So while I felt that Elimination Chamber was going to be the easiest PPV to predict, I was obviously wrong since I made more than a few incorrect predictions, but I have a feeling that this "speed bump" on the Road to Wrestlemania is going to be a lot easier to predict. But you never know how they might play this out, because there have been some surprises at Fastlane in the past. So let's look at the card and see A: how I hope it's going to shake out and B: how I predict it's going to shake out. The two can sometimes be the same, so let's find out!
I'm not going to bother with predicting which match will come when, with the exception of the kickoff show, so let's start with that, which is the match between Rey Mysterio vs Andrade. This has been a pretty awesome rivalry so far, and I'm A: shocked that this is not going to culminate at Mania, and B: kind of shocked that this is a kickoff show match. The thing is that this match, like all of their other one-on-one encounters, is going to be awesome. It's not going to be a Meltzer 5-Star match, but it's going to be a lot of fun to watch these two go at it. And in a way, I also sort of understand why they're putting this on the kickoff. All of the other matches (with two major exceptions) are for championships, and while I think this would be a solid mid-show match, if you have a friend that you're trying to get into watching a WWE pay-per-view, you'd probably want to show two of your most dynamically physical performers go at it to give a taste of what a really terrific match could look like. Of course, I don't really expect any of the other matches on the card to be as athletically stunning as a match between two of the premiere luchadores in the business. And I know that Rey is reaching the twilight years of his career and this should be the opportunity to put a younger performer over because Andrade has really gotten our attention after being incredible in the back-end of his NXT run to being an afterthought for months on the main roster. And I know that's it's kind of a shocker that people that watch these PPVs might also not watch NXT yet, but this should be a terrific showcase for these performers, but I can absolutely see Andrade going over, likely with an assist from the always-reliable Zelina Vega. But I can also see them putting Rey over because beyond this rivalry, I don't know if Vince has any real long-term plans for Andrade.
Hope: Andrade picks up the win after some interference by Zelina Vega
Prediction: Rey Mysterio wins
Next, let's talk about the title match for the Women's Tag belts with the Boss 'N Hug Connection defending against Nia Jax and Tamina. With Sasha and Bayley appearing on NXT saying that they're prepared to defend these titles anywhere and with any team, it seems extremely unlikely they'll drop these titles. But Vince might prefer to have this belt play some hot potato, and also get a solid heel team defending at Mania. But from a different perspective, it makes more sense to have a true babyface team defending at Mania since there aren't any more automatic rematches and let's face it; all of the other women's titles are taking a very distant backseat to the Becky/Charlotte/Ronda feud, so these matchups are going to be afterthoughts for the Women's division until after Mania.
Hope: The Boss 'N Hug Connection retain
Prediction: The Boss 'N Hug Connection retain
Now let's get into the one of the other tag matches, and that's the Smackdown Tag title match between The Usos defending against The Miz and Shane McMahon. I've been saying it since they started this story after The Saudi Arabia Show That Shall Not Be Named that the program for Shane and Miz is going to be a one-on-one match at Mania, and I think that this match will be the determining factor for that from a storytelling point of view. First of all, historically, WWE seems to love having superstars come up short in their hometowns, and since this is taking place in Miz's hometown, the story kind of tells itself. Secondly, do they really want to do 50/50 booking with this title? That would be a little stupid, but it's been done before. And since The New Day (except Kofi) don't have anything that will carry them into Mania, do we want to see another New Day/Usos match? Well, actually, I do. The title matches between The Usos and New Day over the course of the last few years have been historically pretty awesome, so I wouldn't mind seeing that on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Also a truly interesting angle to play going into Shane vs Miz at Mania would be if Shane was the one to turn heel on him. I know Shane is supposed to be the "likable" McMahon, and that's why it would be potentially so compelling.
Hope: The Usos retain by Miz accidentally causing the loss for his team
Prediction: The Usos retain
And let's wrap up all this tag talk and get into the Raw Tag title match which is going to be a triple threat between champs The Revival vs Bobby Roode and Chad Gable vs Aleister Black and Ricochet. This is a real head-scratcher to be honest. First off, I hate multi-team tag matches. It always looks too cluttered and it's not really any kind of traditional triple threat. The same rules don't apply, and the other teams being able to tag in on whoever they want; it's just a mess. Secondly, this is the second tag match where they just decided to throw in the previous champions despite the no-automatic-rematch thing. This is another area on Raw where they're just deciding to ignore any real storytelling in favor of the more popular storylines going on there now. Let's look at the players involved, though, in order to get more perspective on where my head's at: we have The Revival, a team that, despite being the Raw Tag champs, have been getting fucked by having first Ciampa and Gargano going over on them three weeks ago, and Aleister and Ricochet going over them two weeks ago, triggering the tag title match they had this past week that was schmozzed up by Roode and Gable. I don't see the value of having Ricochet and Aleister staying a tag team for any considerable length of time since they're both such dynamic singles competitors, and pushing them to the mood for a tag title just doesn't make any sense. And having Roode and Gable as a tag team is okay, considering they've played it up as this mentor/student relationship, but the IWC has been talking about how The Revival is one of the the three or four real tag teams on either roster, and how they deserve this title run and I, for one, happen to agree.
