The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damien Priest) (c) vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso – Undisputed Tag Team Championship match

Background: Prior to Payback, Jey Uso “quit” WWE after a falling out with The Bloodline on SmackDown. At Payback, Cody Rhodes revealed that he pulled some strings and Jey was reinstated as a member of the Raw roster. Despite opposition from some of the other Raw roster members due to Jey’s past in The Bloodline, Rhodes asserted that Jey deserved a second chance. The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley), along with JD McDonagh, then attempted to convince Jey to join their stable, however, Jey declined. On the September 18 episode of Raw, Judgment Day attacked Jey after his match, and Jey was saved by Rhodes. Two weeks later, it was announced that Bálor and Priest would defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against Rhodes and Jey at Fastlane.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time tag team match between these two teams.

Fastlane PPV Record: Jey Uso is 1-1-1, the other three men wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: Michael Cole uncharacteristically mentions that both Cody and Finn and former members of the Bullet Club. Jey Uso and Damien Priest kick off the match. Jey and Cody make some quick tags early on. Judgment Day soon take control, keeping Jey from tagging in Cody. But Jey finally makes the hot tag to Cody who picks up the pace. It’s back and forth between Rhodes and Balor for a while, countering each others finishers. Cody hits a stalling superplex. Uso and Priest tag in and it’s back and forth between those men. Jey counters a razors edge, sends Priest to the outside, hits a suicide dive and then rolls Damien back in and hits him with a splash for a near fall. Rhodes hits Balor with a Cody cutter as all hell breaks loose. Uso hits a spear and heads to the top but out come Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley which distracts Jey. Priest hits Uso with a top rope hurricanrana and Balor hits coup de gras but Rhodes doesn’t let the match end yet. There’s a stand off with all four men who go at it. JD McDonagh arrived and eats a superkick. Ripley nails Jey with the MITB briefcase but Uso kicks out of a pinfall attempt. McDonagh then accidentally nails Priest with the briefcase! Rhodes hits Damien with cross-Rhodes onto the announce desk. Jey and Cody hits Balor with a 1D/Cody cutter double team and Rhodes then hits Cross-Rhodes for the win!

Result: Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso win the undisputed tag team championships by pinfall.

Review: This was a fun match between four very talented wrestlers. It would all break down with every member of the Judgment Day coming out as well as JD McDonagh who would cost Balor and Priest the titles somewhat. We’ve got new champions and it means Jey and Cody can go between shows. A good match to kick things off.

Rating: 7.5/10

The LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar & ????) vs. Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)

Background: On the September 22 episode of SmackDown, Latino World Order (LWO) members United States Champion Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar defeated Bobby Lashley’s accomplices The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). Following the match, Lashley was disappointed in The Street Profits’ performance and told them that if they could not win, he would find others who could. The following week, after a United States Championship match between Mysterio and Escobar, The Street Profits came out and attacked the two, which pleased Lashley. Fellow LWO members Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro came out to even the odds only for The Street Profits to overpower them. Later, Mysterio issued a challenge, pitting the LWO (Mysterio, Escobar, and either Wilde or Toro) against Lashley and The Street Profits in a six-man tag team match at Fastlane. The next day on SmackDown LowDown, Lashley accepted the challenge. On the next week’s SmackDown, however, The Street Profits took out both Wilde and Toro, and it was later revealed that neither would be cleared for Fastlane. LWO’s Zelina Vega worried about how they could compete being outnumbered, but Mysterio said he would make a phone call.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time match involving these men.

Fastlane PPV Record: Rey Mysterio is 0-1, Bobby Lashley is 0-1, everyone else wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: The match starts as a 3 on 2 handicap match. Santos Escobar kicks off the match against Montez Ford. Santos starts well and hits a massive top rope hurricanrana. Team Lashley soon take control, making quick tags and keeping Escobar away from Mysterio. Rey tags in and picks up the pace but the numbers become too much for him. Lots of quick tags from Bobby and The Street Profits. Zelina Vega gets involved at one point, taking Montez Ford out on the outside. Carlito’s music then hits and out walks Carlito who tags in! Carlito picks up the pace as all six men go at it. He hits a backstabber on Montez Ford for the win!

