout at WrestleMania 33. Instead WWE chose to put the championship on their star part timer going into the Show of Shows. We have a match that wasn’t going to be great to begin with now being contested for a championship that neither competitor needs. That match could have done without the title and still have great meaning, but in typical WWE fashion they over thought their booking.

Am I shocked that Goldberg is the Universal champion? No. Am I shocked at the outside interference? No. The only thing I actually am shocked about is the fact they had Kevin Owens job to Goldberg. He deserves much better for the way he’s helped to carry Raw since winning his title in August. It seems they’re preparing us for another four to six months of bi-weekly or monthly champion appearances until either SummerSlam or Night of Champions where either man drops the title to someone else (presumably Owens, Balor, or Rollins if healthy). I really don’t care to see that again. WWE has made it clear they don’t care what we, or I think though. Share your thoughts with me below! 

Saving the Roman Empire

One of the most puzzling things I’ve seen as of late on WWE television is the creative team’s utter botching of Roman Reigns character. By now you’ve seen a dozen and a half articles about how WWE is (or depending on who you ask, isn’t) booking him. At this point there is no need to rehash any of that. What we can and will focus on today is something I’ve picked up on in recent months and that is the fact there are other superstars on the rosters who are flourishing in the role that would be perfect for Roman’s character.

Exhibit A: none other than Smackdown Live’s own Baron Corbin. The Lone Wolf went on a war path destroying “little guys” a couple months back leading up to a brief feud with Kalisto. That isn’t the part that caught my eye though, it was how he was doing it. He talked very little and when he did he was straight to his point, and then he proceeded to carry out his mission by dominating his opponents relentlessly. Corbin also has victories over many of the elites on Smackdown Live such as Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles.

Now let’s look at exhibit B: the newest member of the Monday Night Raw roster, Samoa Joe. In his case he began his main roster debut by shelving one of the hottest superstars on the brand in Seth Rollins. There is no better way to get your career off to a hot start than to take out a former multiple time world champion. Similar to Corbin, Joe speaks very little (but pretty well when he does speak) gets straight to his point then proceeds to dominate his competition in brutal fashion (see his most recent dismantling of Sami Zayn on last week’s episode of Raw). 

Now for my point: both of these guys are flourishing in a role that is PERFECT for Roman Reigns. The question is, why doesn’t the creative team realize this or the better question, do they care? It seems WWE upper management is hell bent on us liking Roman whether we want to or not. Roman should have been turned over a year ago and allowed to make his way on his own by doing his favorite thing: kicking ass. Instead, we are still being force fed something we showed that we didn’t want in Philly two years ago. He would thrive in a role similar to these two guys as his mic work leaves more to be desired and his in ring work could still use some fine tuning. I feel like if they continue down this path, that they are going to ruin him permanently. On the other hand, I also do not feel that it’s too late for him. I still have faith that the Roman Empire can be salvaged, if given the right role.  . It’s just up to WWE creative to realize this as well. What are your thoughts? Drop a comment below and let’s talk!