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WWE PPV REAX #2: "WWE's newest PPV should be named Holdback," plus Memphis attendee defends crowd reaction

Feb 23, 2015 - 1:38:36 PM
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WWE Fast Lane PPV Reax

-- David in Memphis (6.5): Best Match: Reigns-Bryan. Worst Match: Goldust-Stardust. Let me speak on behalf of the Memphis crowd, of which I was a part of last night at Fastlane. Benjamin Tucker had a great "Instant Reaction," pointing the finger at the writers instead of the fans. I believe a pre-show match - instead of the Miz TV segment - would have better helped get the crowd ready. It didn't help that that the first two matches - the six-man tag and Rhodes brothers battle - had hardly any hype. The six-man wasn't even announced on TV, and Stardust just turned. The latter match also seemed to kill the crowd, with several fans around me saying it was too early for the match to happen. However, there was a good reaction following the backstage segment.

The Triple H-Sting segment picked up the crowd, but following that was the Divas match and the IC Title match, which also ended nonsensically. I thought the crowd was the invested in the last two matches. I know I watched Reigns-Bryan rather closely, catching myself not really cheering either way just seeing how Roman would perform. Maybe there was more of that? I started a little Twitter storm saying that I was impressed with Reigns last night, and I stick with my assessment - although I'm still watching back on the Network. I think a large part of the response to Reigns besides getting "too much too soon" is that he's had multiple matches with Big Show and Kane. Those matches aren't going to be great, as both big men are past their prime and should be relegated to tag matches. I'm interested in how Reigns does against Lesnar at WrestleMania. Brock is a big man, but very athletic in the ring. It should be a good match, but I fear a negative reaction against Roman simply because Daniel Bryan isn't involved.

-- PWTorch reader Noah (C- overall grade): (1) I'm glad Randy Orton is back so Seth Rollins can have a fresh feud. (2) Goldust and Cody held back big time, so the Mania match will be big. (3) New Tag Champs = Best for Business. (4) Sting being the silent assassin goes to show that he might never pick up a microphone in WWE. (I hope that's not the case.) (5) That was an above-average Divas match, but the finish killed it for me. (5) Ambrose and Barrett also looked like they held back for a WrestleMania re-match; it will be interesting to see if they do indeed pull the trigger on Ambrose winning the belt.

(6) I was hoping it would be Undertaker, but I also popped big for Bray coming out of the casket. (7) Cena submits. Cena submits. Cena submits. (8) I might get some flak for this one, but I will say Reigns looked impressive in the main event. Why? Look who he was in the ring with, he pulled out a few new moves, which will help make his Mania match less boring, and his spear looked like it legit hurt Bryan. (9) Memphis, I hope you only get House Shows for the next ten years.

-- PWTorch reader Kyle Butler: Best Match: Reigns vs. Bryan. Worst Match: Barrett vs. Ambrose. This was not a great outing for the WWE. I could tell the crowd was going to be tough to win over with a very tepid reaction to the return of Randy Orton. Then, Goldust and Dusty Rhodes got no reaction and I was a little afraid that this crowd would be dead all night. No pop? Not even for the American Dream? The rest of the night was very uneventful with the top moments being the Sting-Triple H confrontation, which was fairly well done, although it definitely seemed like Wade's conspiracy theory regarding Triple H may be right. Rusev-Cena was another highlight and was fun to watch some of my friends who don't read any wrestling news get so mad that Rusev actually beat Cena. I told them to be patient because Cena won't let them down. This match also seemed to be when the crowd finally woke up.

Bryan-Reigns was a good match. Bryan, who was getting mixed reactions at first, really drew the crowd into this match and got them solidly behind him. I also felt like he was channeling a lot of the mid-90's HBK in his personality during the match. I still feel the wrong man won, but I will see what McMahon does to build Reigns up for WM before getting too angry. Overall, the crowd hurt this event for the first half, Sting-Triple H was a little too long, but the final two matches told good stories. I'd give it a high 4/low 5 rating, overall.

-- PWTorch reader Mike Pascale: WWE's newest PPV shouldn't be named Fastlane, it should be named Holdback. As in, hold back the best/most popular wrestler in the company. As in, do some sloppy finishes so we can have super awesome re-matches at WrestleMania. The tag match was okay, and it was nice to see a title change, but I think these four should be able to have better flow during a match. Star and Goldie should be able to do much more as well. The six-man opener was boring, Orton's return was very predictable, and I'm really not sure I wasn't watching Sunday Night Raw, as the three-hour format is really eroding the product....not much feels new.

The two best segments weren't even matches. Sting-Hunter was fairly well done, but I really want to hear Sting talk - why he never came until now. Also, Wyatt using Taker's entrance was well done and hopefully we'll see a response from The Deadman in the next two weeks. Finally, the main event. Bryan-Reigns was a very good match. I'm sure most of that has to do with Bryan. Reigns looked gassed and it was barely a 20-minute match. He's not ready, and I cannot fathom how Vince cannot see it... So, WrestleMania is taking shape: Divas re-match, IC re-match, Dust Bros. rematch, Cena-Rusev re-match, Tag Title re-match, Taker-Wyatt, Rollins-Orton, Bryan-Ziggler (let them open and tear the house down), Sting-Hunter, and Lesnar-Reigns. A decent card definitely worth (wait for it) $9.99 on WWE Network, but not much more. WWE's Fastlane gets a mediocre 4.0 from me.


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