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Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: A) What did you think of Fast Lane? B) How are you feeling about Reigns in the main-event and is it possible for you to get on-board? Going in, I viewed Fast Lane as more or less a one match show. All due respect to Jericho vs. Styles, which was hyped very well in previous weeks, but the triple threat for the #1 contendership felt to me like the only match of considerable meaning on the Road to WrestleMania. Fortunately, Fast Lane turned out to be a card full of really strong in-ring performances and WWE did an outstanding job with the pre-match production for each, making them all seem like a big deal. Let’s start with the Divas. They had a good night overall. Making Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch vs. Team BAD the opener was a curious choice on paper, but worked well to get the crowd hyped. The ladies had a good tag team match that built well to a satisfying conclusion. Naomi has made the most of the increase in her screen time lately and is making a case to be in the mix as the year progresses. The commentary stayed focused and the presentation was better for it (** ½). Looks like we’re heading for a triple threat at Mania between Charlotte, Banks, and Lynch; and I’d be quite intrigued by that given their history. Charlotte vs. Brie later in the night was about what I expected. Brie gets it done between the ropes; she’s no slouch. If that was her final match, I think it was one for her to be proud of. It wasn’t great and it wasn’t anywhere near the level of Becky vs. Charlotte from January, but it told a good story and, like the tag match earlier, built to a good climax (** ½). I’ll be honest…I didn’t watch the Wyatts vs. the Monsters. I could not for the life of me make myself care about it, though I did read that others enjoyed it. I took the dogs out, I kissed the Mrs. goodnight, I brushed my teeth, and I caught the finish. I was surprised by the ending. The Wyatts have not been booked like a group on the precipice of facing someone like Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania; almost like afterthoughts. We’ll see where that goes. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens exceeded my expectations. I’m not sure why I had low expectations given that Owens is one of the best in the business and that, for all of Dolph’s modern day faults, he’s still quite an in-ring performer when given the chance. I suppose I was not expecting the two of them to get such a spotlight match of over fifteen minutes in length. They made the most of their time and delivered a motivated potential audition for a bigger spot on the Mania card. Will their efforts be rewarded? I don’t know, but I surely appreciated the effort nonetheless (*** ½). Styles vs. Jericho III was the superior match of the series and borderline great. However, it was like watching a Broadway show so brilliantly scripted that it couldn’t be anything but very good, while a few flubbed lines in key moments prevented it from being truly great. If Styles connects on his springboard into a reverse DDT as expertly as he is capable and if Jericho had not dropped Styles on his head to set-up the Walls of Jericho sequence, this was an early Match of the Year candidate right on par with the main-event. Alas, the lines were flubbed. Still, it was a heck of a performance and the climax, which could become the textbook example of how to sell pain before tapping out, was breathtaking (*** ¾). The New Day segment with Edge, Christian, and the League of Nations was fine for what it was. No real comment on that yet as I want to see where it goes next. Edge and Christian’s variety show, though, was a lot of fun and a nice way to wind down from the emotional high of a really good PPV. I’ll be watching that again. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar was certainly one to talk about. The choice of winner was obviously going to rub a lot of people in the diehard fan community the wrong way, so let’s begin our discussion there. Dean Ambrose has got a lot of momentum right now and he’s yet again proving that when he gets creative focus placed upon him, then he can get over in a hurry like few in the WWE are capable of right now. WWE’s decision to go with Reigns is merely a by-product of it being Roman’s time. Dean’s time will come; that’s glaringly obvious. Why Reigns instead of Ambrose? I think it’s simply because Reigns is the story they want to tell this year. The Authority chose Seth Rollins in June 2014. Roman built momentum, though, that challenged their regime. When Seth went down, they tried to ensure their immediate future by pulling Reigns to their side, but he refused. So they screwed him in a power play at Survivor Series. Reigns responded violently. Ever since, they've had to flex their corporate muscle to regain control. Right now, they're in command. Can Reigns counter with his own offensive and get back in position to take control once again? That’s the story, folks. It’s a good story too, by the way. I wouldn’t completely rule out Ambrose working his way into the main-event at Mania, but I suspect they have other plans for him that will showcase his rise up the card beyond the cluster-you-know-what Ladder match from last year. If we don’t see the Lunatic Fringe featured in a significant match this year, I’ll be very disappointed. Meanwhile, it’s time to see if they can make it work with Reigns as a babyface against one of only two heels that have a prayer of turning the overall tide in his favor. Otherwise, we’re in for another Cena-esque kind of run of the top babyface to certain parts of the audience being the top heel to others. I don’t prefer that, but I’m prepared to live with it, especially if they stick with a top guy by committee approach and allow Reigns some eventual character development. The match itself was outstanding, almost on-par with last year’s Royal Rumble triple threat despite being almost ten minutes shorter. I think Lesnar’s style is best-suited for about 16-18 minutes frankly. I rewatched the Rumble 3-way numerous times last year and actually found the WrestleMania 31 main-event to hold up better on replay because the “Beast Mode” routine to me doesn’t need 25-minutes to work really well; in fact, that added time I felt worked against the ability to re-engage in Cena vs. Rollins vs. Lesnar. I have a feeling that Fast Lane’s triple threat may prove to be the superiorly rewatchable effort as time goes on. Don’t hold me to that just yet. Excellent work from all three (**** ¼). Moving forward, I urge you to keep an open mind and see what they can come up with. The story chosen is not for us clearly, but it wasn’t last year either and it all worked out just fine.
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