Hope: The Revival retains pinning Roode and Gable
Prediction: The Revival retains
So let's keep things going with the dudes, and talk about the WWE Championship match between champ The New Daniel Bryan vs Kevin Owens. This is a no-brainer. I don't see Daniel Bryan dropping the title before Mania. They're not going to swerve it to a freshly-returned KO, especially a babyface KO. Everyone knows that this is a placeholder match until Kofi can take on D-Bry at Mania. It's the natural evolution of this storyline, and I honestly don't see this turning into a triple-threat match either. I can almost guarantee you that this is going to have a similar trajectory to the Becky/Charlotte/Ronda storyline, and let me tell you why: Kofi is the new surprise organic breakout star in the same way that Becky was, and now everyone's chanting his name and bringing the "KofiMania" signs. And now we have a situation where Kofi was supposed to take him on at this PPV but was replaced by Vince with KO; it's literally the same story, except as of right now, Kofi and Kevin have no beef. I don't know what their plans are with Owens, but I wouldn't mind seeing Kingston and KO square off for the match slot at Mania, because if they're going to tell the exact same story, they should mix it up a bit. Anyway, back to the actual match at hand. Bryan is not dropping, period. This should be a good match, unless Rowan gets involved really early, or what would be really interesting is just to have Daniel walk out with Rowan, and then as soon as the bell rings, they just leave and retain via DQ. But since The New Day are going to be there, I'm guessing there's going to be shenanigans on the outside between Big E, Xavier, Kofi and Rowan.
Hope: Daniel Bryan retains via DQ caused by Rowan
Prediction: Daniel Bryan retains
Now let's talk about what will likely be the show closer and that's going to be the last ride of The Shield against Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin. Actually, let's not talk about this at all. If you think that if, in what is likely to be the very last time we'll see The Shield all together, that they're not going over, you're insane.
Hope: The Shield wins, and triple powerbombs all the heels through four of the announce tables because Lio Rush is going to be out there
Prediction: The Shield wins
Let's finish it up with the ladies, because these are also going to be easy to call. Let's discuss the Smackdown Women's title match with champion Asuka vs Mandy Rose. Unless there's something really weird going on backstage that no one is talking about, I don't see anything to Mandy Rose other than a modicum of skill and an classically attractive woman. Asuka is a killer, a terminator, a destroyer. Everything regarding the attempt to build Mandy as any kind of real contender has been embarrassing and something that WWE should be really ashamed of. Every time they seem to want to take a step forward towards equality, they end up taking two steps back. Anyway, I'm sure that Mandy is very nice in reality, but she doesn't deserve this spot and the only reason she has it is because, for whatever reason, they're keeping Sonya Deville in their back pocket, and hopefully it's because she's going to be Asuka's contender at Mania. Some genuine LGBTQ+ representation in WWE would be a good thing to actually do more than just pay the bare minimum of lip service to.
Hope: Asuka retains by getting the Asuka Lock on both Rose and Deville
Prediction: Asuka retains
And now onto the other main attraction, and that's the matchup between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. We know the stipulation: if Becky wins, she gets to join Charlotte and Ronda Rousey in the main event of Wrestlemania, and if she loses, she's out of Mania. Now, interestingly enough, Ronda did an expletive-loaded work/shoot video on her YouTube page about how she hates the fans and can do whatever she wants because she's wealthy enough to not care about what happens in WWE, and she doesn't care about kayfabe and said that's it's all bullshit. In storyline, she says that she's felt this way since Survivor Series when Angelenos were booing her in her hometown, but if she's really felt this way since then, why has she been playing babyface since then? Why hasn't she been destroying everyone, regardless of face or heel on the roster? It still feels like that this was something that was done on the fly, but it works for Rousey and her new heel persona, although I'm a little shocked if this video was WWE-approved, since it is definitely not part of the PG era. If she wants to be the new Brock Lesnar, that's fine. But I can guarantee you that she's going to try to interfere, or she's going to do a post-match run-in. And that's only going to make Becky look better when she wins. Bear in mind, I stated "when" and not "if" because they're not going to screw The Man here.
Hope: Becky Lynch wins despite a run-in by Rousey
Prediction: Becky Lynch wins and gets a post-match beatdown by Rousey
Well, that's it for this Fastlane edition of Hopes and Predictions! I have a strong feeling that I'm going to get a higher score on my predictions than normal. Join me again on Sunday night as I post my live reaction and recap blog of Fastlane, and of course, the recaps of Raw, Smackdown Live and NXT during this upcoming week!
