Five Storylines to Follow into WWE’s Fastlane

The Road to Wrestlemania passes through Cleveland this weekend at the Fastlane pay per view. As [...]

By Christian Hoffer

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The Road to Wrestlemania passes through Cleveland this weekend at the Fastlane pay per view. As we've discussed before on ComicBook.com, professional wrestling is a bit like a live action comic book, with heroes and villains coming together to do battle for the fate of the world…or for prize belts and glory. Pay per views are the wrestling equivalent to comic events, with different storylines coming together and veering in often unexpected directions. Fastlane holds a special importance on the WWE's calendar since it's the last event before Wrestlemania and gives the promotion a chance to shape the card of its marquee event.

As with all of the WWE's pay per views, new fans can try Fastlane for free by signing up for the WWE Network, the company's streaming platform, prior to the event. So if you're considering giving the WWE a chance, here's some of the company's biggest stories leading into Fastlane:

Who will Main Event Wrestlemania?

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The biggest prize in the WWE is the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. WWE executive Triple H won the championship belt for a fourteenth time during last month's Royal Rumble, stripping the belt off of Roman Reigns during a 30-man battle royale. Triple H promised to defend the title at Wrestlemania, with his opponent to be determined in a Triple Threat match at Fastlane. Reigns, his best friend Dean Ambrose and former WWE and UFC champion Brock Lesnar will duke it out on Sunday for the right to face Triple H in the biggest wrestling match of the year.

All three competitors have compelling reasons to win the triple threat. Reigns has fought Triple H and his company backed "Authority" (a staple consisting of Triple H, his wife Stephanie McMahon and various other wresters) for months and Triple H has caused Reigns to lose the WWE World Heavyweight Championship twice in the last three months. Lesnar is the WWE's biggest name, an unstoppable monster with mainstream appeal, a history of big matches at Wrestlemania and his own axe to grind against Triple H. Dean Ambrose is the wild card, a fan favorite (especially among Internet fans) whose ability to take loads of punishment makes him an ideal candidate to actually defeat Lesnar cleanly.

This match comes with plenty of baggage from all three competitors. Reigns and Lesnar squared off at last year's Wrestlemania, with Reigns almost gaining the upper hand until Seth Rollins interrupted their match to steal the Championship belt. Ambrose and Reigns are longtime allies and friends, although their friendship reached a low point last week when Reigns inadvertently hit Ambrose during a match with Lesnar and Ambrose retaliated. Reigns also beat Ambrose for the WWE title in the finals of a tournament last year, although Ambrose stood by his friend after the match. Finally, Lesnar and Ambrose have had plenty of bad blood in recent weeks, with Ambrose poking "the Beast" to show his bravery and Lesnar retaliating with plenty of suplexes and other attacks.

While most fans speculate that Reigns will win the match as he's being pushed as the next face of the WWE, all three competitors have a decent chance of winning. This match will set up Wrestlemania's biggest storyline, so anything's possible.

The Rise of AJ Styles

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Prior to last January, AJ Styles was the most decorated current American wrestler never to sign with the WWE. With a unique combination of technical and high-flying moves, Styles can draw a top-tier performance out of any opponent and shows fans a captivating story whenever he steps into the ring. Winning titles in Japan and smaller promotions in America, many considered Styles to be one of the top wrestlers in the world, a main eventer on par with anyone on the WWE's roster.

Styles signed a contract with the WWE in January and made his debut in the Royal Rumble. Since then, he's been involved with a feud with Chris Jericho, a popular and decorated wrestler from the WWE's Attitude Era. Over the last month, Jericho and Styles have traded wins, setting up a "rubber match" (a third tie-breaking match) at Fastlane. The Jericho/Styles feud has done a great job introducing Styles to the WWE Universe, and the Fastlane match could be an indicator as to how high Styles' ceiling could be within the WWE.

The Old/New Intercontinental Champion

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In addition to the World Heavyweight Championship, the WWE has two secondary titles: the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship. The Intercontinental Championship in particular has a long history in the WWE and is typically considered as the second biggest prize within the promotion. The Intercontinental Championship changed hands last week when Kevin Owens won the belt in a "Fatal Five Way" match that included former champion Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Tyler Breeze and Stardust (the supervillain themed wrestler feuding with Arrow actor Stephen Amell). Ziggler had previously defeated Owens in consecutive weeks and challenged the new Champion to his first title defense at Fastlane.

Kevin Owens is the best heel (wrestling's term for a bad guy) the WWE has right now and he's become an Internet favorite for his hilarious trashtalking and fantastic wrestling ability. Although he might not look like an elite athlete, Owens is both strong and surprisingly agile and has a number of devastating moves. Since beating John Cena clean in his first appearance (a rarity for the WWE as Cena is the promotion's top and most protected wrestler), Owens hasn't had much direction and hasn't accelerated to main event status like many fans had anticipated. If Owens retains the Intercontinental Title going into Wrestlemania, he might get the big stage match fans have wanted for months.

The Women's Division Takes Shape

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If you're even a casual fan of the WWE, you probably know that WWE "Divas" (the WWE's term for female wrestlers) aren't always treated with the same respect and pedigree as their male counterparts. The WWE has made a concerted effort to change this impression in recent months with the "Divas Revolution", which added talented rookies Charlotte (daughter of wrestling legend Ric Flair), Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to the division to shake things up. Charlotte won the Divas Championship off of longtime champion Nikki Bella, but betrayed her best friend Becky Lynch and began cheating with the help of her father to retain the title.

Payback will feature two women's matches, the first time since 2014 that the WWE has put two Divas matches on a pay per view card. Charlotte will face Brie Bella (Nikki Bella's twin sister and wife of recently retired wrestler Daniel Bryan) in a title match, while uneasy partners Banks and Lynch will team up to face Banks' ex-allies Tamina and Naomi in a tag team match. Brie will probably have the crowd on her side as she recently announced she'll be joining her husband in retirement, and the Sasha/Becky alliance should also get a big pop as both are fan favorites. It's widely expected that the winners of these matches will somehow be featured at Wrestlemania, possibly in a Triple Threat to crown a new Divas Championship.

A Battle of Titans

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Over the past few weeks, the WWE's biggest wrestlers have all been targeted by the Wyatt Family, a cult-like faction of tall, bearded and deranged wrestlers. Bray Wyatt, the leader of the Wyatt Family, wants to tear the "titans" of the WWE down in order to replace them with new gods AKA his own band of wrestlers. So far, the Wyatt Family has attacked Ryback, Kane and the Big Show, beating each one into submission due to superior numbers. Last week, the three big men teamed up to repulse the Wyatt Family, setting up a Tag Team match for Fastlane. Everyone loves watching seven foot wrestlers pummel the crap out of each other, and the Wyatts have one of the more underrated WWE wrestlers in Luke Harper, who has a great creepy look and a fun moveset. Plus, there are rumors that the Wyatts could play a large role in this year's Wrestlemania, so they might turn up to wreck havoc on another match later in the evening.

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