We arrived at the final stop on the road to WrestleMania – an extravaganza that will take place over two nights in April – with WWE Fastlane in the spotlight on Sunday night. As much as we all want to wait for the biggest show of the year, we must first focus on the loaded action that will take place at WWE Fastlane on Sunday night inside the state-of-the-art ThunderDome.
In the likely main event of the evening, Roman Reigns will continue his dominant race as a world champion when facing Daniel Bryan. Edge has already declared his intention to fight for the title at WrestleMania, a choice he made after winning the Royal Rumble. Edge may also be involved in the fight as a special executor if he defeats Jey Uso in Friday’s episode of SmackDown. If Uso wins, he will take over, tilting the scales further in favor of Reigns.
Fastlane descends on Sunday, March 21 from the ThunderDome inside the Tropicana camp in St. Petersburg, Florida. The event will begin at 7:00 pm Brasília time, after an initial one-hour show that starts at 6:00 pm.
Let’s take a look at how our experts believe Fastlane will do.
2021 WWE Fastlane Predictions
United States Championship: Riddle (c) vs. Mustafa Ali
Riddle is simply not losing the title now, and especially against Ali. The main story of Ali is his problems with members of the RETRIBUTION faction failing him, with Riddle simply a representation of those failures. This fight seems to be linked to the show after Ali has already missed a shot at the Raw title, with no real reason for a rematch. Choice: Riddle keeps the title – Adam Silverstein and Brent Brookhouse
Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
With Rollins clearly scheduled to fight Cesaro at WrestleMania – although the fight has not yet been announced – it would make little sense for him to lose to Nakamura here. There may be a scenario in which Cesaro interferes and forces a disqualification, but if he reaches a clean finish, Rollins is the one who needs his profile built after months of lost action during paternity leave. Choice: Seth Rollins wins – Silverstein and Brookhouse
Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton
WWE is not going anywhere near Bliss and Orton having a “real match”. This is probably nothing more than an elaborate setup for The Fiend to make a dramatic comeback, creating an Orton vs. Fighter fight. Fiend for WrestleMania. With that in mind, there is no need to choose a winner here, as the match is unlikely to have any kind of real finish. – Brookhouse and Silverstein
Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon
My hope is that this match will be put on Fastlane instead of WrestleMania because WWE realized that fans were not interested in seeing him after a terrible segment two weeks ago. However, it seems more likely that this is a prelude to a game of ‘Mania, setting it up even more in the plot. So, despite not knowing exactly how it will happen, the expectation must be a disqualification or McMahon finding a way to trick Strowman and win the victory. Choice: Shane McMahon wins – Silverstein and Brookhouse
Intercontinental Championship: Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews
This is the only match on the card where the result is actually in the air. Theoretically, Crews lost to Big E many times to get another L here, especially considering his character remixed and what appears to be a big push coming his way. However, Big E was champion less than three months ago, and there is no big reason to take his title before the biggest event of the year without an event planned to advance. Changing the title to Crews and back to Big E just three weeks later at WrestleMania seems like an unnecessary effort, so let’s stick with the chalk here. Choice: Big E keeps the title – Silverstein
It seems a little premature to take the Big E belt, but Crews’ transformation seems to require victory. He lost several times before taking a complete step towards becoming a heel, so if a complete overhaul does not lead to victory, how effective was the change? With two nights to fill WrestleMania, it would be easy to put the belt on Crews before moving it back to Big E in April, establishing that Crews’ character change was significant. Choice: Apollo Crews wins the title – Brookhouse
Women’s Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair
The WWE too often involves its individual female champions in the tag team title image, and here we are, again, not just with two WrestleMania fighters joining together unnecessarily, but doing so for the second month in a row. . There is absolutely no reason to change the titles here, and using a tag team defeat as a feud kick-starter for Banks and Belair is as unnecessary as the match taking place in the first place. There are many other teams that should go after the titles at WrestleMania, and there is no reason to score the champion twice. Choice: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler keep the titles – Brookhouse & Silverstein
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (without restrictions)
Losing McIntyre here just doesn’t make sense. Sheamus is in one of the best races of his career in terms of performances in the ring and should have been in the WWE title shot, but McIntyre is already established as Bobby Lashley’s challenger at WrestleMania. This means that he must not lose here. The fight may end in another one in the contest, forcing a Sheamus vs. Brawl fight. McIntyre on the first night of WrestleMania with the winner receiving Lashley on the second night – that’s just a theory. If anyone raises his hand at Fastlane, it’s McIntyre. Choice: Drew McIntyre wins – Brookhouse & Silverstein
Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Even if WWE decides to add Bryan to the WrestleMania fight between Reigns and Edge, it would be shocking if they decided to take the title from a dominant heel champion by going to the biggest event of the year. If Edge or Bryan take the title from Reigns, it will be done in front of a live crowd to create a “WrestleMania Moment”. The action must be hot and Bryan probably looks like he’s about to win the belt, but between Reigns’ camp and a special enforcer (Edge or Usage), there are enough ways for Bryan to end up leading to defeat. Choice: Roman Reigns keeps the title – Brookhouse & Silverstein