WWE News: Last-Minute Change & Botched Finish To Match At ‘WWE Fastlane’
In the short-term, WWE Fastlane may be remembered for the questionable decision-making by Vince McMahon and his top WWE officials as far as several outcomes were concerned. Long-term, the show may only serve as a flat footnote during the build to WrestleMania 33, though Goldberg did become the new WWE Universal Champion. It’s the first time since December of 2003 that he’s held a WWE title.
Some members of the WWE Universe expected a major surprise Sunday night, whether that came in the form of an appearance by either Finn Balor, the Undertaker, or Kurt Angle. Chris Jericho was the only unadvertised star to show up, as his distraction cost Kevin Owens his championship, paving the way for Goldberg.
As the Inquisitr detailed earlier on Monday, odds makers had three WWE Fastlane matches completely wrong. This was due to the fact that the smart money never came in, which generally causes the odds to change drastically one way or the other. If the proper superstar is listed as the favorite going into the event, his or her odds will be further solidified. If they’re the underdog, there’s a major shift to the other side.
Nia Jax, Braun Strowman, and Charlotte were all heavy favorites heading into WWE Fastlane, but those odds remained consistent up until the show started. No shift meant the smart money was never placed which had a lot of bettors confused. Of those three, Nia was listed as the heaviest favorite. You would have had to put up $1,700 in order to win $100 and most sites don’t even allow that much to be wagered on WWE matches.
Part of the reason, it seems, that the odds on the match between Nia and Sasha Banks never changed were because the final decision on who would go over wasn’t made until the last minute, according to a recent report. Backstage, WWE officials were always planning on a Nia Jax victory, but Vince McMahon changed his mind late Sunday night, which isn’t entirely all that uncommon.
In addition, Sasha also botched the finish to their match as well. If you recall, Sasha used a bridge in her pinning combination that was the undoing of Nia Jax. However, it’s being said that she was supposed to grab the ropes as she applied the bridge, but she clearly did not. Sasha grabbing the ropes was scripted by WWE officials to protect Nia and to, perhaps, plant another seed for Sasha’s eventual heel turn, but neither were successful.
Sasha did appear later on in the WWE Fastlane show when she assisted Bayley in the RAW Women’s Championship match against Charlotte. Charlotte, too, was a big favorite, according to the oddsmakers, but ended up losing. As a result, she had her undefeated streak on pay-per-views snapped.
The plan remains for the RAW Women’s Championship to be defended in a fatal four way between Bayley, Charlotte, Sasha, and Nia at WrestleMania. However, before Sunday, it was believed that Charlotte would regain her title and keep her streak intact until Bayley would break it and win the title in a much more emotional setting that is WWE’s grand stage. Now, there’s a belief that Bayley could lose the championship in Orlando only to recapture it front of her hometown crowd in San Jose weeks later at WWE Payback.
If she is to drop the belt at WrestleMania, it’s unclear who would emerge as the new champ. Long-term, the plan is for Sasha’s heel turn to be complete in order to set up a match between The Boss and Bayley at WWE SummerSlam. The site of this year’s event, Brooklyn, would be the same venue where the two women put on a classic bout for NXT a month after Stephanie McMahon ushered in the Divas Revolution.
[Featured Image by WWE]
