By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
WWE Fastlane Kickoff Show
Aired live on March 21, 2021 on the WWE Network and social media
Tampa, Florida at Tropicana Field
-The opening show was performed by Kayla Braxton, who joined Booker T, Peter Rosenberg and Jerry Lawler. Braxton made a point of publicizing the $ 2.50 discount code to the WWE Network on Peacock. The panel then analyzed the card announced for the full show. Matt Riddle vs. Mustafa Ali for the WWE US Championship was announced for the opening show. It also looks like Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon is back on the card according to the summary.
-A hype video was aired to promote the match Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus. The panel debated whether Drew should be more concerned with Sheamus or more about his match against Bobby Lashley in Mania. The panel then gave its predictions (which you should expect after each of your recap.
[commercial break]
-The recap of the title fight Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax at Smackdown. Kayla went on to talk about Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair for the Women’s Smackdown Championship at WrestleMania.
[commercial break]
-A featured video was aired that recapitulated the rivalry Randy Orton vs. Fiend, who would eventually involve Alexa Bliss in the role of Bray Wyatt’s replacement.
John’s thoughts: If a viewer comes back to see that package, I feel that they would immediately try to watch something else because of how mushy it was. Hell, people made fun of it at the time when Ultimate Warrior was throwing up chocolate because of Papa Shango. Where WWE dropped the ball with Wyatt is that his character was so good when it was built around mind games and Nihilism. They switched him to supernatural superpowers. That is why I fear for what can happen to Karrion Kross and Scarlett when they are called, because their characters are also linked to nihilism.
-An outstanding package transmitted from Apollo Crews’ rivalry with Big E, as well as his heel transformation to his Nigerian prince character.
John’s thoughts: Although it is a little difficult in some ways, I am a big fan of the new character Apollo Crews. WWE is generally terrible when it comes to introducing people of non-white ethnicity. This change of character seems more like a cultural appreciation as opposed to the usual generalizations of WWE cultural stereotypes (and I’m talking about the main WWE roster, because NXT normally writes correctly for people from different cultures). For some reason, I feel that Paul Heyman has a hand in this because he was generally good at doing good for other people’s culture.
-After the Crews package, Sonya Deville joined the initial panel. The panel talked about the evolution of Big E and Apollo Crews in their recent rivalry.
-The panel cracked when they were discussing the rivalry between Shane McMahon and Braun Strowman, which included clips of Shane playing Nickelodeon slime on Braun.
-A photo shows that Shane McMahon may have suffered a leg injury during training. He was shown on the floor in the “Peter Griffin with leg pain” pose. Sarah Schreiber checked in in front of Shane McMahon’s locker room. Schreiber said the fight between Shane and Braun may or may not happen due to Shane’s injury.
-Seth Rollins was interviewed backstage. Rollins boasted of his “drip,” where he looked like a cow with paint everywhere (unlike the bottle of vodka he looked like on Friday). Rollins talked about how he is going to teach respect to Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.
[commercial break]
Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe and Byron Saxton checked the comments on the game for the United States title.
1. Riddle vs. Mustafa Ali (with Mace, T Bar, Slapjack, Reckoning) for the WWE United States Championship. Riddle started the fight with a double leg drop and a bit of ground MMA work. Riddle got up and hit Ali with a Gutwrench Suplex in a running senton. Ali kicked Riddle in the stomach to slow Riddle’s momentum. Riddle got an accountant, but Ali raised his boots to block Riddle’s execution. Philips noted that Ali caught Riddle on the back of the neck, who may be injured. There he used a baseball slide to knock Riddle out of his apron.
Ali got a two count after rejoicing a little with his Retribution teammates. Ali had another count of two after kneeling in Riddle’s stomach. There he worked on Riddle with body scissors. There he inverted a Bro Derek into a dropkick, which sent Riddle to the tensioning medium. Ali got a count of two after a backstabber. Phillips noted that Ali was selling a knee injury. Riddle reversed a cleavage in a naked back choke. There he reversed in an immobilization attempt that Riddle kicked.
Riddle hit Ali with a series of his characteristic movements. Riddle hit Ali with an energy bomb and Final Flash for a count of two. Riddle attempted a corkscrew lunar jump, but plunged right into Ali’s knees. Riddle blocked a Tornado DDT. Riddle hit Ali with a Fisherman Buster for a count of two. Ali arrested Riddle in a Koji Clutch. Riddle escaped the grip with a bit of a deadlift, but then he sold an arm injury. Riddle took a big risk, but was tripped over. Riddle recovered and gave Ali a sleeper. Riddle lifted Ali with deadly force to the upper rope and hit him with a Super Bro Derek for victory.
Riddle defeated Mustafa Ali by pinfall at 9:16 to retain the WWE United States Championship.
John’s thoughts: A normal game to start, but it really caught on in the last three minutes. This is a good sample of what we could get if these guys had five more minutes and a little more freedom. Riddle is not allowed to show the best he can do when doing WWE style, which is just him doing a series of moves without telling stories. I wouldn’t mind that Ali and Riddle had a match on a main card on the road, where one day they could destroy the house due to their immense talent for wrestling alone.
Mace and T Bar tried to help Ali, but he freaked out with his team and yelled at them for not helping him. Ali chose Reckoning (Mia Yim) and told her to get back on the line. Reckoning abandoned Ali. Ali then shouted at Slapjack (Shane Thorne). Slapjack abandoned Ali. Ali then started to yell at Mace and T Bar. Mace and T Bar turned against Ali and gave him a double chokeslam. Mace and T Bar went up the ramp with Ali lying down.
John’s thoughts: That means that the stupid Retribution is over and over, right? Hopefully? There, Dominik Dijak and Mia Yim deserve much more than to be categorized in this horrible trick. I wouldn’t mind Thorne being put back on the NXT, where he has the potential to be a strong singles fighter. I’m intrigued by Dijak and Mace’s double chokeslam. Brennan Williams and Donovan Dijak are close friends outside of TV and I wouldn’t mind seeing them form a big man tag team. Hopefully, it is with your natural personas and not with the Retribution personas of the false purge.
-An outstanding package was aired to animate the match of Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan Universal Title for later on the show. Kayla then sent the show to a Talking Smack shoot, where Paul Heyman did a promo about Daniel Bryan not having a chance to win on Fastlane. Heyman said Reigns is like the sun and the rest of WWE is orbiting him. Booker T gave Reigns vs. Bryan the Shucky Shucky Quack Quach moment of the night (the black part in me shrinks every time I hear Booker T Shucky Shucky). As soon as the clock struck, Kayla kicked off the main show.
[End of kickoff]