Match Ratings For WWE Fastlane 2019, Podcast Notes From Sean Ross Sapp Of Fightful.com

Pre-Show

• EC3 finally talked!!! He approached Mandy and Sonya Deville. I liked the Sonya/EC3 interaction with Sonya going right after him and calling him a walking tanning bed.
• Carmella is trying to get R-Truth a title rematch via petition. Zelina isn’t happy about it. Samoa Joe says he’ll choke both Truth and Andrade out and signs the petition. Joe signing that was a GREAT touch.
• This has been one of the best utilized pre-shows I’ve seen in a long, long time.

New Day defeated Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Lana)
6.5/10

• Lana is still in a boot.
• Most of this match early is setting the stage for the WWE Title match, what Kofi is doing, and a Miz- Mr. Miz promo.
• Big E’s hot tag is excellent, as is Nakamura countering a powerslam into a guillotine and a YOLO Dive with a knee. 
• Smackdown needs to share the wealth with the tag teams. 
• Does anyone have a better running splash than Big E?
• Rusev and Nakamura are developing some nice double team offense. They catch Xavier falling over the top rope with an H Bomb.
• This is some good, substance filled tag team wrestling. 
• Nakamura pulls the rope away from Xavier in the Accolade, but Big E attacks. 
• Midnight Ride gets the win. This was GOOT.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles
The Usos (c) defeated The Miz & Shane McMahon
7/10

• Miz gets an INSANE reaction. Shane does the Hart Attack with him and emulates Bret. They do it pretty well, too. 
• Shane gets worked over by a free-agency ready Usos team.
• Miz’s hot tag gets the crowd going wild, including a big pop when he reveals a Cleveland Browns inspired shirt. Miz is having the time of his life. He does a wild top rope dive onto the Usos. 
• Miz flies into a double superkick, and Usos do a nice combo Samoan drop.
• Miz hits Skull Crushing Finale but the ref was out of position.
• Shane and Uso do a crazy ass spot where they’re both on the top rope. Shane is threatening a Coast to Coast, and Jimmy an Uso Splash. Shane intercepts him midair. WOW!
• Miz eats knees on a frog splash and gets rolled up. 
• The story of this added so much. Miz and Shane raise each other’s hands and hug Mr. Miz.
• Shane McMahon attacks The Miz from behind to a fantastic heel reaction. Shane McMahon ripping the Browns-inspired shirt off was a great way to add heat.
• This is a nice beatdown, too. Shane targets Mr. Miz after the match. This was a really great angle.

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship
Asuka (c) defeated Mandy Rose (w/ Sonya Deville)
5/10

• Sonya wearing human being (kind of) clothes) when not wrestling is a good touch. Not everyone needs to be in gear…even though that might be gear.
• Asuka’s problem in storyline is that she’s constantly distracted — Ellsworth, Sonya, Lacey.  This should be addressed on the show.
• Speaking of — Mandy escapes an ankle lock off a distraction and hits a knee. 
• Graves says Sonya Deville is looking under the ring for ninjas.
• Asuka gets caught in the ropes on an ass smash attempt and Mandy knees her. 
• Angel’s Wings is countered by an Asuka knee of her own. 
• Sonya grabs a kendo stick, but leaves the apron up and Mandy slips.
• Asuka SCHLAPPED Mandy with that wheel kick. Pin.
• Sonya apologizes after the match, but Mandy wants none of it.
• Okay technically, but not a lot of heat. 

Handicap Match
The Bar defeated Kofi Kingston
Squash

• Before their match, New Day approaches Kevin Owens. Kofi says he’s not mad, and it’s KO’s night an opportunity. KO thanks him, and then a stagehand tells Kofi he’s been requested in the McMahon’s office for a talk about the title match.
• An hour later, Kofi is still waiting on Vince. Big E makes him bust in, and Vince claims he’s waited for an hour. Xavier pleads with Vince, and Vince adds Kofi to the title match, but bans New Day from ringside. 
• However…. Kofi’s match isn’t for the title. Instead, Kofi is facing The Bar, 2-on-1.
• The Bar beat him down.
• Kofi fights back with a nice outside in dropkick and posts Sheamus. 
• Doomsday Powerbomb on Kofi.
•  The crowd chants “this is boring.” And the beating continues.
• New Day tries to make the save, but are jumped by Rusev and Nakamura. The Bar wins.
• The Kofi Kingston angle is one of my favorite in recent memory in WWE. 

Other crappenings

• Elias shows up periodically throughout to show to trash The Miz, Kofi, and Cleveland. He references LeBron and the Steelers. He does the same about Becky Lynch. Lacey Evans shows up and walks out. Randy Orton hits the ring for an RKO, but AJ Styles is there and does a Phenomenal Forearm. 
• The way this PPV has been booked is a stark contrast to WWE in recent years. Rich in story development. 

Raw Tag Team Championship
The Revival defeated Roode & Gable and Ricochet & Aleister Black
6.75/10

• The Revival bringing up money is a good move. Matching gear all around is underrated.
• Revival do a relay suplex, followed by Dawson hanging Ricochet out to dry. I’m a big fan of the Eddie Guerrero belly-to-back suplex. 
• Black does the Meteora to set up a Ricochet SSP, but the pin is broken up.
• There’s an awesome huracanrana from Ricochet on Dawson onto the pile outside. Pyschotic spot.
• Ricothet flies over the buckle onto Roode.
• Shatter Machine on Gable for the win.
• All hell breaks loose. Roode attacks, then Black & Ricochet come in and clean house.
• This needed to be longer but was a fun match.

