WWE Fastlane was live from Cleveland in my home state of Ohio last night, and despite the lackluster card, there was an excited feeling for the show. I watched most of the kickoff show and let me just say I love Sam Roberts on the panel. He tells it like it is and doesn’t necessarily care to be politically correct.

As for the show… interesting. I thought the outcomes were quite predictable as you will see by my prediction record, but still an interesting show. I personally like the unofficial host of the show, Elias. I thought his segments were very entertaining and I wouldn’t mind if they had him host WrestleMania. With that said, let’s take a look at the matches and see how things went down.

Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev vs New Day

This match was added after my predictions writing last Friday. So I didn’t have a prediction for this one, but I was glad they added it to the pay per view. The newly formed team of Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura took on Big E and Xavier Woods of the New Day. The match was impromptu, but both teams put on a great match.

Before the match started Kofi Kingston gave Kevin Owens the ‘it’s cool, go beat Daniel Bryan’ hand shake of approval.  Kofi was then asked to go to the McMahons office to talk about the WWE championship match.  The news was motivation for Woods and Big E as they went to the ring and were able to defeat Nakamura and Rusev. A great kick off match to start WWE Fastlane.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match

The Miz and Shane McMahon versus the Smackdown tag team champions The Uso’s, was the first match of the actual pay per view. The Miz came to the ring accompanied with a great pop from his hometown crowd. Once the match started, The Uso’s took control and remained in control for most of the match.

The Miz eventually received the hot tag from McMahon and was on fire displaying some new offensive maneuvers. But the move of the match was when Jey Uso was going for a splash on The Miz, and Shane McMahon intercepted the maneuver with a coast to coast. But it was an out of the ordinary frog splash from The Miz that cost him and McMahon the match.

Jey Uso was able to get his knees up on the landing and cradle The Miz up for a pin-fall victory. After the match we did get a turn, but to the surprise of many it was McMahon who turned on The Miz.  McMahon then assaulted The Miz’s dad and made The Miz pass out to a submission move while listening to a chorus of boos from the Cleveland fans.

GoHomePWB.com pick: The Uso’s Winners: The Uso’s (Overall PPV prediction record 45-28)

Smackdown Women’s Championship Match

Mandy Rose, with Sonya Deville at ringside, took on Smackdown women’s champion Asuka in the second match of the night. A back and forth match that was quick and predictable, but actually a decent match. Mandy slipped on the ring skirting that was flipped up as Deville was looking for a weapon. Asuka then hit a nasty looking kick for the win.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Asuka Winner: Asuka (Overall PPV prediction record 46-28)

Kofi Kingston vs The Bar

Before the match even started, Kofi Kingston was waiting outside of Mr.McMahon’s office. Finally when he went in, he found out he was being added to the WWE championship match!  As it turns out, Mr.McMahon lied to Kingston and instead was sent to the ring to battle The Bar in a handicap match.

The Bar dominated the match as the fans in Cleveland showered the match with “boring” and chants. Big E and Xavier Woods eventually made their way to the ring, but Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev were waiting on them. Nakamura and Rusev beat up Big E and Woods as The Bar put their double team finisher on Kingston for the win. This match was not scheduled so no prediction was made.

RAW Tag Team Title Match

New to the main roster Ricochet and Aleister Black, teamed up to take on the teams of Bobby Roode and Chad Gable and RAW tag team champions The Revival. A great match and a lot of offense especially from Ricochet. A top rope huricanrana to the floor on Scott Dawson was incredibly dangerous, but a great spot in the match.

After about five to seven minutes the match broke down and exactly as predicted, The Revival hit the Shatter Machine finisher on Chad Gable retaining the RAW tag team championship. After the match Aleister Black and Ricochet beat everyone up and Ricochet hit his 620 finisher.

GoHomePWB.com pick: The Revival Winner: The Revival (Overall PPV record 47-28)

United States Title Match

In a re match from Smackdown last Tuesday, the United States title was on the line in a fatal four way. Newly crowned champion Samoa Joe defended his title against Andrade, Rey Mysterio and R- Truth. A great match with a lot of action and the classic moves of each wrestler were on display.

