Fastlane is a WWE pay-per-view that began in 2015. As its name implies, this is the last pay-per-view before the pay-per-view itself, WrestleMania.
The first event took place on February 2015, replacing Elimination Chamber. With the brand split, it became a Raw-exclusive event in 2017 and SmackDown-exclusive in 2018 before every PPV became dual-branded. It would later become a March event after the reinstatement of Elimination Chamber.
After its one-year absence, Fastlane is reinstated, replacing Extreme Rules in October 2023.
This pay-per-view event provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Goldust vs. Stardust in the 2015 edition. That match is the one everyone was most excited for at that year's Fastlane, and most people believed that it would be followed by another match at that year's WrestleMania. Then the match, for whatever reason, turned out to be awful (complete with botched pin), and the feud was thrown out.
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- 2015: The Authority defeated Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro defeated The Usos and wins the WWE Tag Team Champions. Nikki Bella defeated Paige and retains the WWE Divas Championship. Bad News Barrett defeated Dean Ambrose by disqualification to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Rusev defeated John Cena to retain the WWE United States Championship.
- 2016: Kevin Owens defeated Dolph Ziggler and retains the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Charlotte Flair defeated Brie Bella and retains the WWE Divas Championship. Curtis Axel defeated R-Truth.
- 2017: Samoa Joe defeated Sami Zayn. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Enzo and Cass and retains the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship. Neville defeated Jack Gallagher and retains the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
- 2018: Natalya and Carmella defeated Becky Lynch and Naomi.
- 2019: The Bar defeated Kofi Kingston in a handicap match. The Revival defeated Bobby Roode & Chad Gable and Ricochet & Aleister Black to retains the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship. Samoa Joe defeated R-Truth, Andrade "Cien" Almas and Rey Mysterio in a fatal four way match and retains the WWE United States Championship. Daniel Bryan defeated Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali in a triple thread match and retains the WWE Championship.
- 2021: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Seth Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura. Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Universal Championship.
- 2023: IYO SKY defeated Asuka and Charlotte Flair to retain the WWE Women's Championship.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: How Goldberg won the Universal Championship from Kevin Owens at the 2017 event: "One Spear, one Jackhammer, 1-2-3" as soon as the bell rang, just as he had predicted.
- Defeating the Undefeatable:
- Kevin Owens reigned as WWE Universal Champion for 189 days until Goldberg defeated him for the Universal Championship at the 2017 edition, with a distraction from Chris Jericho.
- From 2015 to 2017, Charlotte Flair never lost in a singles match on PPV. This came to an end on the 2017 edition, where she lost to Bayley.
- Disqualification-Induced Victory: Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair in this fashion after Ronda Rousey attacked her. This meant that Lynch was added back into the WWE Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 35.
- History Repeats: Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan in main event of this PPV twice (2015 and 2021). The first was for Reigns' No. 1 contendership to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31 and the second was for WWE Universal Championship in which Reigns retained.
- Leitmotif:
- 2015 had "Faster" by Kid Ink.
- 2016 and 2017 had "Watch This" by Will Roush.
- 2018 had "Lean Back" by SUR.
- 2019 had "Teach Me to Fight" by Yonaka.
- 2021 had "Rise Up" by Will Roush.
- 2023 had "I Want More" by Yonaka.
- Meaningful Name: Typically, this pay-per-view is used to set up matches and feuds that will take place at WrestleMania. Which means doing well at this pay-per-view puts you in the fast lane on the road to WrestleMania. Bonus points for WWE referring to the period between Royal Rumble and WrestleMania as the "Road to WrestleMania."
- Mêlée à Trois:
- Some WWE Championship matches were contested in this manner.
- 2016: Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar for the No. 1 contendership for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32.
- 2018: AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn competed in a six-pack challenge for the WWE Championship.
- 2019: Daniel Bryan (with Rowan) vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship.
- Outside of the WWE title matches, the 2023 event has IYO SKY, Charlotte Flair and Asuka in a triple threat match for the WWE Women's Championship.
- Some WWE Championship matches were contested in this manner.
- Oh, Crap!: At the 2018 event, Charlotte Flair had just won a hard-fought title challenge against Ruby Riott and stood tall and proud in the ring, taking in the glory and victory... and then Asuka's entrance theme hit and the all-feared Women's Royal Rumble winner stepped into the ring to challenge Charlotte to a title match at WrestleMania 34. Charlotte's facial expression could best be described as resignation to being devoured.
- Squash Match: The 2017 event saw Goldberg defeating Kevin Owens in 22 seconds.
- Xanatos Gambit: Paul Heyman analyzed this beautifully during his guest appearance at the 2017 edition, with regards to the Universal Championship match between Kevin Owens and Goldberg, his client, Brock Lesnar’s eventual opponent at WrestleMania 33.Heyman: My client wins tonight.
