In seven days at WWE Fastlane, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar square off to determine the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship and the one who will face Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 32. What will happen tonight on the “go-home” episode of Monday Night Raw?
Opening Segment
Dean Ambrose comes out to seek some revenge on Brock Lesnar and calls him out, but is answered by Stephanie McMahon instead. They hype Fastlane, and Ambrose says that he wants an F5 tonight. McMahon says she’ll give him the F5, but not the one he wants. It’ll be a Fatal Five Way match for Ambrose’s Intercontinental Championship. Time to hopefully get the title off of him.
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Stardust vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler – Intercontinental Championship
So after seeing the participants, there are three ways this could go down:
- Ambrose retains the title.
- Ziggler or Owens win and insert the title into their feud.
- I’m wrong about 1 and 2, but I doubt the title is going to Stardust or Breeze.
This might be the first Fatal Five Way match I’ve ever seen, and it’s a pretty good one at that. It does a great job at shedding some light on Breeze and Stardust, two of the most underused talent in the company. After a Pop-Up Powerbomb to Tyler Breeze, Kevin Owens starts his second Intercontinental Title reign. Winner, and NEW Intercontinental Champion: Kevin Owens
After the match, Ziggler interrupts Owens’s post-win interview with Renee Young to essentially just continue their feud.
Big E (w/Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) vs. Mark Henry
At Fastlane, the New Day will be on The Cutting Edge Peep Show with Edge and Christian. The last time these two teams met, Xavier Woods and his trombone battled Christian with his kazoo.
Last week, the New Day and Mark Henry teamed up to take on the Dudley Boyz and the Usos, when Mark Henry left mid-match because the New Day kept telling him what to do.
Big E attempted the Big Ending, but before he could deliver it, Mark Henry rolled off of the shoulder of Big E in what seems like a legitimate injury. Big E covered Henry to win the match. Winner: Big E
Brie Bella Promo
Since Brie Bella’s husband, Daniel Bryan, retired last week, Brie has gotten a push of some sort. Between Bryan and Brie’s sister Nikki being injured, Brie Bella is the perfect sympathetic face for Charlotte to feud with to gain some more heat.
Add in the feud with Becky Lynch and Charlotte has been gaining a lot of heat. Her father, Ric Flair (if somehow you didn’t know by now) has been helping even further, as well as getting Charlotte’s opponents over.
The Miz vs. AJ Styles
Before the match starts, Chris Jericho, who has been feuding with AJ Styles, is on commentary with Michael Cole, JBL, and Byron Saxton. It seems like there is going to be Styles/Jericho III at Fastlane this Sunday.
After locking in the Calf Crusher, AJ Styles picks up the win. Winner: AJ Styles
After the match, Styles challenges Jericho to a third match at Fastlane, and Jericho will have his answer Thursday on Smackdown.
The Dudley Boyz Promo
No more tables. That’s pretty much it.
Paige vs. Summer Rae
It is very refreshing to see both of these Divas on Raw. Paige is one of the best female wrestlers in the company, and Summer Rae hasn’t been in the ring in a while, so this is a nice change of pace. Summer Rae has had some great matches in NXT, and even on the main roster before her way too long run as a Valet for Fandango and Tyler Breeze.
After a counter, Summer Rae rolls up Paige in what might be considered an upset victory. Winner: Summer Rae
In-Ring Promo
Paul Heyman is in the ring, doing his usual hyping of Brock Lesnar, and he is interrupted by Roman Reigns. Heyman out-promos Reigns and that’s about it.
But wait! The Dudley Boys attack Roman Reigns for some reason, perhaps because he is the cousin of the Usos. After Dean Ambrose comes out to help Reigns fight them off, he teases Dirty Deeds on Reigns, which we might see this Sunday at Fastlane.
Heath Slater (w/Social Outcasts) vs. Zack Ryder
This must be so sad for Zack Ryder. He’s an enhancement talent facing slightly more successful enhancement talent.
Heath Slater picks up the win, and somehow pushes Ryder further down the WWE totem pole. Winner: Heath Slater
Goldust tries to convince R-Truth to be his tag team partner by being his waiter at a restaurant but instead ruins his date. I can’t wait for Golden Truth to finally be a real team.
The Lucha Dragons & Neville vs. Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, & Sheamus (w/King Barrett)
This match happening shows that WWE has nothing for any of these competitors. Sheamus just came back from injury, Barrett hasn’t done anything except gear up for being at ringside, and Neville is in mid-card purgatory. Also, it has been announced that Kalisto will defend his United States Championship against Alberto Del Rio on the Kickoff Show. They really don’t care at all. And since they clearly don’y care, the fans (including myself) won’t either.
Sin Cara is hanging off of the ropes, and Del Rio hits the foot stomp from the top rope for the win. Winners: Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, & Sheamus
Match Announcement:
Kevin Owens will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler this Sunday at Fastlane.
Becky Lynch vs. Naomi (w/Tamina)
Hopefully there will be more build for the Lynch/Banks vs. Tamina/Naomi Fastlane match on Smackdown, because there isn’t a lot of effort put into it tonight. Nearing the end of the show and with one more match to go, this will unfortunately be a short one.
Becky Lynch locks in the Disarm-her for the win. Winner (via submission): Becky Lynch
After the match, Naomi and Tamina attack Becky Lynch from behind, and before some serious damage could be done, Sasha Banks comes out to save Lynch.
Braun Strowman (w/The Wyatt Family) vs. The Big Show
“Look at these two huge men.” – Michael Cole, quoted without context.
After Braun Strowman shows more of his move set than ever seen before (probably five moves), the Wyatt Family interferes and attacks the Big Show. Ryback and Kane come in to save the day, and get revenge on the very group that attacked them over previous weeks.
This was a weird storyline to have as a main event, but the Big Show is on the Stone Cold Podcast so I assume they’re promoting that. You would think that the last Monday Night Raw before Fastlane would end with a tease to the main event of the special, but I guess not. Tune into Smackdown this Thursday to see Brock Lesnar appear on the show for the first time in 12 years.
