Fastlane (2018)
Fastlane | |||
---|---|---|---|
Promotion WWE | | ||
Brand(s) | SmackDown | ||
Date | March 11, 2018 | ||
City | Columbus, Ohio | ||
Venue | Nationwide Arena | ||
Attendance | 15,119 | ||
WWE Network event chronology | |||
| |||
Fastlane chronology | |||
|
The 2018 Fastlane was the fourth
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event,
Production
Background
Storylines
The event comprised seven matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed
At the
Immediately following the Royal Rumble, General Manager Daniel Bryan announced that there would be a first-ever "SmackDown Top Ten List" as voted on by the SmackDown roster. Bryan said the list would show who the wrestlers thought should get a title opportunity, but a wrestler could not vote for themselves.
Throughout 2017,
At the Royal Rumble,
On the February 27 episode of SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated
On the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Becky Lynch defeated Ms. Money in the Bank Carmella by submission. Later, a tag team match between Becky Lynch and Naomi against Natalya and Carmella was scheduled for Fastlane.[14]
Event
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
English commentators | Tom Phillips
|
Corey Graves | |
Byron Saxton | |
Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Marcelo Rodríguez | |
German commentators | Tim Haber |
Calvin Knie | |
Ring announcer | Greg Hamilton |
Referees | Danilo Anfibio |
Jason Ayers | |
Mike Chioda | |
Ryan Tran | |
Interviewers | Renee Young
|
Charly Caruso | |
Dasha Fuentes
| |
Pre-show panel | Renee Young |
Booker T | |
Sam Roberts | |
David Otunga | |
Talking Smack panel | Renee Young |
Sam Roberts |
Pre-show
During the Fastlane Kickoff pre-show, Breezango (
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with Shinsuke Nakamura facing Rusev. In the end, Nakamura performed the
Next, Bobby Roode defended the United States Championship against Randy Orton. After catching Roode, who dove off the top rope, with an
After that, Becky Lynch and Naomi faced Natalya and Carmella. After Natalya distracted Lynch with Carmella's Money in the Bank briefcase, Carmella performed a
In the fourth match, The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The New Day (represented by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods). In the end, after an evenly contested match and with all four men outside the ring, the match ended in a no contest after The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) came out and severely attacked both teams, with Woods being taken to a local medical center.[19]
In the penultimate match, Charlotte Flair defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Ruby Riott. During the match, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan of The Riott Squad ran down to help Riott. Becky Lynch and Naomi came out to even things up, but would all end up being ejected from ringside. In the end, Flair forced Riott to submit to the "Figure-Eight Leglock" to retain the title. After the match, Asuka from Raw made her SmackDown debut. As the women's Royal Rumble winner, she decided to challenge Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 34.[19]
Main event
In the main event, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship in a six-pack challenge against John Cena, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler. The match immediately began with Cena performing consecutive
Aftermath
On the following episode of SmackDown, WWE Champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura began the show and said that they respected each other. Nakamura then promised to deliver a Kinshasa to Styles at WrestleMania 34 and become WWE Champion. They were interrupted by Rusev, who then had a match with Styles, which ended in a disqualification after Aiden English interfered. Nakamura would save Styles from the 2-on-1 attack by delivering a Kinshasa to both Rusev and English.[20] Nakamura and Rusev had their Fastlane rematch on the March 20 episode, where Nakamura was again victorious. After the match, Rusev and English attacked Nakamura. As Styles was about to save Nakamura, Nakamura recovered and fended off Rusev and English.[21]
Also on the show, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn blamed each other for not winning the WWE Championship, as well as Commissioner Shane McMahon. Later, Shane recapped his feud with both Owens and Zayn over the past several months. He said his actions towards the two were not that of a SmackDown Commissioner. He then announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from SmackDown. Before he left, however, he scheduled Owens and Zayn to face each other at WrestleMania 34. Owens and Zayn then teamed up and brutally attacked Shane.[20] The following week, General Manager Daniel Bryan, who was forced to retire in 2016, revealed that he was medically cleared to compete again. Later, he fired Owens and Zayn for their attack on Shane, and the two gave Bryan a beat down.[21] Bryan then scheduled a tag team match pitting himself and Shane against Owens and Zayn at WrestleMania 34, where if Owens and Zayn were to win, they would be rehired.[22]
Asuka appeared on the March 12 episode of Raw to explain why she had chosen to challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship instead of Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss. Bliss and Mickie James interrupted, stating that Asuka was afraid to challenge Bliss, however, Asuka said she chose Flair because she wanted to challenge the best women's champion in WWE and said that was Flair, not Bliss.[23] Asuka then made her debut appearance on SmackDown the next night where she confronted Flair, who vowed to end Asuka's undefeated streak at WrestleMania 34. Asuka further explained that she wanted a challenge, and that was another reason why she chose to challenge Flair instead of Bliss.[20]
As Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Jey Uso were still ailing from injuries sustained by The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) attack at Fastlane during the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match, Big E and Jimmy Uso teamed up to exact revenge. The Bludgeon Brothers, however, defeated Big E and Jimmy.[20] This led to a triple threat tag team match for the titles at WrestleMania 34.[22]
