Some might have expected WWE to coast through a second-tier PLE like Fastlane. That wasn’t the case though in the action tonight. Lots to talk about so let’s look at the results.
Let’s start with the appearance by Pat McAfee. There’s scuttlebutt that Indianapolis may now host an upcoming WM. Not a bad choice with a big stadium and decent geographics.
Cody Rhodes/Jey Uso defeat Judgement Day
Let’s hit the obvious first – this does not mean that Cody isn’t headed to SmackDown per the trade. We could still see that happening.
With that out of the way, this was the right move as it enacts a few things:
- The path is clear for Damian Priest to cash in
- The tension with Finn and JD McDonagh aligning looks even stronger
- There’s a slew of tag teams on the heel side ready for the belts, not the least of which are the revitalized Street Profits.
There’s no downside to the title switch, and expect Cody and Jey to not hold the gold for very long. The only question sitting is whether the belts will finally be split between brands.
lWo defeat Street Profits 2.0
The big news here is that the lWo finally won a match! Oh, and Carlito is back.
It will be interesting to see if this is a more permanent return for Triple C. Nothing is written in stone despite the claims by some that Carlito has been sitting with a contract for some time.
The question now is whether Wilde and del Toro will be exorcised from the group with a more powerful trio in place.
As for the Profits/Lashley tension, the question du jour is whether Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams, belt free in NXT, will come up to replace Ford and Dawkins as the ones sitting under Lashley’s learning tree. I’ll nod yes to that one.
Iyo Sky defeats Charlotte Flair, Asuka
A very important win for the champ, and with a solid victory over two established veterans, you have to think this means new blood comes into the Championship mix. I’m going to play it safe though and presume we get a transition feud with Shotzi.
Flair taking the pin likely means she goes on another hiatus.
Asuka not taking the pin means that a match between her and Sky is certainly feasible and a gimmick match may come to fruition soon; but with the supposed return of KAIRI, we could see a return to the tag ranks by The Kabuki Warriors.
John Cena/LA Knight defeat The Bloodline
The result was never in doubt, but it was a curiosity as to whether Cena or Knight would get the pin. Knight getting the duke gives him more rub and positions him as a target for one Roman Reigns.
Cena could be back to work in Hollywood soon but there are many rumours of him taking the position of challenger next to Roman at Survivor Series. It’s certainly plausible and the match does give a bit of breathing room for Knight to be further ascended. It feels like LA does need the US Championship before he goes to the World Title picture.
The question for Jimmy now is whether he’ll get eaten alive by Roman. We’ll find out soon enough with Reigns announced for Friday’s SD! broadcast.
Seth Rollins defeats Shinsuke Nakamura
I was honestly expecting a change here, either with Nakamura or Priest closing the night with the gold.
Nakamura now seemingly goes back into purgatory. It’s hard to imagine any positivity coming out and now there’s question as to what you can feasibly do with a heated up but ultimately down-turned Nakamura.
Rollins now has a flurry of contenders to face. Taking the title off him and putting it on Priest is more of a stopover than true title change as is, but it’s about the only option WWE writers have left with the MITB briefcase sitting in our possession.
Overall outlook
WWE came away with a strong PLE and looks to be on a good momentum wave with Survivor Series approaching. There’s a lot of intrigue that awaits TV viewers this week and many questions to be answered.
