WWE Fastlane 2017: How to Fix Least Promising Storylines So Far
WWE Fastlane 2017 is a top-heavy pay-per-view that boasts feuds between Kevin Owens and Goldberg, Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns and even Owens and Chris Jericho.
Coming off a newsworthy Raw that featured a title change in the main event and Owens abruptly ending his friendship with Jericho, WWE still has a lot of work to do as it gets deeper into the Fastlane card.
Both Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and The New Day are starving for opponents in Raw's ravaged tag team division. The Brian Kendrick is in the midst of an uninspiring feud with newcomer Akira Tozawa, and Emmalina has confusingly gone back to being Emma.
With multiple weeks left until WWE's final pay-per-view before WrestleMania 33, there are many improvements to be made to some of Raw's least promising feuds.
Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley
1 of 5The Problem: Bayley's payoff came too early.
On paper, Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley is a shoo-in for a top feud on Raw. And while both the matches and storylines have had their highlights, the feud seems to have hit a rough patch. Bayley's big moment on Raw this past Monday was soured somewhat by the fact that WWE may have gone to the "Flair drops the title on Raw" well one too many times.
WWE was in the midst of building to a potentially historic moment where Bayley would become the first WWE Superstar to defeat Flair in a one-on-one match on pay-per-view. Instead, Flair got her comeuppance early, which will diminish the value of a potential WrestleMania victory for the new Raw women's champion.
The Solution: Flair defeats Bayley at WWE Fastlane, with Bayley regaining the championship at WrestleMania.
The Brian Kendrick as the Self-Proclaimed Mentor for Akira Tozawa
2 of 5The Problem: The Brian Kendrick mentoring Akira Tozawa is not connecting with fans.
The Brian Kendrick has been one of the few cruiserweights who has shown a personality to go along with his skill set in the ring. But Kendrick has seemingly been on autopilot as he sits at the announcers' table, promoting himself as the mentor of the newest cruiserweight, Akira Tozawa.
The storyline has put the spotlight on Tozawa while giving him a purpose past his wrestling ability. Still, the longer Kendrick talks up Tozawa without actually engaging, the quicker fans will lose interest—especially in an ice-cold division.
All signs point to Tozawa eventually rejecting Kendrick as a mentor, leading to a future feud, but how boring is that idea? WWE has an opportunity to create the type of odd couple that has been unseen in the cruiserweight division thus far. With the success of alliances between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt and Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, it's high time the cruiserweight division explored this dynamic as well.
The Solution: Tozawa embraces Kendrick as his mentor.
Gallows, Anderson and the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
3 of 5The Problem: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have little competition in a thin tag team division.
WWE Raw tag team champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were last seen as Stephanie McMahon's glorified henchmen, teaming up to take on Roman Reigns in a 2-on-1 Handicap match.
WWE's tag team divisions on both Raw and SmackDown are struggling for similar reasons. Both current champions won the tag team titles out of nowhere and with little momentum. Both divisions are paper-thin with no standout rivalries. But while American Alpha appears to be headed toward a potentially great feud with The Usos, Gallows and Anderson are grasping at straws for opponents.
After a record tag team title run, The New Day has moved past the tag team division—which has developed into somewhat of a problem that we'll get into later. Now, Raw is starving for a tag team title contender who can make Gallows and Anderson relevant.
The Solution: Call up a popular tag team from NXT—possibly The Revival.
The New Day vs. Ice Cream?
4 of 5The Problem: The New Day is bored and has resorted to a storyline involving ice cream.
As the most popular tag team in all of WWE, The New Day has no problem entertaining the masses. But after dominating the tag team ranks, The New Day is now entertaining itself with the announcement of a New Day ice cream.
And while this storyline has created excitement among the WWE Universe, The New Day deserves better than to focus all of its efforts on frozen treats. The New Day's creation of Booty-O's cereal last year was part of a bigger storyline of the trio's lengthy tag team run. But with every passing week, the former Raw tag team champions are becoming more of a live infomercial.
Similar to Gallows and Anderson, WWE needs to find The New Day a worthwhile feud to keep it busy while it promotes its imminent ice cream launch.
The Solution: The New Day enters a temporary feud with Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens.
Emmalina's (Brilliant?) Trolling Debut
5 of 5The Problem: WWE reportedly doesn't have confidence in Emma's ability to portray new Emmalina character.
The Emmalina debut was brilliant. She successfully trolled the WWE Universe for weeks with the tease of her debut. Then, all that buildup led to a quick announcement and an even quicker exit. She's a heel who made people mad. Mission accomplished.
Unfortunately, Emmalina's maddening debut was not the plan all along. According to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet (h/t Raj Giri of Wresting Inc), WWE officials were unimpressed with her rehearsals as Emmalina and opted to nix the angle. Still, WWE may have stumbled on to something by booking Emmalina from the "less is more" standpoint.
The Solution: WWE doubles down on Emmalina character and continues to book her as a tease who makes fans wait for a payoff.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
