Courtesy of WWE Home Video UK, Matthew Roberts takes a look at their latest DVD release, Fastlane 2001.
Fastlane was the PPV show that “nobody really wanted”. Why you’d complain about a show you don’t have to pay for anyway these days before it’s even happened is a little bit beyond me mind you. And if there’s one thing the WWE often do it’s come up with something good when you least expect it.
A card that gave us Reigns Vs Bryan, Drew Vs Sheamus in a No Holds Barred Match and Seth Vs Shinsuke certainly had things going for it on paper didn’t it? And it’s fair to say that if Fastlane 2021 under-promised to some viewers, it over-delivered where it matters in the ring.
The main event was wonderful. If it’s 2021 and you’re still pedalling the line that “RoMaN cAn’T wReStLe” then do yourself a favour and just stop watching. That he was in the ring with Daniel Bryan, a man who he has had great chemistry with in the past (see Fastlane 2015 for example), only heightened the anticipation for this one. And boy, it delivered. For thirty minutes the two assembled a great match, one that largely forgot about ringside enforcer Edge until it really mattered towards the end. Bryan was confident in his superior technical ability whilst Reigns had the obvious advantage when it became about power. Of course Jay Uso was going to get involved and of course Edge had his part to play. Reigns tapped without there being a referee to see it and in the end Edge cost Bryan the match by smacking him with a steel chair. Some will call that a cheap ending, but it made psychological sense. And it made a three way at Mania seem a logical way to go, no matter how many people didn’t like that idea.
Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura held up their part of the bargain on the show too. Whilst their match never really seemed to be about more than giving Rollins a good win on the way to his WrestleMania showdown with Cesaro the two assembled a tight and crisp match that would probably have edged a little bit higher had there been fans oohing and aahing along with it. Still it was a very solid and entertaining match. Sheamus and Drew McIntyre also had their working boots on and continued on from the good TV matches they’d had on Raw in the build up to this one. The chemistry between the two men (who have been friends for decades) was there again and at least meant you could watch with that in the back of your mind when they set each other for some wince-inducing spots. Again perhaps the drama was lacking (McIntyre clearly wasn’t losing here) a little bit but it was one hell of an effort and another good match.
The rest of the card was more hit and miss. There was never any real way that “Alexa Bliss Vs Randy Orton” was going to be a “proper” match between the two but as a conduit for the return of The Fiend it was fine and at least something different. The Women’s Tag Team Title match was another that was a little low on drama given that even though the WWE bookers seemed to be regurgitating the Shawn Michaels/John Cena angle from years ago there was little chance that Mania opponents Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair were going to walk away with the titles against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. It was a sideline to their feud and arguably an unnecessary one. But then again, without this detour for Banks and Belair just how would the WWE have filled the TV time between their match becoming official and Mania itself?
The Intercontinental Title match between Big E and Apollo Crews was looking to be coming something quite good but then the finish was such a mess that it was hard to tell whether it was supposed to be a mess in order to set up rematches or was, in actual fact, just a mess that they got wrong. Still I’d rather watch that again than Braun Strowman against Shane McMahon. Shane’s weaselling (though to be fair as he was gassed from ten seconds of his pre-show warm up it was at least believable that he might have injured himself as a result) spared us that (for a month at least) and instead Elias substituted and got squashed by Braun. As an angle to further Braun Vs Shane it was fine in that respect.
Whilst it would be difficult to pretend that this was an “all-time best” PPV from the WWE, or that it was a show that drastically changed the direction of the entire company. But it DID lead us nicely along the Road to WrestleMania, further feuds and set up matches for that big show and had more than a modicum of great wrestling action to enjoy. Sometimes that can be enough!
8 out of 10
Photographs courtesy of Fetch and WWE. Thank you to WWE Home Video for our review copy of Fastlane which is out Monday 10 May on DVD. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk by clicking here.