WWE Fastlane 2019: Final Grades for Every Match

Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Revival (c) vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Chad Gable & Bobby Roode

The second tag team championship match of WWE Fastlane saw The Revival in triple threat action against the NXT duo of Aleister Black and Ricochet as well as former champions Chad Gable and Bobby Roode. This looked like the most chaotic match of the night heading into WWE Fastlane, and it definitely lived up to that expectation.

The Revival looked in classic form as the tag team specialists trying to isolate opponents, but obviously hit a snag with the unpredictable nature of a triple threat tag team match. Chad Gable and Bobby Roode were both firing on all cylinders, providing a perfect counterpart to their very different opponents. Finally Aleister Black and Ricochet continued to be the odd couple that delivers at every turn with hard-hitting strikes and fast-paced action.

This turned out to be one of the night’s best matches, and a truly great tag team match on its own merits. Things finally wound down with The Revival landing Shatter Machine on Chad Gable to retain their titles, only for things to devolve into chaos even after the bell rang. Aleister Black and Ricochet were standing tall at the end, despite not leaving with the titles.

Grade: A+, This was a really great match that did everything it needed to do and spotlighted every single competitor involved. Raw’s tag division has gone from bland and poorly managed to extremely exciting, and you can thank The Revival for kickstarting that change.

United States Championship Fatal 4-Way Match: Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade vs. R-Truth

This match didn’t even exist before WWE Fastlane, but that didn’t keep it from being a must-see bit of action. Andrade and Rey Mysterio were initially scheduled to square off during the WWE Fastlane Kickoff Show, but a petition by Carmella to get R-Truth a rematch for the United States Championship he lost on Tuesday succeeded and we got to see a rematch from SmackDown Live’s Fatal 4-Way United States Championship Match.

Chaos seems to be a bit too cliché of a description for me right now, but it continues to be applicable. Samoa Joe got things started out of the gate with a dive that took out all three of his opponents, and things only escalated from there. Rey Mysterio and Andrade have exhibited their lucha libre acumen on a weekly basis, and this match was no different. We also got the fun addition of R-Truth continuing to emulate his “childhood hero” John Cena, even doing Cena’s moves in this match.

The match also served to further the increasingly personal rivalry between Mysterio and Andrade, seeing them pull out some classic spots like Andrade doing Eddie Guerrero’s Three Amigos or locking Rey Mysterio in a Gory Special. Ultimately the chaos proved to be a boon for Samoa Joe, who locked Rey Mysterio in the Coquina Clutch and forced him to pass out in mere seconds at the perfect moment.

Grade: A+, Again, this was a really great match that did everything it needed to do and spotlighted every single competitor involved. I know I said that about the last match, but it was true here also. SmackDown’s mid-card has gotten really interesting, and this was a great example of that.