WWE Fastlane, meaning that there will be plenty of roundups talking about why Goldberg winning the title from Kevin Owens in seconds was the most predictable way the night could have ended, or how Roman Reigns may have halted Braun Strowman’s momentum for the time being. The same could be said for Sasha Banks beating Nia Jax. Why go through all that trouble to have Strowman and Jax wrestle in squash match after squash match, make them look invincible, then have them lose midcard in the pay-per-view before WrestleMania? Goldberg winning sort of makes sense. After all, nobody expected him not to plow through everybody he went up against during what we have to believe is the last round of spears and jackhammers in his wrestling career. The buildup to the big showdown against Brock Lesnar in a few weeks will be packaged to look like redemption for the WrestleMania XX match that should have been epic, but instead was, well, terrible.
Really, none of the big victories, not Reigns, Banks or Goldberg, were all that surprising. At least not compared to the outcome of the Raw Women’s Championship Match between Bayley and Charlotte Flair. The way that match ended was somewhat unexpected and could throw things for an interesting loop in the weeks leading up, and the period after WrestleMania. It also shows that the WWE needs to put more work into the women’s division. The top superstars shine, but then there really isn’t much else. Last night showed that.
Not taking anything away from Bayley, but you usually bet on Flair to win at a pay-per-view, especially when there’s a title on the line. Sure, her record was never as heralded as “The Streak” of 21 Wrestlemania victories in a row that The Undertaker racked up before being defeated by Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX, but her ability to always come out on top in singles competition at a PPV was impressive, the kind of thing you could build legends around. All that, and the loss came by Bayley and Banks essentially employing heel gimmicks (outside interference) to claim the victory. As a few people pointed out, it wasn’t really the best look.
