WWE Fastlane 2019 Preview & Predictions
The fifth FastLane show in WWE history takes place at the Q Arena in Cleveland on Sunday for the second time and is Ohio's third time hosting FastLane. This show is the last big pay per view show before WrestleMania and has delivered some fantastic matches, storyline twists, and returns in its short history. A lot of twists and turns happened already to finally get us to the card for the show. The preview below breaks down how we got to where we are today and predicts who will win based on story developments and news.
Kickoff Show
The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev
This match was announced Friday morning, coinciding with the release of the video above. Nakamura and Rusev are a tag team now and WWE is going to run with this pair for a bit. Both of these men have achieved singles gold in WWE and have had runs in all aspects of the company with the exception of the tag division. As a pair, they are 1-1 after losing to Black & Ricochet but beating Gallows & Anderson. Woods & E have taken a back seat to #KofiMania, but they don't seem to mind. The New Day has accomplished everything a tag team can accomplish in WWE and they may be looking to have more individual achievements sooner than later. This combination has never faced each other and the match has no build, making this match very difficult to predict. Logic dictates that the team that has been together longer and achieved tag team gold together should win this match, but WWE's logic has been out the window for a while now.
WINNERS:
Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev via pinfall
Kickoff Show
Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade with Zelina Vega
Rey Mysterio & Andrade have put on jaw-dropping matches each time they've faced one another. Their first clash on the January 15th episode of SmackDown (highlighted in the clip above) had Andrade getting the win over the veteran Mysterio and got the attention of Dave Meltzer who gave it a 4.25 star rating on his scale. The match garnered so much buzz on the internet that they got a rematch the next week on SmackDown with a 2 out of 3 falls stipulation added to it. The men delivered but the match ended prematurely when Samoa Joe attacked both competitors. This match easily could be a WrestleMania match and steal the show amongst the greatest Superstars WWE has to offer, but we're getting it on the kickoff show for FastLane. Tune in and watch this match. This may be the best match of the night on a great card. Zelina Vega will likely be the x-factor that puts Andrade over in this match. Hopefully this isn't the end of the feud between these luchadors who have match of the year potential every time they lock up.
WINNER:
Andrade via pinfall
SmackDown Women's Title Match
Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose
Asuka beat Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women's Championship in a tremendous brawl at TLC and subsequently defeated Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble via submission. After starting 2019 as the most dominant female Superstar not named Ronda Rousey, Asuka has appeared on television once since the Royal Rumble. In that one appearance: she lost a non-title match to Mandy Rose. Mandy Rose has been opening eyes in the WWE Universe with an impressive showing at Elimination Chamber cleaning house with Sonya Deville and she squashed Naomi on SmackDown this past week on SmackDown. Asuka surprised Rose & Sonya Deville as they taunted Naomi while walking back up the stage. As impressive as Mandy Rose has been, she's just not ready for Asuka. But who is? Is the enigmatic Lacey Evans going to try to challenge the Empress of Tomorrow at WrestleMania?
WINNER:
Asuka via submission
WWE Women's Tag Team Titles Match
Sasha Banks & Bayley (c) vs. Nia Jax & Tamina
After winning the new Women's Tag Team Championships, Bayley and Sasha have taken the titles around WWE including appearing on NXT to announce that they will take on all comers. Nia Jax & Tamina are the first challengers for the new champs. Nobody is new here and we know what to expect from these teams. Tamina picked up a rare victory over Sasha this past week on RAW with the help of Nia Jax. But on the February 25th episode of RAW, Bayley was finally able to pick up a convincing win against Nia Jax. These ladies all work well together and look for more tandem moves and teamwork from Sasha and Bayley as they establish themselves as a tag team. Tag team wrestling seems to be making a comeback in the company at the moment, hopefully this movement continues and as we see this new women's tag division grow.
WINNERS:
Sasha Banks & Bayley via submission
SmackDown Tag Team Titles Match
The Usos (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon
After losing the tag titles to The Usos at Elimination Chamber, The Miz & Shane McMahon have seemingly gotten back on the same page. This past week on SmackDown, Shane was able to fend off Jimmy Uso so that The Miz could get a clean win over Jey Uso. The Miz & Shane have even more motivation for victory at FastLane because it takes place in The Miz's hometown of Cleveland and The Miz's father will be sitting ringside. As you can see in the promo video posted above, The Miz's emotions are running super high. In spite of their recent success, Shane will embarrass The Miz in front of his father in Cleveland and they will lose to The Usos again. Shane and Miz are on a collision course for WrestleMania 35. This matchup could be very good, especially for The Miz. The Usos have been one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling for the past 6 years, delivering great matches with The Bar, The New Day, American Alpha, The Wyatt Family (The Bludgeon Brothers), and just about anyone they face. It's hard to argue against them being the leaders of SmackDown's tag team division and they should be carrying those titles as they enter WrestleMania 35.