Bobby Roode invoked his rematch clause against Randy Orton for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 34. Jinder Mahal interrupted and defeated Roode in a match, after which, Orton attacked Mahal with an RKO.[20] The following week, Orton was scheduled to defend his title against Roode and Mahal at WrestleMania.[21] Rusev was then added to the championship match for pinning Orton in a tag team match on the March 27 episode.[22]
John Cena went back to Raw following Fastlane. He said that he would not be able to contribute to WrestleMania 34 as a performer, but instead as a fan. However, he decided that although he was told it was impossible, he put out another challenge to The Undertaker for WrestleMania.[23]
This Fastlane would in turn be the final SmackDown-exclusive pay-per-view as well as the final brand-exclusive pay-per-view under the second brand split as following WrestleMania 34 the following month, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive pay-per-views.[24]
Results
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship[31] | 21:55 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
References
- ^ Caldwell, James (December 8, 2014). "WWE News: February PPV gets a new title (w/Poll)". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ^ Ravens, Andrew (December 4, 2017). "Date And Location Officially Announced For 2018 WWE FastLane PPV". PWMania. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
- Discovery Communications. Archivedfrom the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade (January 28, 2018). "Keller's WWE Royal Rumble Report 1/28: Ongoing results of Men's and Women's Rumbles, Lesnar-Kane-Braun, Styles-Owens/Sami, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 16, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade (January 30, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 1/30: Nakamura celebrates winning the Rumble, Owens & Sami controversial Styles finish". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade (February 6, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 2/6: Sami vs. KO for a right to face Styles, Shane takes issue with Bryan's decision-making". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
- ^ Martin, Adam (February 8, 2018). "Shane McMahon adds big stipulation to Ziggler vs. Corbin on next week's SmackDown Live". WrestleView. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade (February 13, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 2/13: Sami and KO don't like Shane's decision to have Corbin vs. Ziggler for a slot in their title match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ Keller, Wade (February 25, 2018). "Keller's WWE Elimination Chamber PPV Report 2/25: First-ever women's Chamber match, Ronda Rousey signing, Asuka vs. Jax, Men's Chamber, Raw Tag Title match, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Keller, Wade (February 27, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 2/27: Cena makes first appearance on Smackdown in months as he seeks Path to WrestleMania". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ Keller, Wade (March 5, 2018). "Keller's WWE Raw Report 3/5: Angle stands up for himself and calls out Triple H leading to mixed tag being set, plus Asuka-Jax, Cena". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Keller, Wade (March 6, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 3/6: Charlotte-Riott open show, Styles vs. Ziggler, Orton vs. Mahal, final Fastlane hype". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade (February 20, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 2/20: Styles talks about Fastlane title defense, Charlotte & Becky & Naomi vs. Riott Squad, New Day vs. Gable & Benjamin". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- ^ Keller, Wade (October 8, 2017). "Keller's WWE Hell in a Cell PPV Report 10/8: Mahal vs. Nakamura, Shane vs. Owens, Usos vs. New Day, Natalya vs. Charlotte". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
- ^ Keller, Wade (January 29, 2018). "Keller's WWE Raw Report 1/29: Royal Rumble fallout including Ronda Rousey announcement, Asuka's Rumble victory, Reigns's next move". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ a b Powell, Jason (March 11, 2018). "WWE Fastlane Kickoff Show live review: Shelton Benjamin, Chad Gable, and Mojo Rawley vs. Tye Dillinger, Fandango, and Tyler Breeze". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Powell, Jason (March 11, 2018). "WWE Fastlane 2018 live review: AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena in a six-way for the WWE Championship, The Usos vs. New Day for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott for the Smackdown Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Keller, Wade (March 13, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 3/13: Fastlane fallout, Shane has a big announcement, Asuka vs. Charlotte hype, Styles vs. Nakamura hype". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade (March 20, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 3/20: Daniel Bryan to appear live day he was medically cleared, Styles-Nakamura hype, U.S. Title hype, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade (March 27, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 3/27: WrestleMania developments including Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, Charlotte vs. Natalya, Shelton vs. Shinsuke". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- ^ a b Keller, Wade (March 12, 2018). "Keller's WWE Raw Report 3/12: Reigns complains about being disrespected by Vince McMahon for Lesnar situation, plus Asuka, Miz TV with Seth and Balor, Tag Team Battle Royal". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- ^ Sapp, Sean Ross (February 17, 2018). "WWE Eliminates Single-Branded PPV Shows, Shuffles PPV Schedule". Fightful. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "Breezango & Tye Dillinger def. Mojo Rawley, Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin". WWE. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "Shinsuke Nakamura def. Rusev". WWE. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "Randy Orton def. Bobby Roode to become the new United States Champion". WWE. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "Natalya & Carmella def. Becky Lynch & Naomi". WWE. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. The New Day ended in a No Contest". WWE. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair def. Ruby Riott; Charlotte to battle Asuka at WrestleMania". WWE. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "WWE Champion AJ Styles def. John Cena, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin (Six-Pack Challenge)". WWE. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.