By Jason Powell
WWE Fastlane 2017 Kickoff Show
Aired live on WWE Network and social media
Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Bradley Center
The show opened with a shot of WrestleMania sign, which looks like an old beer sign in person. Renee Young hosted the show along with Booker T and Peter Rosenberg. Booker spoke about the Daytona 500…
Charly Caruso checked in from the social media lounge where an alleged face lover once lurked. She will be asking Samoa Joe the very worst of the questions submitted by fans via social media later in the show…
Renee pushed WWE Network and hyped that WrestleMania would be part of the free window for new subscribers. They set up a video package on Braun Strowman kicking the ass of Roman Reigns repeatedly…
Rosenberg spoke about how this is the biggest match of Strowman’s career. He added that Reigns is “no pushover”…
Backstage, Brian Kendrick approached Noam Dar and Alicia Fox and told him that he has a golden opportunity by teaming with him. He said he hopes Dar won’t make the same mistake that Akira Tozawa made when he offered to mentor him. Kendrick said he has an extra special lesson he wants to teach Tozawa. Dar said they will make a fantastic team and he will do whatever it takes to win for Fox. Kendrick said he hopes no one has a meltdown. Fox wasn’t happy. Dar said they would win and then return backstage and celebrate together. “I don’t do crazy,” Kendrick replied…
Powell’s POV: Dar was proposing the adult version of a Triple Threat, kids.
Renee hyped the Raw Tag Title match and then introduced Cesaro and Sheamus as guest panelists. Sheamus said they were robbed of the tag titles and then Enzo Amore and Big Cass cost them the titles again in their rematch with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Cesaro stood up and played to the receptive crowd. Sheamus stood up and was booed. Young asked them which team they would like to see leave with the titles. Sheamus said it didn’t matter. Everyone on the panel picked Gallows and Anderson to retain the tag titles…
Backstage, Mick Foley spoke with Stephanie McMahon by speaker phone and noted that her plane was late arriving. She was worked up and questioned if he knew how important this show was. Foley said he was going to put her on hold because Jinder Mahal entered the room. Yes, really. Jinder said he and Rusev are no longer a team.
Rusev, who had a new haircut, and Lana entered the room. Jinder said he wanted a chance to prove himself in singles competition. Rusev said that’s what he was looking for. Foley said he had an idea and asked about putting them in a best of seven series. They both replied no. Funny. Foley booked them in a match against one another. Everyone left the room, and Stephanie was left hanging on the phone…
A video package recapped the Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn feud… Booker spoke about Joe telling Zayn to put some respect on his name. “You know all about that,” Booker said to Rosenberg. “I do,” he replied. Huh? Booker pimped the network again. Samoa Joe was shown seated in the social media lounge preparing to answer horrible questions…
In the social media lounge, Caruso fed Samoa Joe questions. The first person asked why he aligned with Triple H and why he attacked Seth Rollins. Joe told him to watch the f’n television show, er, recapped his previous explanation. The next question was about how he plans to beat Zayn. Joe said he did it once before and he’ll do it over and over and over again (he knows how WWE books). Joe said Zayn will learn just how destructive he can be when motivated. Someone else asked what his plans are for WrestleMania. He said whatever he does, his presence will be felt will full force. He said what he does remains to be seen, but it will be revealed soon enough…
Powell’s POV: Joe answered the bad questions well and acted completely annoyed by being there. Caruso didn’t even wrap up the segment and he was already demanding that someone take his mic off. It was a brief segment, but WWE would have been wise to advertise it ahead of time since it may have actually brought in more viewers to the Kickoff Show than the advertised tag match will.
The broadcast team set up footage of the Seth Rollins and Triple H segment from Monday’s Raw… Renee hyped an exclusive look at Seth’s rehab on Monday’s Raw… A Bayley vs. Charlotte video package aired. The panel discussed the match…
The broadcast team of Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Austin Aries checked in. Aries set up his own video package again…
1. Rich Swann and Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar (w/Alicia Fox). Swann and Dar shook hands before the match. Kendrick teased starting the match, then tagged in Dar rather than face Tozawa. Dar was backed into the ropes and showed fear. Tozawa screamed at him. The heels went for a double suplex. Swann entered and caught Tozawa, then Swann and Tozawa threw dropkicks at the heels before a commercial break.
The heel duo isolated Swann for a stretch. Swann made a hot tag to Tozawa, who worked over Kendrick with two kicks and a senton for a two count. Tozawa set up for his finisher, but Kendrick hooked his legs to block it and Dar checked in. The babyface duo dumped the heels to the floor. Swann performed a dive over the top while Tozawa performed a suicide dive.
Swann threw a couple of superkicks at both heels. Tozawa hit the snap German suplex on Kendrick. Swann went up top and performed a Phoenix Splash on Dar and then pinned him…
Akira Tozawa and Rich Swann defeated Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar.
Powell’s POV: A good tag match that gave fans a taste of Tozawa getting his hands on Kendrick without giving too much away. Dar is in a good place. Sure, he loses as much as he wins, but the Alicia Fox silliness has made him one of the more identifiable wrestlers in the cruiserweight division. He plays his role well.
The hosts set up a video package on Goldberg vs. Kevin Owens. It included footage of Goldberg beating Brock Lesnar, and Owens turning on Chris Jericho…
Join me for live coverage of WWE Fastlane in a separate story on the main page.
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