WWE Fastlane 2017: Power Ranking Every Match at Raw PPV

WWE Fastlane was an underwhelming pay-per-view that did little to generate excitement for WrestleMania and, worse, exposed the many issues with Raw's storytelling and decided lack of character development. Yet, for the many detrimental elements encompassing the show, it had its fair share of solid action.

Roman Reigns stole the show, as he has done countless times during his main event run, working a strong brawl of a match against Braun Strowman.

The cruiserweights proved their worth, and the female Superstars of WWE's flagship show had the opportunity to remind fans that anything their male counterparts can do they can do just as well.

Not everything was stellar, and last-minute additions to the card helped to devalue the card.

Still, the good was very good and the bad was not quite awful enough to be disastrous.

As the brand recovers and turns its focus to what should be a red-hot March 6 episode of Raw, revisit the Fastlane 2017 pay-per-view with this look back at every match, ranked from worst to best.

10. Goldberg vs. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens' eight-month reign as universal champion came to an end Sunday night at Fastlane, not in a classic match but, rather, a squash.

Chris Jericho made a surprise appearance, providing a distraction that allowed Goldberg to obliterate him with a spear and Jackhammer for the pinfall victory.

That was the extent of the action in the match, which served as more of an angle than a quality main event.

WWE Creative may have accomplished what it set out to by switching the title and propelling Jericho vs. Owens forward, but that did not make for a match even partly good, leaving Owens vs. Goldberg to bring up the rear in this countdown of Sunday's in-ring product.

9. Cesaro vs. Jinder Mahal

When you get past asking yourself "why the hell is this match on pay-per-view?" you are left with a bout so generic and uninteresting that you cannot truly believe the great Cesaro was actually involved. 

Jinder Mahal, a career-long jobber, controlled the match and worked over the head, neck and back of The Swiss Superman. Cesaro fought back and scored the win, and fans were left wondering what the point was.

Neither Superstar came out of the match looking better for having made the pay-per-view card.

Mahal's status as a glorified jobber was confirmed, and Cesaro was devalued for having struggled to defeat his opponent. It was counterproductive, to say the least, and the worst "real" match of the night.

8. Big Show vs. Rusev

A slow, plodding and unadvertised snoozefest, Rusev vs. Big Show was a poor choice to re-energize the audience after a nondescript bout between Cesaro and Jinder Mahal.

As fun a match as The World's Largest Athlete had with Braun Strowman a few weeks back on Raw, his battle with Rusev was a lethargic war that put the giant over at the expense of The Bulgarian Brute.

Rusev, a talented midcard villain whose value is almost always underrated by management and fans alike, was once again utilized in a manner that hurt his credibility rather than propped him up.

The manner in which he lost—knocked out while propped up on the bottom rope—did him no favors.

A generic match with no discernible winner besides the one announced by JoJo, it served only to eat up time.

7. Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson

The finishing sequence may have been red-hot, but the match that preceded it was another generic bout straight off of Monday Night Raw rather than the pay-per-view-quality contest fans deserved.

Enzo Amore filled the Ricky Morton babyface-in-peril role, absorbing incredible punishment from Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Big Cass was the explosive big man, capitalizing on the hot tag to run over the champions.

The finish was well-constructed and opens the opportunity for a rematch, presumably at WrestleMania.

Hopefully that match is a vast improvement on the television-quality bout fans were exposed to Sunday night. And one that does a greater service to Amore, who continues to look like a useless loudmouth whose contributions to every match in which he competes consist of taking an ass-kicking.

6. Akira Tozawa and Rich Swann vs. Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar

The match that kicked off Sunday's festivities was an unspectacular tag team match highlighting two of the cruiserweight division's second-tier rivalries, as Akira Tozawa teamed with Rich Swann to battle Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar.

What could have been a great chance to catapult the involved stories forward, though, proved a major missed opportunity.

As has been the problem with the cruiserweight division for the last six months, the ordeal was but a wrestling match with talented wrestlers, two of whom lost. There was no story advancement, character development or anything remotely considered significant to come out of the bout.

That renders it essentially useless, an extended curtain-jerker that served no purpose other than to get the guys on the card.

Swann shone, and the babyfaces went over, but nothing feels even a little resolved, ensuring the two individual rivalries continue into Monday's Raw and Tuesday's 205 Live.

5. Bayley vs. Charlotte

Arguably the biggest disappointment to come from Sunday's broadcast was the Raw Women's Championship match between Bayley and Charlotte.