WINNER:
The Usos via pinfall
Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch
If Lynch wins, she's added to the WrestleMania 35 match with Flair and RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey to make it a Triple Threat. Lynch is "done" if she loses.
Ronda Rousey laid down her RAW Women's Championship in protest of Stephanie McMahon having Becky Lynch arrested on the February 25th episode of RAW. Stephanie announced this past week on RAW that all charges against Becky have been dropped and Ronda Rousey is stripped of her title. Ronda showed up immediately after this announcement and demanded her title back. Stephanie McMahon obliged. She then said that if Lynch wins at FastLane, she's added to the WrestleMania 35 match with Flair and Ronda Rousey to make it a Triple Threat for the RAW Women's Championship and Lynch is "done" if she loses. This Triple Threat at WrestleMania has felt more inevitable than death. The overbooking with injuries, suspensions, deus ex McMahon, and brand crossovers have cooled things a bit. Lucky for us, Charlotte Flair is one of the best wrestlers in the world and Becky Lynch is pretty great too. These two will put on an amazing match that will likely get interrupted by Ronda Rousey at some point. WWE will eventually give the people what they want: Becky Lynch will compete against Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania.
WINNER:
Becky Lynch via submission
The SHIELD vs. Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, & Bobby Lashley
Roman Reigns is back from battling leukemia and Dean Ambrose is on his way out of the company. Seth Rollins is getting ready for Brock Lesnar. Drew McIntyre and his friends, Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley seem obsessed with tormenting Rollins. They have now set their sights on Roman Reigns as well for getting in the way of them beating down Rollins and Dean is once again sucked back into everyone else's problems by joining his SHIELD brothers for one more match together before he leaves the company. Ambrose has lost to EC3, Drew McIntyre, & Elias recently and it seems like he'll be the weak point for The SHIELD in this match. Roman doesn't have a match at WrestleMania, this could be a great opportunity to send Dean off with a match at WrestleMania against his best friend. The SHIELD doesn't need to win here, but Drew McIntyre could use some momentum going into WrestleMania. He'll have a good showing in this match and pick up the win for his team.
WINNER:
Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, & Bobby Lashley via pinfall
Triple Threat Match for the RAW Tag Team Titles
Ricochet and Aleister Black vs. Chad Gable and Bobby Roode vs. The Revival
Aleister Black and Ricochet have been unstoppable as a tag team since forming to enter the Dusty Classic Tournament. They get their first shot at main roster gold in a triple threat against former tag champs, Chad Gable & Bobby Roode, and current RAW champs, The Revival. The Revival have been tearing it up on house shows with Gable & Roode but, due to sagging ratings, Black & Ricochet have been added to the mix. If WWE is committed to The Revival, they should pick up the win here via some clever shenanigans. Gable & Roode and Ricochet & Black both could lose this way and come out of the match looking great. The Revival are perfect true heels in a time where everyone has shades of gray. The Revival stand out and continue to deliver great matches. Hopefully they get a great pure babyface team to match up with who can give them a feud with more emotional stakes.
WINNERS:
The Revival via pinfall
WWE Title Match
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Just as it seemed Kofi Kingston would be able to capitalize on #KofiMania to get his first WWE Championship opportunity in a singles match, Vince McMahon decided to replace him with the returning Kevin Owens. McMahon stated that Owens is "more deserving" and "more qualified" than Kingston, who pinned Daniel Bryan on the February 12th episode of SmackDown. In their first face-to-face confrontation this past week on SmackDown, Kevin Owens said that he's just like the WWE Universe and he doesn't like how Daniel Bryan has disrespected the WWE Title. Rumors have been swirling about these two having a singles match at WrestleMania. Whether or not those are true, this match should be fantastic. This will be the first singles match between Bryan and Owens in WWE. Kevin Owens keeps throwing out Stone Cold references in his promos and used the Stone Cold Stunner as a finisher on Daniel Bryan in a tag team match on the February 26th episode of SmackDown. The planet's champion is destined to defend his title at WrestleMania but who will it be against?
WINNER: Daniel Bryan via pinfall