Result: Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar and Carlito win by pinfall.

Review: This match was decent enough. I was expecting Carlito as I know he’d been signed for a while and was waiting on the sidelines. I’m not sure the Lashley alliance losing was a great move but I have a feeling they’ll get their heat back. An ok match tonight.

Rating: 5.5/10

Iyo Sky (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka – WWE Women’s Championship match

Background: At SummerSlam, Iyo Sky cashed in her Money in the Bank contract and won the WWE Women’s Championship right after Asuka had lost the title in the prior match. Following this, Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Sky) began feuding with Asuka, as well as Charlotte Flair, who sided with Asuka. On the September 29 episode of SmackDown, Flair stated that after defeating Bayley that night, she would challenge Sky for the title at Fastlane. After Flair defeated Bayley, Damage CTRL surrounded the ring in an attempt to attack Flair, however, Asuka came out to assist Flair. Bayley subsequently accepted the challenge on behalf of Sky for her to defend the WWE Women’s Championship against Flair and Asuka in a triple threat match at Fastlane, much to the dismay of Sky.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time triple threat match involving these three ladies.

Fastlane PPV Record: Charlotte Flair is 2-2, Asuka is 1-0. Iyo wrestles at Fastlane for the first time tonight.

Match: Iyo Sky isn’t accompanied by Damage CTRL for this match. Asuka starts the match by spraying mist in the eyes of Charlotte Flair! Iyo and Asuka go at it as Charlotte gets help on the outside. After a while Flair re-joins the match and she’s angry. There’s some double teaming from Asuka and Sky against Charlotte before going back to each other. Asuka hits a German suplex off the top. Charlotte dominates for a while to a mixed reaction. Iyo is so good at springboarding off the top rope. She hits a suicide dive on Charlotte and then an asai moonsault on Asuka. Charlotte then hits a moonsault of her own to the outside on both opponents. There’s a triple powerbomb Samoan drop of doom. Iyo stops Charlotte from locking the figure eight on Asuka. Iyo and Asuka then apply a double STF to Charlotte. Iyo counters an Asuka lock. Charlotte spears Asuka for a near fall. Bayley comes out from the back to check on Iyo but Sky eats a boot from Charlotte. Asuka hits Charlotte with a flying codebreaker for a near fall. Flair counters the Asuka lock and applies a figure eight. Asuka taps out but Bayley is distracting the referee. Iyo hits a moonsault on Charlotte for the win!

Result: Iyo Sky retains the title by pinfall.

Review: This was a really good triple threat from these girls. They’re all very talented and all bring a different style to the match. Iyo gets a huge win tonight but you get the feeling that it’s not over between these girls. Especially Iyo and Charlotte. A really solid match tonight.

Rating: 8/10

John Cena & LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa

Background: On the September 1 episode of SmackDown, John Cena made his return to WWE, which was his first appearance since Money in the Bank in July. He was interrupted by Jimmy Uso, who claimed the fans wanted to see him instead. Cena responded that Jimmy should have quit WWE instead of Jey Uso and then performed an Attitude Adjustment on Jimmy. Two weeks later, Cena was a guest on Grayson Waller’s talkshow “The Grayson Waller Effect”, only for Jimmy to interrupt again. Solo Sikoa also came out and feigned attacking Jimmy due to the latter’s recent internal issues with The Bloodline, however, Sikoa and Jimmy instead attacked Cena, who was saved by AJ Styles. The following week, Cena and Styles challenged Jimmy and Sikoa to a tag team match for that night; however, after WWE official Adam Pearce conferred with Bloodline manager Paul Heyman, the match was scheduled for Fastlane. A contract signing for the match was setup to happen later that night; however, Jimmy and Sikoa brutally attacked Styles backstage. Styles was subsequently taken to a hospital, leaving Cena to confront The Bloodline alone and they laid out Cena in the ring. On September 25, WWE announced that Cena would be facing Jimmy and Sikoa in a handicap match at Fastlane. On that Friday’s SmackDown, however, after Cena received another beatdown from The Bloodline, LA Knight made the save and signed the contract to be Cena’s partner, which was made official—Cena had previously praised Knight at Payback after serving as the special guest referee for Knight’s match at that event.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time tag team match involving these four men.

