Earlier tonight on SmackDown we witnessed Sami Zayn win a Fatal 5-Way match that included all of the participants for Sunday’s Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Title, aside from John Cena. WWE Fastlane 2018 will be the last major stop for the “Blue Brand” on the road to WrestleMania 34. Here are my predictions…
Source: WWE.com
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev (with Aiden English)
This match was announced during a backstage segment earlier tonight on SmackDown.
While it’s obvious that Nakamura will win and go on to challenge for the WWE Title at WrestleMania, it’s worth noting that I’m glad that this match will take place at Fastlane.
I thought Nakamura singing on SmackDown was great. I mention that because I think that he’s doing a great job of adapting to the WWE audience and he’s doing it at the best time possible. A match against Rusev also helps showcase Shinsuke on one more major platform in what should be a really solid match right before he performs on the biggest stage of his career at WrestleMania. When Nakamura brings it, he is capable of having some of the best matches in the world.
For Rusev this is an opportunity to get the spotlight back on himself and Aiden English with an impressive performance against the #1 contender to the WWE Championship.
For weeks now we have heard the “RUSEV DAY” chants go from overwhelming to mediocre but this has been by no fault of Rusev’s or English’s. They haven’t had a real chance to succeed and WWE didn’t strike while the iron was hot with them.
Hopefully, Rusev can take his destiny into his own hands and go out there with Nakamura and attempt to steal the show. Rusev is a solid performer but really hasn’t done much since losing the US Title to John Cena all the way back at WrestleMania 31. Maybe this match earns himself and English a higher place on the card at WrestleMania 34.
I’ll take Nakamura via Kinshasa in a clean victory.
Prediction- Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ruby Riott (with Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan)
Here’s a match I don’t care about one bit.
I’ll be brutally honest and admit that I’m not a fan of the Riott Squad at all and I don’t think Ruby has done anything significant enough on NXT or SmackDown to have me believe that she’s a credible threat to any championship. Even more confusing is why anyone would “follow” her as the leader of a stable.
Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan come off so green to me. It seems obvious that this group was only thrown together to introduce three new women to the roster to get the numbers up for the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. Now that the Rumble is over, this faction really makes no sense and has no place on the show.
That said, there’s no chance in hell that Riott is defeating Flair for the SD Women’s Championship one month before WrestleMania. The Riott Squad will be lucky to make to it onto the ‘Mania pre-show and definitely won’t be representing the brand along with the top female title of the “Blue Brand”. I don’t necessarily think that the match is going to suck because Riott is actually fundamentally solid in the ring but her character is nowhere near the level of champion.
On the other hand, we have Charlotte Flair who is one of the best performers in the world, male or female. I think she’ll do everything she can to help put together a respectable match on this show against Riott.
I see Charlotte selling for most of the match with the Riott Squad being a factor on the outside. After a while, Flair will overcome the odds, maybe with the help of some others such as Naomi & Becky Lynch, to defeat Riott via submission with the Figure-8.
Prediction – Charlotte Flair
Source: WWE.com
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Usos (c) vs. The New Day
Before I even start to predict the winner, I have to mention that The Bludgeon Brothers could possibly be to be added to this match.
It has been teased week-after-week on SmackDown that Harper & Rowan are the true number 1 contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. They’ve been running through every team put in front of them for months now with no signs of slowing down. On top of their win streak, every time they interact with either The Usos or The New Day both teams cower away in fear. The story here is that nobody wants a piece of The Bludgeon Brothers.
Another reason that I think coule be added is because we’ve already seen a lengthy feud between The Usos and The New Day, with their last match being billed as the “blow off” between the two teams. While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every single Usos vs. New Day match, I really don’t want to see ANOTHER match between the two teams right now. I’ll say that if The Bludgeon Brothers are inserted into this match, they will win the tag belts on this show.
Since the addition of The Bludgeon Brothers is just an assumption at this point, I think that The Usos will retain the titles if this match stays between just them and The New Day.
While the idea of New Day being the five time, five time, five time, five time, five time WWE Tag Team Champions, I don’t think that time is now. The Usos are currently doing the best work of their career and for my money they are the best tag team on either WWE main roster (there are some teams in NXT right now that I’d love to see them mix it up with). Their promos have been gold over the last handful of months and their in-ring work has been as good as it’s ever been.
Unless there are big plans to put the belts on The Bludgeon Brothers going into WrestleMania, I don’t see any reason to take them off of The Usos. I actually think the best scenario storyline-wise would be us seeing The Bludgeon Brothers defeat The Usos clean at WrestleMania for the championship belts but I also don’t want to see them lose if they are indeed added to this match. I’ll say the Usos get the pinfall victory after some double-superkicks and some big splashes off of the top rope.
Prediction – The Usos (unless The Bludgeon Brothers are added to the match)
Source: WWE.com
WWE United State Championship
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Randy Orton
This match is really interesting from the perspective that the US Title is the only championship that Randy Orton has never held in his WWE career. I think that’s because Orton’s role has mainly been as a “top guy”, as he held the Intercontinental Championship once (for a lengthy reign) and since then he’s never looked back, only winning World Titles and Tag Team gold.
