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The Road to WrestleMania is getting clearer by the day as we approach the final pay-per-view before The Show of Shows, WWE Fastlane. The event will host several big matches that could have major implications leading up to WrestleMania.
RAW's Sheamus and Drew McIntyre will have a hard-hitting rematch at the event after their previous bout ended in a no-contest. SmackDown's Apollo Crews will get another shot at Big E’s Intercontinental Championship. Fans can expect to see a more aggressive side to Big E at Fastlane as he’ll look to teach Crews a lesson.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair will try to get on the same page once again before WrestleMania. They will challenge Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Braun Strowman will have a match against Shane McMahon, while Alexa Bliss will compete with Randy Orton.
The biggest match on the card will be between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. The match could lead to some major changes taking place at WrestleMania.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at 5 things that must happen at WWE Fastlane.
#5 Shane McMahon must outsmart Braun Strowman at WWE Fastlane
WWE Fastlane will play host to another bizarre feud involving Shane McMahon. Shane has been known to take part in several rivalries for WWE that have come out of nowhere.
Kevin Owens defeated Shane in a Career vs Career match on the 20th Anniversary of SmackDown in October 2019. However, Shane returned to RAW a few weeks ago, getting himself into a rivalry with former Universal Champion, Braun Strowman.
Shane believes that Strowman isn’t too smart, and his statements haven't sat well with The Monster Among Men. On a recent episode of RAW, Shane put Strowman through the announce table and covered him with a bucket of slime.
Shane and Strowman will compete in a match at Fastlane, where The Monster Among Men will have the opportunity to get his revenge. However, WWE must allow Shane to outsmart Strowman during the match and win it to upset the former Universal Champion even more.
Shane is a daredevil who has never shied away from taking risks during his wrestling career. The result at Fastlane could allow Strowman to challenge the 51-year-old superstar to a match at WrestleMania with some extreme rules.
This would allow The Monster Among Men to defeat Shane convincingly at The Show of Shows and reclaim some of his lost value.
#4 Apollo Crews must defeat Big E for the Intercontinental Championship at WWE Fastlane
Apollo Crews had a great 2020 in WWE, winning the United States Championship on RAW in May. Crews has since been a prominent part of WWE programming and has slowly gotten better and better overall.
Crews was initially seen as Big E’s friend backstage on SmackDown. After failing to win the title from Big E a couple of times, Crews turned heel and attacked the powerhouse on SmackDown.
The two men are scheduled to meet in the ring at Fastlane. While Big E will try to defend his title at Fastlane, Crews will look to win it for the first time. Crews has shown a villainous side to himself in recent weeks, and that could help him during his match.
At Fastlane, WWE must allow Crews to win the Intercontinental Championship with the help of his guards. While Big E has had a good reign with the title and deserves to hold it for longer, WWE could look to make this storyline more interesting.
Crews must be allowed to win the title at Fastlane, and then deny Big E a rematch in the weeks to come. This could lead to Big E demanding a match at WrestleMania where he could regain the title from Crews after a good rivalry.
The angle will allow both superstars to have an intense and match at WrestleMania with a top title on the line.
#3 ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt must return at WWE Fastlane
WWE Fastlane will host a bizarre match between Alexa Bliss and Randy Orton. ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt has been missing from WWE TV since Orton set him on fire on TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2020.
While Wyatt has been away, Bliss has been doing a phenomenal job at carrying on ‘The Fiend’s rivalry with The Viper. However, the storyline is slowly becoming less entertaining as Wyatt has been missing from the picture for too long.
Many fans expected Wyatt to return during the Royal Rumble, and then again during Orton’s Elimination Chamber match. However, neither wound up happening. This has caused some fans to lose interest in the rivalry between The Viper and Wyatt.
The Goddess made things more interesting after she challenged Orton to a match at Fastlane. This contest opens up the doors to a return for The Fiend.
At Fastlane, WWE must allow The Fiend to return so that he can attack Orton and allow Bliss to win the match. This will help creative develop the storyline better en route to WrestleMania 37.
#5 Sasha Banks must abandon Bianca Belair at WWE Fastlane
Nia Jax and Shayna Baslzer will defend their WWE Women's Tag Team Championships against Bianca Belair and SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks at Fastlane.
Belair has been on top of her game in WWE for the past several months.
The EST had a good start to her main roster career on RAW and has been very prominent on SmackDown. Belair won the 2021 Royal Rumble match and will challenge Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
The match between Banks and Belair at WrestleMania is a dream-match for several fans, but creative have struggled to build this storyline well. Banks and Belair have had a decent relationship on SmackDown. Recently, they have started to show some differences in the ring.
At Fastlane, WWE will give them a chance to win the Women’s Tag Team Championships from Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler just before WrestleMania. The booking is rather odd, especially because the duo lost to Tamina and Natalya on a recent episode of SmackDown.
Keeping that in mind, WWE must create more friction between The Boss and The EST at Fastlane to build their rivalry. Banks must abandon Belair during the match and let The EST take the pinfall loss.
Belair has already taken the pin from Natalya and Tamina recently, and the loss won’t dent her value much more. Instead, it will give her all the more reason to defeat Banks at WrestleMania and take the SmackDown Women’s title away from her.
#1 Edge must cost Daniel Bryan the Universal Championship match at WWE Fastlane
The biggest match at WWE Fastlane is likely to be the one between Daniel Bryan and the Universal Champion, Roman Reigns. Reigns has enjoyed a memorable title reign that recently surpassed 200 days.
The Tribal Chief has been the perfect heel champion and shown a new side of himself to the WWE Universe.
2021 Royal Rumble winner Edge will likely be the special guest enforcer for this match. Edge has already booked his ticket to WrestleMania and has his eyes on the Universal Championship.
The Rated-R Superstar hasn’t been too happy with Bryan’s appearance in the Universal Championship picture in WWE, and he could look to take him out of the equation at Fastlane.
During the big match at Fastlane, Bryan should come close to victory before Edge sabotages him. Following this, The Planet’s Champion could lose his cool and attack Edge in retaliation.
The distraction would then allow Reigns to gain the upper hand and defeat Bryan to retain his Universal Championship at Fastlane. Not only will this finish create more differences between Edge and Bryan, but it will also allow Reigns to retain his title at Fastlane and defend it at WrestleMania 37.