The background featured a hot story, with characters in which fans are invested, but the fans in Milwaukee essentially sat on their hands throughout the bout. Part of that was burnout from what equated to a mediocre match card, but the action itself failed to inspire.

It lacked the spark that recent women's bouts have had.

Even interference from Sasha Banks did not generate the heat one would have hoped for from the contest.

Part of the problem can be chalked up to the booking of Charlotte. Fans have become so conditioned to her losing titles on Raw only to regain them on pay-per-view and extend her winning streak on WWE Network that they were waiting for that outcome.

The other significant issue facing the match was Bayley's premature title win.

That should have been saved for Sunday's show, especially if the goal was for her to end Charlotte's undefeated PPV streak.

The heat was hurt, the quality suffered, and the result was a lackluster affair that ranks as one of the more disappointing women's matches in recent memory.

4. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

Say what you will about Nia Jax and whether or not you think she is ready for the spot she occupies, but her performance Sunday night against Sasha Banks helped elevate that contest past Charlotte vs. Bayley as the best of the women's division's contributions to Fastlane.

Jax was the unstoppable, unbeatable force. She cut Banks off at every turn and used her size and strength to put The Boss down. The narrative—that of a physically superior star whose arrogance proved costly—was incredibly effective, and Jax played her role to perfection.

"Who's The Boss now?" she trash-talked as she slapped a struggling Banks around.

Banks would answer that question in short order. Resilient in her fight against Jax, she caught the larger and more dominant star with a bridging roll-up for the upset victory.

A bewildered Jax watched from the ring as Banks celebrated on the entrance ramp, the better woman not necessarily having won.

3. Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe

Sami Zayn mounts even the slightest flurry of offense; Samoa Joe cuts him off.

That was the story of the opening match of WWE Fastlane.

Joe and Zayn kicked off the show with one of the night's best matches, a David vs. Goliath battle that did not go the way of The Underdog from the Underground.

Zayn was inspirational in the way he continued to throw fists with Joe, fighting with every ounce of energy he had to secure a victory. Unfortunately, the good guy does not always win in the world of professional wrestling.

Sometimes, the bad guy is just better and that was the case Sunday night as Joe trapped his opponent in the Coquina Clutch and choked the life out of him.

2. Jack Gallagher vs. Neville

Leading into Fastlane, Jack Gallagher was a joyfully simple, fun-loving character who touted the gentlemanly lifestyle. His arsenal included comedic spots and his signature umbrella, which came into play on a grand stage most recently at Royal Rumble.

There was reason to believe his match with cruiserweight champion Neville would suffer because of insistence by WWE Creative that Gallagher spotlight those antics rather than delivering the in-ring performance he was capable of.

Other than a corner headstand or two very early on, that was not the case.

Gallagher elevated his star in the eyes of the fans, showing a toughness and grittiness that audience had never seen out of him. He withstood an onslaught from Neville, including a sickening German suplex that could have broken his neck, and was in position to relieve The King of the Cruiserweights of his title late.

It was not meant to be, though, as Neville reintroduced the WWE Universe to The Red Arrow and successfully retained his title.

More of a grizzly fight than a dazzling display of high-risk maneuvers, it helped re-energize a lethargic show.

1. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

The best match on Sunday's Fastlane card featured Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns bringing an end to a rivalry that has stretched months and dominated Raw in recent weeks.

Their match, a battle of two unstoppable freight trains, was exactly the brawl fans deserved. It was high-impact, and it featured brutal spots and extraordinary feats of strength by Strowman.

In the end, though, it was a rare high-risk maneuver on the part of Strowman that proved costly.

Frustrated with his inability to put Reigns away, Strowman launched himself off the top rope with a splash. He missed, crashing into the mat. Reigns followed with a spear and pinned Strowman for the victory.

There will be some who question the decision, but wrestling history is rich with unstoppable heels who were built up specifically to be sacrificed to the biggest babyface on the roster. It worked wonders for Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage during the 1980s, and it worked in this scenario.

Reigns overcame the guy against whom all others have fallen.

Now, he prepares for a high-profile WrestleMania match while Strowman still looks incredibly strong, the latter the victim of one misjudged moment in time.

The match featured strong high spots and really sold the idea that Strowman is a legitimate main event villain. And there, at the center of it all, was Reigns.

Like John Cena before him, he continues to be the most polarizing star in the company and one of its most consistently great workers, regardless of the overwhelming sense of entitlement on the part of internet fans and their insistence that he "sucks."