DVD Preview: WWE Double Feature: Elimination Chamber 2017 & Fast Lane 2017

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

Featuring not one but two Pay-Per-View events from the Road to WrestleMania, WWE Home Video presents over 6 hours of WWE action, Elimination Chamber 2017 and Fast Lane 2017 Double Feature!

WWE Champion John Cena hopes to continue his championship reign against AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, The Miz and Bray Wyatt inside the punishing structure known as the Elimination Chamber! “The Viper” Randy Orton continues his Road to WrestleMania as he takes on Luke Harper! And the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship is on the line as Alexa Bliss takes on Naomi. Who will escape with their hand raised at Elimination Chamber?

The Superstars of Raw get in the Fast Lane on the Road to WrestleMania! For the first time ever, Universal Champion Kevin Owens meets Goldberg in the main event of WWE Fast Lane! Bayley looks to make her first title defence against “The Queen of Pay-Per- Views” Charlotte Flair in a rematch for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship. “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman looks to extend his impressive undefeated streak against Roman Reigns. Plus much more from your favourite Raw Superstars!

Synopsis:

Match Highlights:

Elimination Chamber 2017

WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match
John Cena (Champion) vs. AJ Styles vs. Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin

Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match
Alexa Bliss (Champion) vs. Naomi

Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James

Fast Lane 2017

Universal Championship Match
Kevin Owens (Champion) vs. Goldberg

Raw Women’s Championship Match
Bayley (Champion) vs. Charlotte Flair

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn

Plus more action and DVD extras!

We like it because:

We’re six months into WWE’s all-new brand split and both Raw and SmackDown Live are firing on all cylinders. It’s never been more evident than in these two spectacular Pay-Per-View events – each brand’s last respective stop on the Road to WrestleMania and now brought together in one awesome double-feature DVD!

Elimination Chamber lives up to the event’s brutal history with a hard-hitting main event inside the Chamber itself. Most exciting is the prospect of seeing AJ Styles inside the Chamber for the very first time. True to form, he delivers a phenomenal performance against SmackDown’s top stars – and the end of the match will have you following the buzzards with a brand new WWE Champion!

There’s also exciting action from Randy Orton, American Alpha and Becky Lynch – all looking to prove that when it comes to stunning in-ring action, SmackDown Live can’t be beaten!

Not to be outdone, Raw fired back with the just-as-incredible Fast Lane! Kevin Owens' championship defence against Goldberg will go down as one of the most shocking and controversial matches on Pay-Per-View, while Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman put on a powerhouse display as they battle for dominance on the red brand!

Charlotte Flair and Bayley also pull out all the stops, alongside top performances from Samoa Joe, Sami Zayn, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Enzo and Cass, Neville and Jack Gallagher!

Don’t miss out on this first ever Raw/SmackDown Live double-feature!

WWE Double Feature: Elimination Chamber 2017 & Fast Lane 2017 will officially be released on DVD on Monday May 1 2017.

For more information, click here.

Fast Lane 2016

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 181 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: April 25 2016

Watching Fast Lane 2016 again on DVD, it feels like WWE has changed a lot since this card was held. Indeed, from new NXT call-ups to a shift in face/heel alignments to a general change in the flavour of the show, it feels like a lot more than a few months have passed since Fast Lane was held. Mind you, revisiting the card here, it's easy to see why: while the action is largely commendable, the event doesn't do much to boost anticipation for WrestleMania 32, nor is it a particularly memorable show in its own right.

After a decent opener pitting Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch against Naomi and Tamina, we get a really good Kevin Owens-Dolph Ziggler clash, albeit one which isn't much different from any other match involving either man. After a forgettable six-man tag that pits Big Show, Kane and Ryback against The Wyatt Family (which has a baffling result, incidentally), we see Brie Bella attempt to defeat Charlotte for the Divas Championship in the wake of Daniel Bryan's retirement. To be fair, it's one of Brie's better matches, but the gulf in class between the Bella-era "Diva" and the new, fresh women with previous experience on NXT is like night and day.

AJ Styles against Chris Jericho is another very good effort between the two veterans (even though this was AJ's first singles match on a WWE PPV), and it features a world-class sell-job by Jericho at the end, despite the close-call earlier on in the match which almost saw AJ dropped on his head in a set-up for the Walls Of Jericho. The Cutting Edge Peep Show segment involving Edge, Christian, The New Day and The League Of Nations starts well but soon flounders and becomes confusing more than anything as it concludes (it also has a couple of one-liners which are strange to hear on a WWE show considering the circumstances that saw Hulk Hogan fired from WWE in July 2015). An impromptu Curtis Axel vs. R-Truth match is pure filler, and the three-way main event between Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar is an enjoyable brawl, but one which has a very predictable outcome (the WM 32 WWE Title shot was at stake, after all), and an outcome which is greeted very negatively at that. Included is the Kick-Off Show match, a fun Two Out Of Three Falls showdown for the United States Title between Kalisto and Alberto Del Rio, which unfortunately officially marked the career drop-off for ADR.

The February PPV is often a tough sell due to the looming shadow of WrestleMania, and the DVD release of this particular Fast Lane card is an even tougher sell because, unlike the 2015 show which helped to promote around half-a-dozen Mania matches, this show is less successful at gearing fans up for Mania. Shane McMahon's shock return the next night on Raw (not included on this DVD) was the real trigger to get fans excited for the April 3 mega-show, and so you are probably best saving your money to buy the WM 32 DVD. There are some good matches here, but nothing that you won't have already seen before.

Overall Rating: 5/10 - Average

Fast Lane 2015

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 188 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: May 4 2015

The February PPV event is rarely the highlight of the year in WWE, with a greater focus on promoting WrestleMania than putting on a classic show in its own right. That is the case once again when reliving Fast Lane on DVD: there are some enjoyable matches and important angles, but they are less effective upon second viewing than they were in the time (and matters aren't helped by a crowd which seems to be half-asleep).

The opening six-man tag, pitting Ryback, Erick Rowan and Dolph Ziggler against Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane, is okay but nothing out of the ordinary, and is more notable for post-match capers. Stardust vs. Goldust simply doesn't get going, and the botched finish (although the error was made by the referee, not the wrestlers themselves) and the aforementioned disinterested audience make the match seem worse than it actually is. On the bright side, The Usos vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro is a really good doubles encounter, and the angle between Triple H and Sting effectively sets up The Stinger's first WWE bout against HHH at WM 31.

Nikki Bella vs. Paige is standard stuff, as is Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose, which also has a disappointing outcome to make things worse. An angle involving Bray Wyatt teasing a return for The Undertaker at least draws a loud crowd reaction, and Rusev vs. John Cena is a good match which makes the Bulgarian Brute look as strong as he feasibly could against Cena. Lastly, Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan put on a strong main event with the WM 31 WWE Title shot at stake, even if it ultimately failed in its true, long-term goal to reverse the growing anti-Reigns brigade. There are no extra matches from the preview show, since an actual match was replaced by Paul Heyman appearing on Miz TV, which we get here as a bonus feature.

To appreciate Fast Lane, you really have to watch WrestleMania 31 immediately afterwards, since almost everything on this card is designed to promote Mania - and WM was far better than this show. It is far from a terrible card, and none of the matches provoked the same anger and bewilderment that the Royal Rumble match did, but Fast Lane is likely to do little more than increase your DVD collection rather than being a release that you absolutely need to purchase.

Overall Rating: 6/10 - Reasonable