WWE Adds Last-Minute United States Championship Match to Fastlane Card

WWE changed up the Fastlane card less than an hour before the show got started on Sunday, adding a [...]

By Connor Casey

WWE changed up the Fastlane card less than an hour before the show got started on Sunday, adding a four-way United States Championship match to the main card.

The event's pre-show originally had Rey Mysterio taking on Andrade in the latest match in their feud. But after new US Champion Samoa Joe said he'd be willing to take on all comers in a backstage promo with Carmella and Zelina Vega, the WWE announced that the four-way would take place.

The four-way is a rematch from this week's episode of SmackDown Live, in which then-champion R-Truth agreed to take on Joe, Mysterio and Andrade in an open challenge match because that's what his "childhood hero" John Cena would do. Joe wound up winning the match by pinning Andrade.

Later in the evening Joe wound up successfully retaining his title against his three opponents, this time by knocking out Mysterio with his Coquina Clutch submission.

The sudden card change was just one of many surprises during Sunday's show from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the earliest developments came on the pre-show when Kofi Kingston was told to meet the McMahon family at their office to discuss the WWE Championship match later in the evening. After waiting for more than an hour the New Day stormed the office and pleaded Kingston's case to Vince McMahon, who eventually agreed to make the WWE Championship match a triple threat and told Kingston to head to the ring.

But before the match could get underway, the announcer declared that Kingston was actually in a handicap match against Cesaro and Sheamus, and Big E and Xavier Woods were already barred from ringside. The Bar wound up winning the match in dominant fashion in about five mintues, but not before Kingston's stablemates ran down to try and save him only to get jumped from behind by Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev.

McMahon kept true to his word about the WWE Championship match being a triple threat, but decided to add Mustafa Ali to the bout instead of Kingston. Daniel Bryan wound up successfully retaining the title after some assistance from Rowan.

Elsewhere on the show, the Raw Women's Championship match was officially made a triple threat when Ronda Rousey interfered in the Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair match, causing a disqualification that put Lynch in the title match.

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