WWE United States Championship

Samoa Joe (c) defeated Rey Mysterio, Andrade (w/ Zelina) and R-Truth (w/ Carmella)
6/10

• Samoa Joe hits a suicide dive on everyone to a big pop. 
• Rey goes off and does a great double jumping huracanrana on Andrade and Truth. Rey and Truth then do a Doomsday rana on Andrade.
• This is total mayhem. Andrade does a corkscrew body press to Joe, then Rey flies outside for a rana on him.
• Zelina kicks R-Truth and a FIGHT ensues. 
• Mysterio eats a uranage and hammerlock DDT.
• Truth does some of the 5 Moves of Doom, including the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He manages an Axe Kick on Andrade, but it is broken up and he gets posted. 
• Rey hits a 619, but he hesitates and gets put to sleep by Joe.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
Boss N’ Hug Connection (c) defeated the Samoan Slaughterhouse
4/10

• Nia press slams Bayley onto Sasha, then powerbombs Bayley. 
• Tamina has without a doubt had the best run of her career from a relevance standpoint since the brand split. A real beneficiary of it.
• Ugly Samoan drop botch and the crowd isn’t too into this. 
• Banks and Bayley hit a good assisted Meteora.
• Nia and Tamina completely botch catching Sasha and the camera has to cut away to save it. Bayley suicide dives to knock them over.
• Bayley mercifully gets a cradle win. This was bad. They weren’t on the same page, and spots got messed up.
• The beatdown after the match and crowd reaction brought it up to a 4.
• I got chills seeing Beth Phoenix stand up and stare down Tamina. 
• Beth Phoenix attacks Tamina, but then they jump her. Natalya makes the save, but meets the same fate.
• I really liked that throwing Sasha Banks over the table caused the announce team to scatter, putting Beth where she was.

WWE Championship
Daniel Bryan (c) (w/ Rowan) defeated Mustafa Ali and Kevin Owens
8.5/10

• Mustafa Ali is the third man, and the crowd chants “we want Kofi.”
• I like Mustafa Ali, but this is Kofi’s time. Ali being added to this match made sense and heated up Kofi even more. Ali has a lot of time and is working a title match on PPV
• In an amazing spot, Mustafa gets dropkicked off the top rope into the barricade.
• Owens does the Bam Bam Bomb onto Ali ONTO Bryan. 
• Ali does a Spanish Fly on Bryan, but misses the 054 on Owens. 
• Owens follows up with a Stunner, but Bryan breaks up the pin. 
• Owens does the pop-up Batista Bomb on Bryan for a two. 
• Ali comes back and does a 450 on the apron to Bryan! Wow! He takes out Rowan with a rana into the post.
• WOW Kevin Owens almost ate a big plate o doody on that tope con hillo on Rowan! He nearly went face first into the table. 
• Ali gets pushed off the top rope to the outside but backflips and lands on his feet, setting up a big tornado DDT on the floor to Bryan!
• Rowan powerbombs him Ali on the apron and spin kicks Kevin Owens. 
• Ali gets smacked by Bryan, who says he “doesn’t belong.” Ali fires up but flies into the knee of Bryan. THAT’S IT. 
• Rowan hits Mustafa with the Recycling Plant after the match.

If Becky Lynch Wins, She’s Added To WrestleMania
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair by DQ
5.5/10

• Charlotte Flair is a fantastic heel. She trolls Becky Lynch excellently.
• As one would expect, Charlotte works the leg and applies a half crab. There’s some good stiff work here. 
• Not everyone needs to throw spinning shit. It’s not easy to do.
• Charlotte gets pushed off the top rope and a countout is teased.
• Flair makes it in to get put in a Disarmher, then Charlotte gets a Figure Eight.
• Ronda Rousey shows up and punches Becky Lynch. That’s a DQ. 
• I’m all for the finish, but that could have went longer. Live crowd didn’t seem to mind though
• Rebecca Quin did it by golly.

The Shield defeated Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre
6.25/10

• Roman Reigns will pass Kevin Owens and headline his third WWE Fastlane event tonight. He’s 3-0 going into this match. 
• Main eventer Baron Corbin.
• Roman Reigns comes into the ring for the first time in a competitive aspect in months. 
• Ambrose hits a wild flying elbow to Drew outside the ring. 
• There’s not a lot to this match early on. It’s clunky and slow and doesn’t have a lot of heat.
• A double suicide dive hits for Ambrose and Rollins. Reigns is intercepted by a Deep Six when he does for his dive.
• Ambrose runs off the tables to take out Drew and Lashley in the timekeeper’s area.
• Everyone but Reigns and Corbin battle around the arena. I like the setting not always just being the ring.
• Reigns does a sitdown powerbomb on Corbin for two. 
• Rollins does a high-impact stage dive on Lashley, Drew and Ambrose. I dunno how Dean is less hurt by that.
• I can’t explain how hard i’m dying laughing at Corbin running right through that Reigns boot while screaming.
• I’m a big fan of Reigns not kicking out of the End of Days. The Shield save him instead.
• Lashley gets Stomped on the table, Corbin gets speared outside. Reigns got some AIR. 
• Drew gets jumped, and the camera cuts and zooms make me barf. He gets Triple Powerbombed.
• Superman Punch, Superkick, Dirty Deeds on Corbin. They have to bleep out Rollins cursing.
• Triple Powerbomb on Corbin. Shield wins.
• The three embrace. This was a good call to main event. 
• Roman Reigns is now 4-0 at WWE Fastlane. It’s becoming his event.

Rating guide

10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor

Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a “star rating,” which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive “TV match” lands at a 5.The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones. Don’t take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!