The final stop on what has been a rocky and somewhat odd yet strangely exciting road to WrestleMANia takes us to Cleveland, Ohio for Fastlane. In the past we have left this event knowing our big MANia match, last year we had AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura confirmed and we all rejoiced, before that we’ve had Roman Reigns vs Triple H and then before that we had Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar 1 confirmed and people were… less pleased… so lets see what this years edition serves us, and lets see if we’re taken on many more strange turns (*SPOILER ALERT* we more than likely will be)…
KICK OFF SHOW: Andrade with Zelina Vega V Rey Mysterio
For the gazillionth time these two will face one another. But every single time it has been spectacular so who the heck cares?! Result wise it probably doesn’t matter either long term but if you want a fun, action-packed pre show match then this will be exactly it.
Prediction: Rey Mysterio wins
Raw Tag Team Championship: Bobby Roode & Chad Gable V Aleister Black & Ricochet V ‘The Revival’ (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) (C)
Surprised this isn’t a kick off show match, not because of those involved more down to how the Raw tag division has been positioned as firmly in the mid card of the show. It’s a shame Ricochet and Black have their PPV debut in this rather than big singles matches but it is what it is. Given they’ve shot angles for them both on NXT TV already, and with the very recent news and uncertainty around the NXT Championship I’d say it unlikely there’ll be a title change here as I certainly don’t see Roode & Gable winning the belts back. FTR.
Prediction: The Revival retain
Smackdown Tag Team Championship: Shane McMahon & The Miz V ‘The Usos’ (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) (C)
In short (because as funny as Shane and Miz may be and as much as I am SLIGHTLY warming to them as an act I’m still not totally on board with it) I think this match will be similar to their previous encounter, and I think The Usos will win, and I think either here or on Smackdown one of Miz or Shane is going to turn and set up a match for WrestleMANia. Seems inevitable sure, but it’s surely the whole point right? They’ve already lost the titles so at this stage I can’t see anything else. Would be cool if we could have The Usos take them to MANia and maybe lose them to Xavier Woods and Big E of The New Day and we have a New Day party with Kofi Kingston… busy…???
Prediction: The Usos retain
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Mandy Rose V Asuka (C)
I’m actually not as horrified by this as you may expect. Their match on Smackdown the other week wasn’t actually too bad, and they’ve built Mandy up a little. Yes we all want Asuka to be doing so much more, but with the eyes of the world on the Raw Women’s Championship right now, and the other two top female performers of the blue brand switching their goals to the female prize of the red brand, it’s tricky to give Asuka a big spot right now. Lets juts be happy she is a champion, and lets hope she wins here, and then at MANia…. who knows… I’ve seen what MAY be on the cards and… well…
Prediction: Asuka retains
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax & Tamina V ‘The Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection’ (Sasha Banks & Bayley) (C)
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WWE DO NOT HAVE NIA AND TAMINA WIN THESE TITLES!!!! DO NOT TAKE THEM OFF BAYLEY AND SASHA NOW!!!! MANia you can have any form of huge match you want Bayley & Sasha to have: The Bellas, Trish and Lita, whatever you want, but I see no logical reasoning as to why you’d book anything else but for the champions to retain here. Which inevitably makes me fear Nia and Tamina will win… I BEG YOU WWE DON’T DO IT!!!!
Prediction: Bayley & Sasha retain
WWE Championship: Kevin Owens V ‘The New’ Daniel Bryan (C) with Rowan
Erm… OK then. What a dream match on the face of it! People are pissed wondering where Kofi is of course, the same people who are pissed that Becky lynch is out of the MANia main event. I tell you people to be patient. It’ll happen trust me. This is a ROAD to MANia, of all years this one isn’t straightforward but that’s all part of the story. I feel for Owens in that he’s in this spot, but I presume it’ll factor in to an inevitable heel turn soon, and hey it’s not like we are going to get anything aside form a great match between Owens and Bryan. Kofi’s time will come, for now lets just enjoy what should be a pretty great WWE Championship match.
Prediction: Bryan retains
Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley with Lio Rush & Drew McIntyre V ‘The Shield’ (Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose)
So… they are back! Is Dean still going? Who knows! But THE SHIELD are having a match again, so lets just rejoice at that. They have to win right? I can’t see anything else, MAYBE you could pin Dean but I just can’t see Roman or Seth losing anytime soon so by default I can’t see The Shield losing here. It’s really interesting to see what the heels in this match do going forward to MANia, and we don’t have a clear direction of what they do with Dean and Roman. MAYBE they do a Dean turn here, and then Roman V Dean at MANia? Roman gets a big singles win, Dean does a job on his way out? I really don’t know but I just can’t see The Shield losing…
Prediction: The Shield win
Charlotte Flair V Becky Lynch (If Becky Lynch wins she is added to the Raw Women’s Championship match at WrestleMANia)
So they are doing it this way then huh… Ronda is a heel shooter, Charlotte is a heel too, Becky is the woMAN of the people… Cool! So Becky has to win here right? Have Charlotte work over Lynch’s various injuries for the whole match and Lynch somehow fights enough to get a win? Or Ronda comes in and somehow gets Charlotte DQ’d? I don’t know how but the plan for so long now had been the three way, so expect it to be sorted here or at very latest the next night on Raw.
Prediction: Becky Lynch wins
Elimination Chamber was an indifferent show with many ups and downs. I feel Fastlane has potential to be better. But of course with that comes the risk they book weird stuff, and lately weird stuff has become the normality in WWE so who on earth knows… fingers crossed…
Josh.
NobodyisReady.com 