Seth Rollins Once Again Retains World Heavyweight Title Against Shinsuke Nakamura: Fastlane 2023
The WWE has seen an electrifying start to October at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 7th with the highly anticipated return of WWE's Pay-Per-View event: Fastlane. This year is the first Payback event since 2021 and the first WWE PPV in Indianapolis since Clash of Champions in 2016.
The main event once again featured Seth "Freakin" Rollins facing Shinsuke Nakamura in a thrilling Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The stakes couldn’t have been higher.
Meanwhile, Damage CTRL’s Iyo Sky defended her WWE Women's Championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair, while The Judgement Days' Finn Bálor and Señor Money in the Bank Damian Priest defended their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against the unlikely duo of Jey Uso and "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes.
The undercard also saw John Cena and LA Knight take on The Bloodlines Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa, and a battle between The Latino World Order (LWO) and Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits in a 3-on-3 match.
Fight 1: Jey Uso and “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes vs The Judgement Day (Damian Priest and Finn Bálor) for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
The Judgement Day’s grip on the WWE appears to be slipping as Bálor and Priest lost their tag team titles to the unlikely duo of Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso in their match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. Although the match looked even as it progressed things quickly went downhill when newcomer to the Judgement Day, JD McDonagh got involved, injuring the knee of Priest with the Señor Money in the Bank briefcase. This unexpected twist was quickly followed by a modified 1D to Bálor and a Cody Cutter to secure the win for Uso and Rhodes by pinfall. It looks like once again the Money in the Bank briefcase is causing more trouble than it may be worth.
Fight 2: Latino World Order (LWO) vs Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits
The LWO started the match with a handicap as Rey Mysterio’s mystery partner was absent, resulting in a 3 v 2 situation that unsurprisingly gave the Profits the upper hand. However, the suspense was broken as the mystery guest was finally revealed to be WWE star Carlito in his first appearance on WWE since May 2010. The return of the star changed the tide for the LWO, with Carlito taking out Montez Ford with a Backstabber to secure the victory for the LWO.
Fight 3: Asuka vs Charlotte Flair vs Iyo Sky for the WWE Women’s Championship - Triple Threat Match
The battle for the WWE Women’s Championship saw Asuka taking advantage of the no disqualification ruling of a triple threat match by breaking out her infamous mist in the first few minutes of the match, temporarily removing Flair from the contest. Asuka and Iyo Sky both went after Flair throughout the match before Asuka went after the defending champion. The match saw an interruption from Damage CTRL member Bayley, which distracted the referee from Asuka tapping out to Flair. This went on to allow Sky to pin Flair and retain the title. This outcome sparked heated debates among fans, as many believed that Flair should have won due to Asuka tapping out.
Fight 4: John Cena and LA Knight vs Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa
The fourth match of the night saw LA Knight highlighted with tag team partner John Cena taking most of the heat from The Bloodline through the match. Although Cena arguably carried most of the weight of the match, it was LA Knight with a BFT to Uso that secured the victory for the pair, defeating The Bloodline members by pinfall. The looming return of Tribal Chief Roman Reigns to Smackdown on Friday has left fans wondering about the future of The Bloodline.
Main Event: Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing Match
The main event once again saw the continuation of the feud between Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura for the World Heavyweight Championship, this time in an unforgiving last man standing match. The battle saw the action spill outside of the ring from the first bell as Nakamura sought to exploit Rollins' vulnerability - his previously injured spine.Nakamura unleashed a relentless onslaught, using various weapons such as kendo sticks, trash cans, and nunchucks to target Rollins' back. Despite Nakamura nearly making two ten-counts, Rollins found his second wind and regained control of the match.
The match continued to see an incredible back-and-forth between the two, with Rollins finally taking out Nakamura with a falcon arrow to retain the title. It is likely that this second consecutive win for Rollins will indicate the end of the feud between the two, but it leaves one big question - who will be the next challenger for the World Heavyweight Title?
