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We reached the last stop on the road to WrestleMania – an extravaganza that will take place over two nights in April – with WWE Fastlane taking center stage on Sunday night. As much as we all want to look ahead to the biggest show of the year, first we need to focus on the busy action taking place at WWE Fastlane on Sunday night in the state-of-the-art ThunderDome.
In the likely main event of the night, Roman Reigns will be set to continue his dominant run as the Universal Champion when he takes on Daniel Bryan. Edge has previously declared his intention to fight for the title at WrestleMania, a choice he was able to make after winning the Royal Rumble. Edge could also be involved in the match as a special executor if he defeated Jey Uso on Friday’s episode of SmackDown. If Uso wins, he’ll claim the role, tipping the scales even more in Reigns’ favor.
Fastlane descends on Sunday March 21 from the ThunderDome in St. Petersburg, in Tropicana Field in Florida. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. ET after a one-hour show that kicks off at 6 p.m.
Let’s take a look at how our experts think Fastlane will play out.
WWE Fastlane 2021 Predictions
United States Championship: Riddle (c) vs. Mustafa Ali
Riddle just isn’t losing the title just yet, especially not against Ali. Ali’s main story is his issues with the failing RETRIBUTION faction members, with Riddle simply a portrayal of those failures. This match feels linked to the series after Ali already lost a title shot on Raw 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 that match has yet to be announced – it wouldn’t make much sense for him to lose to Nakamura here. There could perhaps be a scenario where Cesaro interferes and forces a disqualification, but if he gets to a clean finish, Rollins is the one who needs his profile built after months of missed action while on paternity leave. . Pick: 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 spectacular comeback, setting up an Orton vs Fiend match for WrestleMania. With that in mind, there’s no need to pick a winner here as the match is unlikely to have any sort of real ending. – Brookhouse and Silverstein
Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon
I hope this match was put on Fastlane instead of WrestleMania because WWE realized fans weren’t interested in seeing it after a terrible segment two weeks ago. However, it seems more likely that it will be a prelude to a “ Mania ” match, putting it more in place in the storyline. Therefore, while he’s not sure exactly how it will turn out, the wait should be either a disqualification or McMahon finding a way to outsmart Strowman and secure the victory. Pick: Shane McMahon wins – Silverstein and Brookhouse
Intercontinental Championship: Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews
This is the only game on the map where the result is really pending. Theoretically, Crews has lost too many times to Big E to take another L here, especially given his remixed character and what looks like a big push ahead. However, Big E has been the champion for less than three months, and there’s no good reason to take the title away from him before the biggest event of the year without a main event planned. Passing the title over to Crews and returning to Big E three weeks later at WrestleMania seems like a wasted effort, so let’s stick with the chalk here. Pick: Big E retains title – Silverstein
It seems a bit premature to take Big E’s belt off, but Crews’ transformation feels like it demands a victory. He lost several times before taking a full step to become a heel, so if a complete overhaul didn’t get him a win, how effective was the move? With two nights to complete for WrestleMania, it would be easy enough to put the belt on Crews before bringing it back to Big E in April, establishing that Crews’ character change was significant. Pick: Apollo Crews wins title – Brookhouse
Women’s team championship: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) against Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair
WWE has its women’s singles champions featured far too often in the tag team title image, and we’re once again not only with two WrestleMania fighters teaming up unnecessarily, but doing so for the second month in a row. There’s absolutely no reason to change the titles here, and using a tag team loss as a kick-start for Banks and Belair is as pointless as the game going on in the first place. There are plenty of other teams that should be aiming for the titles at WrestleMania, and there’s no reason to book the champion twice. Pick: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler retain titles – Brookhouse and Silverstein
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (No Take Prohibited)
McIntyre losing here just doesn’t make sense. Sheamus is on one of the best races of his career in terms of in-ring performance and should be in the WWE title image, but McIntyre is already established as Bobby Lashley’s challenger at WrestleMania. That means he shouldn’t suffer a loss here. The match could end with another without a challenge, forcing a Sheamus vs McIntyre match on the first night of WrestleMania with the winner getting Lashley on night two – that’s just a theory. If anyone raises their hand to Fastlane, it’s McIntyre. Pick: Drew McIntyre wins – Brookhouse and Silverstein
Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) against Daniel Bryan
Even if WWE decides to add Bryan to the WrestleMania match between Reigns and Edge, it would be shocking if they chose to strip the title of a dominant heel champion for the biggest event of the year. If Edge or Bryan withdraws the title from Reigns, it will be done in front of a live crowd to create a “WrestleMania Moment”. The action should be hot and Bryan will likely look close to winning the belt, but between Reigns’ camp and a Special Executor (Edge or Uso), there is enough room for Bryan to end up taking the loss. Pick: Roman Reigns retains title – Brookhouse and Silverstein
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