The Wrestling Examiner

The first-ever edition of the Fastlane PPV took place yesterday, and while it wasn't a great show, it was still a pretty good show. Many fans were expecting a train wreck of a show, but things worked out pretty well. In this article, we'll identify ten positives from the show and how things will move forward. Let's get started. 10. It's 'Mania Season, and People are Excited- This show was all about getting ready for WrestleMania , and it did just that. People aren't all that big about 'Mania as they were in any of the years before. I think that will change as we get closer and closer to the big day. 9. Barrett vs. Ambrose Continues- In my predictions, I predicted that Ambrose would win this title, as he is a lot hotter than Barrett, who has appeared really weak as of late. However, Barrett won by DQ and was taken out by Ambrose after the bell rang. I'm glad to see this feud continue a little bit, it will make fans tune in to Raw to see Ambrose win t...

The next WWE pay-per-view takes place today in Memphis. This is the first-ever edition of Fastlane, which replaced the Elimination Chamber PPV, which ran from 2010-2014. This is also the last PPV before WrestleMania . There are currently seven matches on the card, four of which are for titles. None are for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, although Paul Heyman is scheduled to appear on MizTV on the pre-show. Let's get started with the predictions. Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose- Remember eight months ago, when Bad News Barrett was one of the hottest superstars on the roster? He was extremely over, was the Intercontinental Champion, and seemed poised for bigger and better things. Now, he's pretty much just a regular midcarder. Dean Ambrose was one of the hottest superstar on the roster just a few months ago. He's still pretty over, and it seems like the WWE is still interested in pushing him. So, it only makes sense for Ambrose to win th...

Last Wednesday night gave us the latest NXT special: NXT TakeOver: Rival. This was the fifth NXT special and the fourth under the TakeOver name. The other TakeOver specials were all instant classics (with matches like Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd, Charlotte vs. Natalya, and Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze). Unfortunately, this one wasn't as good. There were some good matches, and storylines furthered, but this show just wasn't as good as the others. There's no need to panic of course, as the ship will no doubt right itself in time. In the meantime, we're going to break down each match on the card and analyze everything. Let's get started. Pre-Show and Commentary: The pre-show panel featured Renee Young, Corey Graves, Jason Albert, and Byron Saxton. It's a shame Graves will never wrestle again, but he has settled nicely into his commentating role. As a former NXT wrestler, he is able to give good insight on the matches. Young was great as always (though she did sl...

I haven't done a Talking Points segment in a while, so I wanted to do one just to change things up. This is an article I've been meaning to do for a while, for a number of reasons. One: the Intercontinental Championship no longer means as much as it used to do. Remember the days of Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Triple H, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin? Those were the days when the title meant something. Now, even though it's the second-most prestigious title in sports entertainment, it really doesn't feel like it. The IC title was seen as a stepping stone to the World title picture, but those days have passed us by. Two: we don't see a lot of great reigns these days. Think about it: the last great WWE/WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign was CM Punk's 434 day reign from 2011-2013. So what makes a great title reign? It's hard to define exactly, but there are some defining characteristics. One, the title must be a long one. It's ha...