With Fastlane just days away and Wrestlemania looming, we are still no closer to knowing anything more than the main event will see Brock Lesnar take on Bill Goldberg in their 3rd (and hopefully final) 1 on 1 confrontation. The way things are playing out on TV at the moment we can provisionally pencil in a few more bouts and stipulations which will help to stack the card for what I can only assume, with the kick-off show included, will be a 7-hour affair. But will it be enough to satisfy the fans who watch year round who are looking for a payoff to the biggest story arcs of the year as well as appeal to those fair-weather fans who want to see some of their childhood heroes? Time will tell if every fan will be appeased, so today I decided to take a look into 5 aspects of Fastlane that will shape Wrestlemania.
5. Will we hear the gong during Roman vs Strowman?
Most of us expected John Cena and Undertaker to finally come face to face at Wrestlemania this year but with Roman eliminating the deadman from the Royal Rumble and Cena and Miz being on a one way road to a forgettable mixed tag match, Undertaker seems to be without an opponent. So this begs the question – will Undertaker show up this Sunday at Fastlane to exact his revenge on Roman Reigns? Personally, I don’t see Undertaker interfering while the match is on as I’m sure that Jericho will interfere in the main event and they wouldn’t want to overdo it with the same finishes to matches. I think it’s more likely that we see Undertaker on Raw, come out to confront Reigns and challenge him to a true test of might. Sadly this means that Braun Strowman could be lost in the shuffle and even though he’s been all over TV, I gotta think Vince still favours Reigns.
4. What Tag Team Division?
When it was initially rumoured last year that 3 integral members of The Bullet Club would be heading to Monday Night Raw I was excited for the prospect of a tag team resurgence in WWE with the arrival of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Sure, The New Day recently broke the record for longest title reign and The Revival have worked wonders down in NXT but as far as competitive, hard hitting, classic tag team bouts are concerned, Gallows and Anderson had the best chance of delivering on Raw. Unfortunately in the last year, and more specifically the last few weeks, they have been booked so poorly, first being bested two weeks in a row by Roman Reigns in a 1 on 2 situation and then being absolutely embarrassed this week by Enzo and Big Cass. Gallows and Anderson need to come out of Fastlane looking stronger than ever and they need the company to get behind them in a much bigger way if there’s any hope of restoring the prestige of tag team wrestling.
3. The Women are the ones to watch…
Arguably the best aspects of TV in WWE right now are the women talents and the stories they have been telling. The recent women’s revolution we has brought with it storylines and feuds that are not just able to rival the men’s division but are often better than what is being offered there. For proof tune into Smackdown each week where more than half the show features the women in competitive action. I expect Bayley to lose this Sunday to set up an epic rematch for Wrestlemania where not only the championship will be on the line but Charlotte’s incredible PPV streak too. And I’m OK with this, as long as Bayley comes out on top at Wrestlemania. Charlotte doesn’t need the streak anymore and every time there’s a match announced for the title on Raw I know that she will be losing. It’s time to have someone beat her to end that reign and that person is Bayley, and the place is Wrestlemania.
2. O Jericho, where art thou?
After being pulverised over and over in what was one of the saddest and yet best segments of Kevin Owens’ WWE career to date, Jericho has not been seen on TV. Is he out mending a broken heart, broken bones or both? Jericho, as saddened as he may be by him and his best friend’s recent break up, is still the United States Champion and without a match announced for Sunday I’d be willing to bet he will be champ come Wrestlemania. And who will be facing him? You might be asking this question if you’ve never watched wrestling before but to those of us who have ever seen any wrestling program play out, I think it is fairly clear that Jericho will be facing Kevin Owens come April 2nd. Which leads me to the main event.
1. Selling Wrestlemania on the names of the past, again
The resurgence of Bill Goldberg has been met with positive reviews from the fans so far. The way he came in and kicked Brock Lesnar’s ass was not only shocking but reminiscent of the Goldberg of old. So I think it’s fairly obvious and not too far a stretch at this stage to say that Goldberg will be defeating Kevin Owens this Sunday and carrying the Universal Title into Wrestlemania as a way to help boost buy rates. I have the same problem with this that I do every year Vince tries doing this whether it’s with The Rock, The Undertaker, Sting or Bill Goldberg. My problem is that the WWE creative team focus all their energy on re-building these old names up, they put the championships around their waists and then the following month they leave again and the loyal fans are left without a champion or are left with a champion who has been made to look like a total chump for the last 2 months at the hands of 50-year-old men who come and go around the same time every year. So expect to see Bill Goldberg take the title into Wrestlemania, expect to see Brock Lesnar capture the gold and then expect him to lose it shortly afterwards.
With all this being said I think there is potential for Fastlane to be a great show and there is definitely potential to begin the build to the Wrestlemania matches the right way. There are aspects of this Sunday’s show which I would consider to be a given, like the result of the Universal and Women’s Title matches but as we know, anything can happen in WWE and come Monday, the plans could be even murkier than they are now. Either way I’ll be watching eagerly and would love to see all of your predictions in the comments.
