WWE News: Bobby Roode vs Randy Orton announced for Fastlane

What’s the Story?

The match lineup for WWE Fastlane just got bigger following a title match announcement by Commissioner Shane McMahon on SmackDown Live.

Bobby Roode will defend his United States Championship against Randy Orton.

In case you didn’t know...

Roode won the United States Championship prior to the Royal Rumble by defeating Jinder Mahal on the January 16th edition of SmackDown Live. Roode would go on to have his first successful title defense against Mojo Rawley on the Royal Rumble pre-show.

Roode’s win at the Royal Rumble would be followed up with the former NXT Champion defending the United States Championship on SmackDown.

The heart of the matter

Orton got involved in the United States Champion picture by answering Roode’s United States Open Challenge. Both men were ready to wrestle, but an appearance by Mahal would prevent Roode and Orton from starting their match and eventually lead to a brawl that saw The Viper standing tall.

A similar brawl broke out on this week’s episode of SmackDown, but Roode managed to stand tall over Mahal and Orton by evading an RKO attempt and driving Orton to the mat with a Glorious DDT.

General Manager Daniel Bryan and McMahon were arguing backstage regarding who they thought was worthy to take on Roode for the US Championship at Fastlane.

Bryan and McMahon advocated for Mahal and Orton respectively, but the two would agree that The Viper would get to fight for the United States Championship at Fastlane.

What’s next?

Fastlane will take place three weeks from now on March 11th and will emanate from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

If Orton does go on to win the Championship, he will become the 18th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.

Author’s take

Roode vs Orton is a new matchup and will be interesting to watch.

However, with the constant bickering between Bryan and McMahon, there’s no guarantee that this match will remain a singles contest.