SmackDown owned the month of February with their installment of the Elimination Chamber.
And now Raw is going to take over the month of March with their rendition of Fastlane. The card from top to bottom looks stacked. Kevin Owens (who recently broke our hearts when he broke up JeriKO) is going to defend his Universal Championship. Against whom, you ask? The world beater who’s made Brock Lesnar’s life a living hell ever since he returned – Goldberg. Another world conqueror on the Raw roster will butt heads with the master of the Superman Punch – Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns. Along with those two marquee matches, the Raw Women’s, Tag Team and Cruiserweight Championships will all be up for grabs.
Now that this special event is close to happening, let’s give our thoughts on who we think will win at Fastlane 2017.
Rich Swann and Akira Tozawa vs. The Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar (with Alicia Fox)
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Predictions & Winners: Akira Tozawa is amazing! We just wanted to get that out the way before we got to our predictions for this match. Tozawa has been served a vicious beatdown from the sneaky veteran THE Brian Kendrick (with a very strong emphasis on THE), so both men have decided to settle their beef in a tag match. Tozawa has chosen the former Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann, while Brian has aligned himself with “Mr. Steal Your Girl” Noam Dar. Hmmmmmmmmm…so who’s the better partner? Obviously, it’s Swann so we have a feeling that Tozawa and his “outlandish” ally will leave this bout as the victors.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (c) vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Predictions & Winners: We were all in for a 2-out-of-3-Falls match between Gallows & Anderson and Sheamus & Cesaro. But Big Cass and Enzo Amore have stepped into the roles as the #1 Contender’s spot for the Raw Tag Team Championship. So what we’re getting here is a fresher matchup for The Club. To be quite honest with you all, the tag team title scene on Raw hasn’t been much to write home about ever since The New Day relinquished them. Sheamus and Cesaro lost the titles way too early, in our opinion. But we’re willing to watch how much better the WWE can rebuild Gallows & Anderson. We have a good feeling that that rebuilding process will continue with a decisive win over Enzo and Cass. This will be what most of you are expecting – a simple and clean title defense for The Club. Expect a three way matchup between these two teams plus Cesaro & Sheamus sometime in the future.
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Predictions & Winner: Braun’s been ripping through squashes, handicap matches and even WWE’s other resident big men. Its been fun watching him turn into one of Raw’s upper-tier competitors ever since the new Brand Split Era came to fruition. Now that he’s handed L’s to both Mark Henry and the Big Show, he’s on to bigger and better things. At Fastlane 2017, Strowman will go to war with Roman Reigns. This one could either way, folks. Braun needs an even bigger win to keep his hot streak going, but Roman is still WWE Raw’s Golden Boy so him winning could also be a sure bet. We’re going to go out on a limb here and pick Braun for this one. He’s gonna get the win, but it definitely won’t come easy. This major win will take Braun straight to an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win at ‘Mania 33.
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Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (WWE Raw Women’s Championship)
Predictions & Winner: Raw’s booking of the Women’s Championship is tiresome at this point. Its followed a stale storyline for the longest time now with Charlotte losing the title on Raw to the flavor of the month, then getting it right back with ease at the following PPV. We’re gonna trust our gut instinct here and predict that that’s the very same process that’s gonna occur here. Bayley captured the Raw Women’s Championship and immediately after that we got the announcement of a rematch taking place at the next PPV. So yeah, this match will be just as good as the one we witnessed on Raw. But to no one’s surprise, Charlotte will win like she always does on PPV and keep her mean streak intact. So at WrestleMania 33, we’re all looking at a Fatal Four Way title match between Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax.
Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe
Predictions & Winner: Zayn may be a punching bag for WWE’s bigger men, but he’s still a valiant Superstar that’s always willing to fight to the very end. That’s exactly why we love rooting for the man (he fought hard against Braun Strowman during their long standing beef). HHH’s new hired gun Samoa Joe already did quite the number on Seth Rollins’ medically repaired knee. Ever since Zayn called him out for such a nefarious act, Joe’s turned his laser sights right to him for another big man vs. smaller man feud. Zayn and Joe had some good to great matchups while they were both in NXT, so that’s what we’re anticipating here. Zayn will do anything and everything here to put Joe down, but Joe will eventually overpower him and put him to sleep. Joe will take this major win over Zayn and ride it right into a championship opportunity at ‘Mania 33.
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
Predictions & Winner: Nia Jax is still riding her wave as the most dominant woman on Raw who STILL hasn’t received a Raw Women’s Championship title shot. She’s torn into plenty of female jobbers and made Sasha Banks’ life a living hell. When they last met, Banks got dominated in shocking fashion. Since Banks ate such a disappointing loss to Jax, WWE’s going to do the predictable thing here and hand that rematch win to Banks. Makes sense, right? After all, these two lades plus Charlotte and Bayley are going to trade all types of wins across several bouts on their way to the expected ‘Mania 33 4-way.
Neville (c) vs. Jack Gallagher (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
Predictions & Winner: Angry Neville has been one of the more intriguing personalities on Raw lately. He came back with a surly attitude, destroyed Rich Swann, took his Cruiserweight Championship and is now reigning as the undisputed king of the division. His next opponent is the equally entertaining gentleman with a mustache to die for, Jack Gallagher. We enjoy both of these guys and are completely open to seeing either of them claim victory here. But let’s be real here – there’s no way WWE is gonna kill a good thing so quick when its just begun. Jack will put up a good fight here, but Neville’s the one who’s going to walk away with the Cruiserweight Championship. As for him and his championship’s future, we can totally see a multi-man Ladder Match going down at ‘Mania 33.
Kevin Owens (c) vs. Goldberg (WWE Universal Championship)
Predictions & Winner: Man…there’s a lot going on here. So there’s two major story threads that could determine the outcome of this main event. Owens became a savage again after ending his partnership with Jericho. Goldberg’s soundly defeated Brock Lesnar, but he’s gearing up for another meeting with the behemoth at ‘Mania 33. We get the feeling that Goldberg will be heading into that rematch with the Universal Championship around his waist. So here’s how we see this one going down – Owens will get in a few strikes once the bell rings. But once he bounces off those ropes, he’ll be met with a Spear that will be followed up by a Jackhammer. 1-2-3 and it’s over. Goldberg wins, but afterwards Lesnar will run in and lay into the new champion. And once Owens gets to his feet, Jericho will embarrass him for good measure too. So you can all look forward to Owens vs. Jericho for the US Championship and Goldberg/Lesnar 3 for the Universal Championship at the Grandaddy of ‘Em All. No surprises here, right?
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