At one point Zelina Vega and Carmella even got involved fighting each other. After a lengthy match it was Samoa Joe that was able to catch Mysterio in his finisher for the win. I really, really like Samoa Joe as the United States champion and I hope he keeps it for a long time to come. The Match was added after my predictions on Friday, so no winner was picked for this one.

Women’s Tag Team Title Match

First ever women’s tag team champions, The Boss N Hug Connection, put their titles on the line against challengers Tamina and Nia Jax. The match went longer than it needed to and honestly was a sloppy match with missed spots and botched moves. But as predicted Sasha Banks and Bayley were able to win the match and retain the titles.

After the match, Tamina and Jax destroyed Banks and Bayley before WWE hall of famer Beth Phoenix intervened. Jax and Tamina then double teamed and beat up Beth Phoenix before Natalya came to the ring to help her friend. But Tamina and Jax were too much for Natalya and they ended up beating her up too. I wonder what this angle will lead to?

GoHomePWB.com pick: Boss N Hug Connection Winner: Boss N Hug Connection (Overall PPV prediction record 48-28)

WWE Championship Match

Kevin Owens, who was hand picked by Mr.McMahon to replace Kofi Kingston in the match, was in a triple threat match with Mustafa Ali, who was added to the match, and WWE champion Daniel Bryan. The match started with the Cleveland fans booing the match heavily, clearly upset that Kofi Kingston was not in the match.

During the match chants of “We want Kofi” echoed throughout the arena. But as the match went on these three men had all eyes on them. Ali pulled out all the stops with some incredible high flying moves. Kevin Owens was taken out by Rowan and Bryan hit Ali with a running knee for the win.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Daniel Bryan Winner: Daniel Bryan (Overall PPV prediction record 49-28)

Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch

Charlotte went one on one with Becky Lynch for a chance to turn the RAW women’s championship match at WrestleMania from a one on one match, to a triple threat if Becky wins. As I figured, Ronda Rousey would get involved and punch Becky Lynch leading to win for Lynch via disqualification. An underwhelming match and if I’m being honest, they are losing me on this storyline. I will elaborate on Friday’s blog.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Becky Lynch Winner: Becky Lynch (Overall PPV prediction record 50-28)

Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre vs The Shield

The main event of Fastlane was the reunion of The Shield versus Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre. A bittersweet match as it truly had the feeling of the last time ever for The Shield. But they went out in style giving the fans in Cleveland and millions watching around the world a classic Shield match.

How good was it to see Roman Reigns back in a wrestling ring? The man has been through a lot over the last four to five months. It was a return for Reigns, but a send off for Ambrose. Despite that it was a no brainer The Shield were going to win, it was a really good match. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Shield on the last stretch of the road to WrestleMania.

GoHomePWB.com pick: The Shield Winner: The Shield (Overall PPV prediction record 51-28)

Final Thoughts

This was the first time since I started doing pay per view predictions that I picked them all correctly. Despite the predictability of Fastlane I thought it was a pretty good ‘go home pay per view’ if you will. I didn’t expect the Shane McMahon heel turn and I didn’t expect Mustafa Ali to be added to the WWE championship match.

I will dig deeper into it more on Friday, but I think the WWE unintentionally killed the momentum that Becky Lynch had going. I think the entire road to WrestleMania has been nothing but a three month burial of Becky Lynch’s popularity. I’m hoping she heats back up over the next four weeks.

I liked the tag team matches on Fastlane, but the match of the night for me would be a toss up between the United States title match and the WWE title match. I have to commend Owens, Ali and Bryan for getting the crowd invested in their match without Kofi Kingston being involved. I think I like the United States championship fatal four way as the match of the night though.

Overall I like the pay per view. I think they could have handled Kofi and Becky differently, but I realize cooling them off a little and then heating them back up going into WrestleMania. With that said… it starts tonight on RAW, hopefully they make Becky look strong for the first time in 2019. Thanks for reading GoHomePWB.com, the people’s wrestling blog!