WWE hits on all cylinders at Fastlane, now cruising towards WrestleMania
All along, Roman Reigns has been on the path to main event WrestleMania 32
Nothing changed that at WWE Fastlane on Sunday night, when Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose in a Triple Threat match and with it, earned a match against Triple H for the WWE championship on April 3at Dallas' AT&T Stadium in the biggest show of the year.
It was an awesome main event to cap off a fun show. The pace of the match was incredible from the opening bell with Lesnar destroying both of his opponents, hitting suplex after suplex before he was finally slowed by a nasty low blow.
The former Shield members decided to work together in taking out The Beast, powerbombing Lesnar through two announcer's tables at ringside. Even that wasn't enough as Lesnar came out of nowhere to German suplex both Reigns and Ambrose at the same time.
Lesnar locked a kimura on Reigns, who nearly tapped out before powering up to his feet. Ambrose then re-emerged, armed with a chair, and began bashing Lesnar and then Reigns.
Ambrose turned his back on Reigns for just a second, enough time for the Samoan to recover and hit a wicked spear for the pin.
Even though Reigns continues to be heavily booed by crowds everywhere, WWE is sticking with him. He's now back in the main event at WrestleMania and, unlike last year, he'll likely leave the show as the world champion.
WWE has been hell-bent on making Reigns a top star and nothing is changing that with WrestleMania set to serve as his coronation day, whether the most vocal of fans like it or not.
The rest of the lineup for WrestleMania is shaping up. Coming off the Fastlane main event, it makes sense for Lesnar and Ambrose to face one another.
It looks like Kevin Owens will square off against AJ Styles for the Intercontinental Championship which should be (pardon the pun) phenomenal. Owens alluded to the potential match on Twitter:
Hey dweebs…If AJ Styles ever comes anywhere near MY #ICTitle, I’ll take him out in less time than it took me to toss him out of the Rumble.?
— Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) February 22, 2016
There seemingly has to be one wild match with weapons. That could be Kalisto putting his United States championship on the line in a ladder match again multiple opponents, including Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and others.
Charlotte is on track to defend the Divas championship against former NXT rivals Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. As for the tag team titles, that looks to be The New Day against the League of Nations with maybe The Usos as well as The Dudley Boyz mixed in.
Add in a possible rematch featuring Kane, Big Show and Ryback along with a fourth partner against the Wyatt Family.
The wild card remains who The Undertaker will face. He was expected to go against John Cena in a dream match. That was before Cena had surgery for a shoulder injury. But Cena has been known to come back much quicker than expected from injuries and is working out like a mad man in hopes of a WrestleMania return. So don't totally count that match out just yet.
Here are some quick results from the rest of Fastlane:
Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio in a two out of three falls match
A fantastic match on the preshow with Kalisto retaining the United Stated Championship. Kalisto won the first fall after Del Rio was disqualified for hitting him with a chair. Del Rio then scored a pin just a few minutes later using his double foot stomp to the midsection. In the final fall, Kalisto avoided the foot stomp and rolled up Del Rio for the win.
Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch vs. Naomi and Tamina
The crowd was fired up for the action here in the show opener. Both Naomi and Tamina hit Banks with big moves, but couldn't get the victory. Instead, it was Banks and Lynch winning with a double submission with Banks putting the Bank Statement on Tamina and Lynch putting the Disarmer on Naomi.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler
Another awesome match between these two, who have great chemistry together. Owens avoided a superkick and quickly took advantage, hitting a pop-up powerbomb to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
Kane, Big Show and Ryback vs. Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman
A surprise with the Wyatt Family on the losing end in a match was much better than expected. Ryback got the crowd chanting "Feed Me More" as he slammed Harper over and over and then press slamming him over the top rope onto his teammates. Ryback ended the match with his Shellshock finisher.
Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
It wasn't the dream ending for Brie Bella, who came up short in trying to capture the Divas Championship for her husband Daniel Bryan, who recently retired due to injuries. Brie used a lot of Bryan's signature moves including "Yes" kicks and the "Yes" lock. She followed that with a single leg Boston crab, but Charlotte kicked her off and won with the Figure Eight. Solid match.
AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho
Another really good contest in the rubber match between these two. This was physical, innovative and even a bit scary with Styles nearly dropped on his head at one point. The Phenomenal One connected with his Styles Clash, but Jericho kicked out, which was strange to have happen already. Styles followed that up with the Calf Crusher and Y2J was forced to quit. Afterwards, Jericho teased attacking him but instead offered his hand as a sign of respect which Styles accepted.
R-Truth vs. Curtis Axel
A nothing match that was slapped together on the show. Goldust came to ringside to help Truth with the Social Outcasts out there. Instead, it backfired with Axel rolling up Truth for the win.
Brian Fritz can be reached at btrfritz@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and check out his website, www.BetweenTheRopes.com.