Until next time, kids...
I'm not going to bother with predicting which match will come when, with the exception of the kickoff show, so let's start with that, which is the match between Rey Mysterio vs Andrade. This has been a pretty awesome rivalry so far, and I'm A: shocked that this is not going to culminate at Mania, and B: kind of shocked that this is a kickoff show match. The thing is that this match, like all of their other one-on-one encounters, is going to be awesome. It's not going to be a Meltzer 5-Star match, but it's going to be a lot of fun to watch these two go at it. And in a way, I also sort of understand why they're putting this on the kickoff. All of the other matches (with two major exceptions) are for championships, and while I think this would be a solid mid-show match, if you have a friend that you're trying to get into watching a WWE pay-per-view, you'd probably want to show two of your most dynamically physical performers go at it to give a taste of what a really terrific match could look like. Of course, I don't really expect any of the other matches on the card to be as athletically stunning as a match between two of the premiere luchadores in the business. And I know that Rey is reaching the twilight years of his career and this should be the opportunity to put a younger performer over because Andrade has really gotten our attention after being incredible in the back-end of his NXT run to being an afterthought for months on the main roster. And I know that's it's kind of a shocker that people that watch these PPVs might also not watch NXT yet, but this should be a terrific showcase for these performers, but I can absolutely see Andrade going over, likely with an assist from the always-reliable Zelina Vega. But I can also see them putting Rey over because beyond this rivalry, I don't know if Vince has any real long-term plans for Andrade.
Hope: Andrade picks up the win after some interference by Zelina Vega
Prediction: Rey Mysterio wins
Next, let's talk about the title match for the Women's Tag belts with the Boss 'N Hug Connection defending against Nia Jax and Tamina. With Sasha and Bayley appearing on NXT saying that they're prepared to defend these titles anywhere and with any team, it seems extremely unlikely they'll drop these titles. But Vince might prefer to have this belt play some hot potato, and also get a solid heel team defending at Mania. But from a different perspective, it makes more sense to have a true babyface team defending at Mania since there aren't any more automatic rematches and let's face it; all of the other women's titles are taking a very distant backseat to the Becky/Charlotte/Ronda feud, so these matchups are going to be afterthoughts for the Women's division until after Mania.
Hope: The Boss 'N Hug Connection retain
Prediction: The Boss 'N Hug Connection retain
Now let's get into the one of the other tag matches, and that's the Smackdown Tag title match between The Usos defending against The Miz and Shane McMahon. I've been saying it since they started this story after The Saudi Arabia Show That Shall Not Be Named that the program for Shane and Miz is going to be a one-on-one match at Mania, and I think that this match will be the determining factor for that from a storytelling point of view. First of all, historically, WWE seems to love having superstars come up short in their hometowns, and since this is taking place in Miz's hometown, the story kind of tells itself. Secondly, do they really want to do 50/50 booking with this title? That would be a little stupid, but it's been done before. And since The New Day (except Kofi) don't have anything that will carry them into Mania, do we want to see another New Day/Usos match? Well, actually, I do. The title matches between The Usos and New Day over the course of the last few years have been historically pretty awesome, so I wouldn't mind seeing that on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Also a truly interesting angle to play going into Shane vs Miz at Mania would be if Shane was the one to turn heel on him. I know Shane is supposed to be the "likable" McMahon, and that's why it would be potentially so compelling.
Hope: The Usos retain by Miz accidentally causing the loss for his team
Prediction: The Usos retain
And let's wrap up all this tag talk and get into the Raw Tag title match which is going to be a triple threat between champs The Revival vs Bobby Roode and Chad Gable vs Aleister Black and Ricochet. This is a real head-scratcher to be honest. First off, I hate multi-team tag matches. It always looks too cluttered and it's not really any kind of traditional triple threat. The same rules don't apply, and the other teams being able to tag in on whoever they want; it's just a mess. Secondly, this is the second tag match where they just decided to throw in the previous champions despite the no-automatic-rematch thing. This is another area on Raw where they're just deciding to ignore any real storytelling in favor of the more popular storylines going on there now. Let's look at the players involved, though, in order to get more perspective on where my head's at: we have The Revival, a team that, despite being the Raw Tag champs, have been getting fucked by having first Ciampa and Gargano going over on them three weeks ago, and Aleister and Ricochet going over them two weeks ago, triggering the tag title match they had this past week that was schmozzed up by Roode and Gable. I don't see the value of having Ricochet and Aleister staying a tag team for any considerable length of time since they're both such dynamic singles competitors, and pushing them to the mood for a tag title just doesn't make any sense. And having Roode and Gable as a tag team is okay, considering they've played it up as this mentor/student relationship, but the IWC has been talking about how The Revival is one of the the three or four real tag teams on either roster, and how they deserve this title run and I, for one, happen to agree.
