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The final major stop on the road to WrestleMania is finished. We're just about four weeks removed from the Grandest Stage of Them All, and this has undoubtedly been one of the most exciting builds to a WrestleMania in years. That's right, years!
Fastlane was quite a great PPV, and we saw WrestleMania matches become official, WrestleMania matches teased, champions look strong, and some major contenders emerging. On the red brand's side of things, The Revival walked out still RAW Tag Team Champions, The Boss 'N' Hug Connection defeated Nia Jax & Tamina in their first title defense, Becky Lynch secured her WrestleMania main event spot in unusual fashion, while The Shield stood tall one last time.
With no PPVs left, there's going to be four straight weeks until WrestleMania, and the road is set to take a lot of twists and turns as we come to the conclusion of it. Here's what to expect from Monday Night RAW this week!
#5 Finn Balor puts the Intercontinental title on the line
Finn Balor didn't have an Intercontinental Championship match for some reason, but WWE has ensured to right that wrong by having him defend the title on the RAW after Fastlane.
He defends against Bobby Lashley, who has had a lot of tension with his hype man Lio Rush of late. Despite this, we've seen that not many superstars are able to hold on to the Intercontinental title for long.
With such stiff competition, Balor's few-week-long title reign could already be in serious jeopardy.
Could we see an unexpected title change with Bobby Lashley becoming a 2-time Intercontinental Champion?
There's a very high chance that the winner of this match will walk into WrestleMania defending the Intercontinental Championship. Fans will hope that it's Balor who gets that honor.
#4 What are the WrestleMania implications for the Women's Tag Team titles?
Sasha Banks and Bayley had a tense first defense of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, defeating the powerhouse team of Tamina and Nia Jax to retain the Women's tag team titles.
After the match, Nia Jax and Tamina weren't done with the champions, disposing them over the announcer's table. WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix was a guest commentator for the match. She had a confrontation with Tamina as well, which ended with her elbowing the Snuka family member.
Nia Jax then immediately bulldozed her from behind, and Natalya had to come to save her former tag team partner and best friend. Despite losing, Nia Jax and Tamina took care of her too, proving that they're still not out of the RAW tag team title picture.
From the look of things, it seems like WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix will be returning to the ring, reuniting the Divas of Doom. It seems like we could have a three-way dance at WrestleMania!
#3 What's next now that The Shield is finished?
Fastlane was advertised as The last-ever Shield reunion, and from the look of how things went, it seems like it truly is the end of the Hounds of Justice. We've seen on and off reunions, but now, with Dean Ambrose set to depart WWE after WrestleMania, we may truly be done.
It's a shame and an end of an era because there's never been a faction as dominant as The Shield. Together and as singles stars, they proved to be extremely valuable assets to the company. However, Ambrose is moving on and that's a given.
It's now time to see what lies ahead of them after their final reunion. Seth Rollins has a big Universal title match at WrestleMania, while we're not yet sure what's in store for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.
Is it truly the end of The Shield? Will Ambrose have something to say?
#2 What chaos will the RAW Women's title bring this week?
The RAW Women's Championship picture has been nothing short of bizarre for the last few weeks. Ronda Rousey revealed her true side to the WWE Universe the week of Fastlane, removing any semblance of the woman who would walk to the ring high-fiving fans.
It seems like the pressure of WrestleMania season is really getting to her, and she made the most bizarre of decisions when she purposely disqualified Charlotte Flair, allowing Becky Lynch to confirm her addition to the RAW Women's Championship match at WrestleMania.
Now, you'd think that she would want a singles match with Charlotte Flair to increase her chances, but she has been very adamant about wanting Becky Lynch in the picture too. We're going to find out what the fallout of the Fastlane match is, and it's going to be interesting to see what the RAW Women's Champion has to say about it.
#1 Batista returns for a face-to-face with Triple H
Last week, we expected Batista to return, but he refused to do so, not because he had any obligations, nor because he was scared of Triple H - he just didn't feel that Philadelphia was deserving of his presence.
It's going to be interesting to see Batista enter the fray again, this time, he goes man-to-man with Triple H and will explain why he attacked Ric Flair and why he wants Triple H's attention so bad.
It's a rivalry that concluded over 14 years ago. Batista was the one who defeated Triple H decisively match after match, and later went on to have a successful Hollywood career (which continues to grow by the day).
So why does The Animal want The Game's attention? We're finally going to find out. Will Batista pull off some kind of twisted, manipulative tactics to try and get inside Triple H's head?
