Welcome to the first of a new series I am starting called ‘Book to the Future’, where I take the most recent WWE pay-per-view, look at its possible aftermath and try to predict the match card for the next one.
Obviously, the last pay-per-view that WWE presented was the always news-worthy Royal Rumble, the kick-off on the road to WrestleMania. Although this was a dual-brand show, I will only be focusing on Raw’s ‘Fastlane’ pay-per-view, since SmackDown have already announced the majority of their Elimination Chamber match card.
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After the chaotic Royal Rumble match, that had numerous feuds being teased, there are several directions that the WWE could take coming off the first pay-per-view of the year. Add to that, the recent Seth Rollins injury which will no doubt change plans for WrestleMania, and the path to WWE’s ‘Fastlane’ is one of the most unpredictable in recent memory.
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Nevertheless, here’s how I think, or in some cases hope, the March 5th show will shape up…
#1 WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: Gallows & Anderson (C) vs. Enzo & Cass vs The New Day
The direction of Raw’s tag team division is probably the hardest to predict at the moment, with questions over Cesaro and Sheamus’ future as a tag team and Raw lacking a top babyface team to challenge Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, there is not a clear path for new challengers to take to earn a tag team title shot.
Presuming that Cesaro and Sheamus do indeed implode before we get to ‘Fastlane’, Gallows & Anderson will need new opponents and The New Day and Enzo & Cass seem like the only viable options on the current Raw roster. So why not throw them both into the mix?
With Anderson & Gallows being the heels in this feud, and Enzo & Cass obviously being the faces, I’d love to see the New Day once again play a ’tweener’ role and perhaps eventually turn full heel by attacking Enzo & Cass.
Like I said, this one is hard to call and things could change dramatically in the Raw tag team division between now and March 5th, but in its current climate, I think this is the best way to go and it would also give the New Day a much-needed change from their current gimmick.
#2 Sheamus vs. Cesaro
To tie in with the last prediction, I’d expect Cesaro and Sheamus to face off in a match at ‘Fastlane’ if WWE does go break up their tag team.
The booking of Cesaro & Sheamus since the brand split has been good and they are both now much more relevant than they were before the draft. Both men were floundering and had no clear character direction until the unexpected formation of them as a tag team, and while it was odd, it has definitely worked.
However, their tenure as a team does seem to have run its course, they have already won and lost the tag team titles so where do they go from here? A feud between the ‘Swiss Superman’ and ‘Celtic Warrior’ feels like the next logical step.
WWE ‘Fastlane’ could see Cesaro & Sheamus square off one last time to see once and for all, who the better man is.
#3 WWE United States Championship: Chris Jericho (C) vs. Sami Zayn
It appears as though WWE is finally getting behind Sami Zayn. Coming out of his feud with Braun Strowman, Sami has had recent pinfall victories over Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho on Raw. The latter victory surely puts him in line for a shot at the United States Championship.
Chris Jericho has been one of the most talked about Superstars in the last few months, but it’s been a while since he’s had his own feud, for the most part, he’s been a playing a supporting role in Kevin Owens’ feuds.
So it’s about time that WWE either pull the trigger on the Owens and Jericho break-up storyline or give Y2J something to do outside of the WWE Universal Title picture.
It’s also been far too long since the United States Championship was featured prominently, it was nothing more than a prop during Roman Reigns’ time as Champion and it’s not got much better since Jericho took the title.
Capitalising on Sami Zayn’s recent momentum and Jericho’s popularity could be the way to restore some much-needed prestige to the US Championship.
#4 Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Although Roman Reigns’ ultimate destination appears to be a match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania, his more immediate future involves the ‘Mountain of a man’, Braun Strowman.
After Strowman interfered in Reigns’ Universal title match at Royal Rumble and cost him the championship, Roman would then return the favour on this past Monday’s Raw and attack Strowman during his title match, seemingly setting up the match of Vince McMahon’s dreams at WWE ‘Fastlane’.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if The Undertaker makes some sort of appearance on March 5th to exact some revenge on Reigns for eliminating him from the Royal Ruble match, thus kicking off their WrestleMania feud.
#5 Charlotte & Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley
As for the Women’s division, I don’t expect Charlotte to defend her Women’s championship at ‘Fastlane’ and I’m predicting that Charlotte will partner up with Nia Jax to take on the team of Sasha Banks and Bayley.
The friendship of Sasha and Bayley has been highlighted on recent editions of Raw, which is why I think they will team up, with Jax evening up the numbers by partnering Charlotte and stacking the odds against the babyfaces.
I’m also going to predict that the conclusion of this match will see Sasha turn on Bayley, setting up a feud between the longtime friends. Tensions were teased between them on this past Monday’s Raw and a heel turn has been rumoured for ‘The Boss’ in recent months.
Therefore, I think that WWE ‘Fastlane’ is the place to pull this off to shake things up before WrestleMania.
#6 WWE Universal Championship: Kevin Owens (C) vs. Goldberg
The rumoured main event for the WWE ‘Fastlane’ pay-per-view is Kevin Owens defending his Universal Championship against Goldberg. To be honest, I’m not overly excited about seeing this match, but as it seems likely that this will happen, here is how I think it should play out.
The aforementioned rumours also speculate that Goldberg will win the Universal Championship and defend it against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. In my opinion, Lesnar vs. Goldberg does not need the title as the match between the two behemoths sells itself, without the gold being on the line.
Therefore, I would like to see Goldberg turn down Lesnar’s challenge for a match at WresteMania this coming Monday and instead go after Owens’ Universal Championship. Then at ‘Fastlane’, Lesnar can interfere and cost Goldberg the title, giving him a reason to accept Brock’s challenge for one final match at WrestleMania.
Full predicted match card for WWE ‘Fastlane’:
Raw Tag Team Championship match: Gallows & Anderson vs. Enzo & Cass vs. The New Day
Sheamus vs. Cesaro
United States Championship match: Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Charlotte & Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley
Universal Championship match
Kevin Owens vs Goldberg
What do you guys think? Is this how you see WWE ‘Fastlane’ shaping up or do you have some other ideas. If so, leave your predicted match card in the comments below.
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