Fastlane PPV Record: John Cena is 0-2, Jimmy Uso is 1-1-1. LA Knight and Solo Sikoa wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: John Cena and Jimmy Uso kick off the match. Cena takes down Jimmy and challenges Solo Sikoa to tag in, which he does. Sikoa takes control for his team against Cena and tags in his brother. Lots of quick tags between Jimmy and Solo as they keep Cena away from LA Knight. John hits an attitude adjustment out of nowhere on Jimmy but Sikoa stops him from making a tag. Cena counters a banzai drop and makes the hot table to Knight who picks up the pace. All hell breaks loose with all four men. Cena hits a cross body before Jimmy hits him with a splash. Knight hits both opponents with jabs and the crowd love it. He then hits Jimmy with a superplex before Cena drops the five knuckle shuffle. LA hits BFT and gets the win!

Result: LA Knight and John Cena win by pinfall.

Review: This was a fun match but not a memorable one. Cena took all the damage before making the hot tag to LA Knight who picked up the win. Jimmy Uso taking the fall makes perfect sense with the return of Roman Reigns this week. An ok match which was style over substance.

Rating: 4.5/10

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Background: At Payback, Seth “Freakin” Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, Nakamura viciously attacked Rollins, requiring medical personnel to assist Rollins out of the arena. On the following episode of Raw, as he was unhappy with the post-match incident, Rollins challenged Nakamura to a title rematch later that night; however, Nakamura declined, wanting to do it on his own terms. A brawl then ensued with Nakamura getting the upper hand. The fighting would continue over the next couple of weeks until the September 18 episode when a frustrated Rollins stated that Nakamura could choose the place, time, and stipulation for their championship rematch. The following week, Nakamura accepted Rollins’ proposal, choosing a Last Man Standing match at Fastlane.

Previous PPV matches: Seth has beaten Shinsuke in all three of their previous PPV matches.

Fastlane PPV Record: Seth Rollins is 3-0, Shinsuke Nakamura is 1-1.

Match: This match goes to the outside very quickly where Seth hits a suplex and smashes his challengers face off the ring steps. Nakamura gets back into it and lays into Rollins with nunchucks and a kendo stick. It’s back and forth between the two men for a while. Seth uses the kendo stick himself and then a trash can. Rollins avoids a Kinshasa and hits a stomp but it doesn’t keep his challenger down for a 10 count. Seth brings a ladder into play, hitting Shinsuke with it and then looking for a stomp off it but Nakamura walks away. The two fight into the crowd where Nakamura hits a low blow and kicks Rollins off some stairs. Rollins looks for a pedigree but Shinsuke counters it with a back drop on the concrete. Seth counters a Kinshasa and hits a pedigree. Nakamura lays Rollins on a table outside the ring and then hits a double kneedrop on Seth through the table but it doesn’t keep the champion down. Both men climb a ladder which results in Nakamura spraying red mist in the face of Rollins and pushing him off the ladder and through the announce desk below. Seth just beats the count. Shinsuke hits a backbreaker on a set up chair and then a Kinshasa through a table. Rollins rolls out of the ring and onto his feet to beat the count again. The two men fight through the crowd again where Rollins hits a pedigree, a stomp and then a falcon arrow through some tables. Rollins gets up to his feet but Nakamura doesn’t.

Result: Seth Rollins retains the World Heavyweight Championship.

Review: This match was good but not great. I can’t help but feel disappointed with the finish. I also kind of wanted Nakamura to win. There were some decent spots, nothing too groundbreaking though. Seth Rollins reign continues.

Rating: 7.5/10