Best and Worst of WWE Fastlane 2017
WWE Fastlane is always the last pit stop on the way to the grandest show of the year- Wrestlemania. As a consequence, one would expect WWE to pull out all stops to make the show feel much larger than life.
As we've seen time and time again, this is never the case. On the contrary, Fastlane seemed like a rushed show that was put together hurriedly and treated as an inconvenience before Wrestlemania. Why else would we be subjected to some of the awful booking decisions that we’ve seen at this Raw exclusive pay-per-view?
#1 Worst: Part time champion
When the company has to rely on part-timers to carry the brand, you know professional wrestling is in big trouble indeed. It reflects one of the greatest issues of our times- the fact that WWE simply cannot get new stars over with the casual crowd like they once used to.
As a result, they are forced to bring in big names from the past during Wrestlemania season and take the belt off full-time talent who've been carrying the company on their backs not only on TV and pay-per-view events but also at live events.
It is a sign of the times that a wrestler who wasn't a good worker even during his youth is more over with the crowd than an absolutely stellar performer like the former Universal Champion Kevin Owens. It is a sign of the times when the main event of a pay-per-view is a squash match.
We certainly hope that heading into Wrestlemania, Goldberg becomes a more regular fixture on Raw, not a special attraction. If not, it is insulting to the WWE Universal title and the locker room too.