Random Thoughts on WWE Fastlane 2023

Fastlane is in the bag and I’m here to share my random thoughts on the show. This, of course, is a spoiler heavy blog, so please look away now if you wish to avoid any spoilers.

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WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship

Jey Uso & Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor & Damian Priest ©

I thought it was a great match between four veterans who worked really well together to deliver a fun match. There was a lot of chaos around ringside as usual for Judgment Day matches. The key spot was JD hitting Priest by accident, which took Priest out of the match after Cody hit the Cross Rhodes and that led to Balor being isolated leading to the defeat. A team like Balor & Priest didn’t need to have a long title reign, but I am surprised that their title reign only lasted just over one month. With that said, it does fit the story of JD wanting to prove himself and others in the group like Priest doubting him. That double team 1D/Cody Cutter was an incredible move that they timed perfectly. I liked the match.

Winners and NEW Undisputed Tag Team Champions: Jey Uso & Cody Rhodes via pinfall

Rating: *** ½

Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits vs. LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar & a mystery partner)

The match was solid with an ending that surprised me. More time would have been nice for sure. Carlito as the tag team partner of Rey & Santos didn’t surprise me, but it was a shock to see them win so easily. I wrote in our preview that I would be surprised to see Lashley & The Street Profits lose their first six-man tag team match together, but that’s what happened. I get wanting to put over Carlito, so I have no problem with that. I just thought that Lashley & The Street Profits would be booked stronger. Anyway, Carlito looked great just like when we saw him at Backlash five months ago and I’m glad that he’s finally returned as an active wrestler.

Winners: LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar & Carlito) via pinfall

Rating: ***

WWE Women’s Championship

Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka vs. IYO SKY ©

A very good match between three talented women. Going into the match, there were questions about if Sky was going to be able to win due to Bayley being jealous of her, but it ended up working out with Bayley proving to be a big factor in the match. If it wasn’t for Bayley distracting the referee, Flair would have won because Asuka was tapping out. Sky capitalized on the situation to hit the top rope moonsault and that was it. It’s not that often where Charlotte Flair is pinned in a match like that, but at least in this case, you can say it was a triple threat match and it came after Flair had a submission win that was not seen by the referee. I thought they worked hard and had some creative spots throughout the match.

Winner and STILL WWE Women’s Champion: IYO SKY via pinfall

Rating: *** ½

John Cena & LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa

It was a good match with Cena as the face in peril for nearly ten minutes before they got to the hot tag with Knight coming in and cleaning house. I don’t think anybody watching this match thought that Jimmy & Solo had a chance to win. It was done to give LA Knight a big win with John Cena by his side while The Bloodline lost, so we know Roman Reigns isn’t going to be happy about it.

Winners: John Cena & LA Knight via pinfall

Rating: *** ½

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Last Man Standing

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Seth Rollins ©

I thought it was an excellent Last Man Standing Match with a lot of creative spots and drama throughout the match. The first half was a bit slow as you might expect in a long match like this, but then it really picked up and had several moments where it looked like either man could win. That’s what you want in a match like that. Make it look like Nakamura has a shot to win even though most of us likely assumed that Rollins would win. There were some very creative spots in the match like when Nakamura spit the red mist in Seth’s face and Seth took the back bump through the table. That’s a risky bump that Rollins sold really well. It was believable as a near finish. There were some other spots like that. Ending the match by fighting in the crowd is a bit of a different way to wrap up a match like that. I don’t mind it, but I think it’s better to end a match around ringside. Anyway, that’s probably the end of Nakamura challenging Rollins for the World Heavyweight Title so Rollins will probably move on to a new challenger soon.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Seth Rollins

Rating: **** ½

Overall Show Rating (out of 10): 7

This was a solid show overall although I wouldn’t say it was as good as the better WWE PLE/PPV shows this year. I think the Rollins/Nakamura match was the best of the night. They got the most time and made the most of it. Some of the other matches were very good as well. John Cena was worked on for most of the tag team match, LA Knight got the hot tag and they got the obvious win. I liked the IYO SKY-Charlotte Flair-Asuka match as well with Bayley helping Sky get the win.

I didn’t expect Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso to win the WWE Tag Team Titles over The Judgment Day, but I thought it was booked very well. They had an entertaining match that was a smart choice for an opening match.

To sum it up, I’d consider this show to be a solid 7/10. If you missed it, you probably didn’t miss that much that I’d consider major, but it was still a fun show.

2023 Premium Live Event Rankings

WrestleMania 39 – 9.5

Elimination Chamber – 8

Backlash – 8

SummerSlam – 8

Money in the Bank – 8

Royal Rumble – 8

Payback – 7

Fastlane – 7