Hope: The Revival retains pinning Roode and Gable
Prediction: The Revival retains
So let's keep things going with the dudes, and talk about the WWE Championship match between champ The New Daniel Bryan vs Kevin Owens. This is a no-brainer. I don't see Daniel Bryan dropping the title before Mania. They're not going to swerve it to a freshly-returned KO, especially a babyface KO. Everyone knows that this is a placeholder match until Kofi can take on D-Bry at Mania. It's the natural evolution of this storyline, and I honestly don't see this turning into a triple-threat match either. I can almost guarantee you that this is going to have a similar trajectory to the Becky/Charlotte/Ronda storyline, and let me tell you why: Kofi is the new surprise organic breakout star in the same way that Becky was, and now everyone's chanting his name and bringing the "KofiMania" signs. And now we have a situation where Kofi was supposed to take him on at this PPV but was replaced by Vince with KO; it's literally the same story, except as of right now, Kofi and Kevin have no beef. I don't know what their plans are with Owens, but I wouldn't mind seeing Kingston and KO square off for the match slot at Mania, because if they're going to tell the exact same story, they should mix it up a bit. Anyway, back to the actual match at hand. Bryan is not dropping, period. This should be a good match, unless Rowan gets involved really early, or what would be really interesting is just to have Daniel walk out with Rowan, and then as soon as the bell rings, they just leave and retain via DQ. But since The New Day are going to be there, I'm guessing there's going to be shenanigans on the outside between Big E, Xavier, Kofi and Rowan.
Hope: Daniel Bryan retains via DQ caused by Rowan
Prediction: Daniel Bryan retains
Now let's talk about what will likely be the show closer and that's going to be the last ride of The Shield against Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin. Actually, let's not talk about this at all. If you think that if, in what is likely to be the very last time we'll see The Shield all together, that they're not going over, you're insane.
Hope: The Shield wins, and triple powerbombs all the heels through four of the announce tables because Lio Rush is going to be out there
Prediction: The Shield wins
Let's finish it up with the ladies, because these are also going to be easy to call. Let's discuss the Smackdown Women's title match with champion Asuka vs Mandy Rose. Unless there's something really weird going on backstage that no one is talking about, I don't see anything to Mandy Rose other than a modicum of skill and an classically attractive woman. Asuka is a killer, a terminator, a destroyer. Everything regarding the attempt to build Mandy as any kind of real contender has been embarrassing and something that WWE should be really ashamed of. Every time they seem to want to take a step forward towards equality, they end up taking two steps back. Anyway, I'm sure that Mandy is very nice in reality, but she doesn't deserve this spot and the only reason she has it is because, for whatever reason, they're keeping Sonya Deville in their back pocket, and hopefully it's because she's going to be Asuka's contender at Mania. Some genuine LGBTQ+ representation in WWE would be a good thing to actually do more than just pay the bare minimum of lip service to.
Hope: Asuka retains by getting the Asuka Lock on both Rose and Deville
Prediction: Asuka retains
And now onto the other main attraction, and that's the matchup between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. We know the stipulation: if Becky wins, she gets to join Charlotte and Ronda Rousey in the main event of Wrestlemania, and if she loses, she's out of Mania. Now, interestingly enough, Ronda did an expletive-loaded work/shoot video on her YouTube page about how she hates the fans and can do whatever she wants because she's wealthy enough to not care about what happens in WWE, and she doesn't care about kayfabe and said that's it's all bullshit. In storyline, she says that she's felt this way since Survivor Series when Angelenos were booing her in her hometown, but if she's really felt this way since then, why has she been playing babyface since then? Why hasn't she been destroying everyone, regardless of face or heel on the roster? It still feels like that this was something that was done on the fly, but it works for Rousey and her new heel persona, although I'm a little shocked if this video was WWE-approved, since it is definitely not part of the PG era. If she wants to be the new Brock Lesnar, that's fine. But I can guarantee you that she's going to try to interfere, or she's going to do a post-match run-in. And that's only going to make Becky look better when she wins. Bear in mind, I stated "when" and not "if" because they're not going to screw The Man here.
Hope: Becky Lynch wins despite a run-in by Rousey
Prediction: Becky Lynch wins and gets a post-match beatdown by Rousey
Well, that's it for this Fastlane edition of Hopes and Predictions! I have a strong feeling that I'm going to get a higher score on my predictions than normal. Join me again on Sunday night as I post my live reaction and recap blog of Fastlane, and of course, the recaps of Raw, Smackdown Live and NXT during this upcoming week!
Until next time, kids...
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