At this point, the US Title has been positioned as even more valuable than the WWE in some regards. I know I personally viewed the US belt as more important than the “top” title last year when Jinder Mahal was carrying it. Now that AJ Styles is WWE Champ, my perception has changed but Bobby Roode is the best person I can think of to carry the US belt while helping to regain the momentum the title had back when John Cena elevated it via the US Open Challenges.
Orton and Roode have a lot of similarities. They’re both big, good looking dudes that perfectly fit the “Vince McMahon mold” of what a sports entertainer is supposed to be. Roode should have been working for WWE LONG before he eventually made the jump from TNA/Impact wrestling.
I think the actual match between Orton and Roode will be very entertaining. Both guys are blueprints for how to work the “WWE style” and I think they’ll do a great job of keeping the crowd invested into this match. Much like any Randy Orton match, he always has the chance to win because he can always hit the RKO to end the match. Roode is a clever and crafty veteran himself, that has the move scouted and will be looking to hit his Glorious DDT for the victory.
We also can’t forget that Jinder Mahal is tied to this feud as well, and wants to be a part of this match. Jinder even defeated Orton one-on-one earlier tonight on SmackDown. I’m personally thrilled to see Jinder not advertised – because I think he’s terrible in the ring and on the mic – but I fully expect him to get involved in this match in some capacity.
On paper, I would give Randy Orton the win in this match considering he’s still one of the top superstars in the world of pro wrestling and he needs a big story heading into WrestleMania but at the same time, WWE has a chance to build Roode into something bigger by giving him “the rub” of beating Orton right before the biggest show of the year. My guess is that Orton will be in a position after reversing a Glorious DDT into an RKO when Jinder hits the ring to cause a DQ finish. This will somehow lead to some type of multi-man match for Roode’s US Title at WrestleMania.
This is all once again assuming that Jinder isn’t added to the actual match. But either way, I see Bobby Roode heading into WrestleMania as US Champion.
Prediction – Randy Orton (via DQ)
Source: WWE.com
Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship
AJ Styles (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin vs. John Cena
This match went from lukewarm to can’t miss with the inclusion of John Cena because of his storyline heading into WrestleMania.
Cena teased a match with The Undertaker this past Monday on Raw and regardless of contrary reports that The Deadman won’t be working WrestleMania this year, I don’t buy that for one second. There’s no way that WWE would have Cena go out there on Monday to create this type of buzz just to see him wrestle someone else at ‘Mania. I bring this up because I think that the biggest story coming out of this match will be that Cena has once again “failed”. The Undertaker will come out sometime after this loss (either on this show or over the next couple weeks) to tell Cena that he knows what it’s like to “fail” as well. He’ll address his loss to Lesnar at ‘Mania 30 and his loss to Reigns last year. Eventually the idea will be that at WrestleMania 34 only one of them will have room to fail, because the loser will be forced into retirement. I say all of this as a long way of predicting that John Cena will not win the WWE Title at Fastlane.
I don’t see any scenario where Owens or Zayn walk away from this match as the champion but I really enjoyed watching Sami get the big win earlier tonight on SmackDown in the Fatal 5-Way match.
I really enjoy the two of them as a team but I think they’re on borrowed time because a true split soon would lead to a fantastic match between the two at WrestleMania. I know that we’ve seen KO vs. Sami so many times at this point that it feels like overkill but they’ll be able to put on a classic performance at ‘Mania including emotion and moves that we have yet to see from either Superstar since they’ve both been on the main roster.
Dolph Ziggler is an interesting case because WWE never took the time to explain his character. Fans are confused as to whether they’re supposed to cheer or boo when he comes out.
He was clearly a heel when he vacated the US Title and disappeared for a short time but since he’s come back he’s felt like a babyface. He’s attacked mainly heels but also some faces along the way. Maybe he’s supposed to be playing a real “tweener” but it’d be nice to get a little clarity. We all know Ziggler is one of the best in-ring performers in the WWE and he’s technically one of the company’s most decorated champions in history.
A win here for Ziggler could be career-changing but it’s not going to happen. I don’t see Ziggler holding the “top belt” on any brand in the foreseeable future, but that’s not due to any fault of his own. He just doesn’t seem to be a priority in the eyes of the WWE brass.
Baron Corbin might as well not even be in this match.
While he’s shown improvement he still comes off very robotic to me, and the way he’s been booked since losing his Money in the Bank briefcase hasn’t done him any favors either. Corbin constantly looks like a big, dumb oaf.
It’s like he can get by to a certain extent on just his size and athletic ability but those things will only get him so far up the WWE card. I really think he needs dramatic improvement with his movement and mic skills. Being in the ring with all of these talented Superstars in this match will help him improve but Corbin definitely isn’t winning this thing.
That leaves AJ Styles, who I honestly believe is the best overall pro wrestler in the world in any company right now.
Due to the process of elimination here it’s obvious that he’s my pick to win this match and retain the WWE Championship. There’s not much to say here other than that this Six-Pack Challenge is just one last speed-bump on AJ’s road to a match against Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania.
Next: WWE Raw's Biggest Losers This Week
There is absolutely no reason for WWE to do anything other than AJ vs. Nakamura because it’s the perfect match that all of the fans have wanted to see since the last time the two squared off in New Japan. Because of these reasons, “face that runs the place” will walk out of Fastlane still being the “champ that runs the camp”. For the sake of making a pick, I’ll say that AJ makes Corbin tap out to the Calf Crusher for the win.