The Fastlane to WrestleMania

Colin Barry

WWE’s Fastlane set the tone on Sunday night finishing off the final pay-per-view before WrestleMania 32. The self-proclaimed Roman Empire defeated Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar in the main event. WWE Superstar Roman Reigns is going to his second consecutive WrestleMania main event after winning the main event of Sunday’s contest.

The three man “Triple Threat” match determines who will be facing current reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H, at WWE’s version of the Super Bowl. This year’s WrestleMania will be held in the Dallas Cowboy’s AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, which is the largest arena in the United States.

Reigns, Ambrose, and Lesnar made their way out to the ring, ready to make their claim of being the number one contender and achieving the high honor of competing in the main event of WrestleMania.

The three men wrestled in what can be called an all-out brawl. Lesnar threw several of his destructive German suplexes to both Ambrose and Reigns. However, the two were able to give Lesnar two powerbombs through both commentary tables.

The crowd at Fastlane is firmly behind Ambrose more than Lesnar and Reigns. After taking his friend Reigns down with a clothesline and hitting an elbow drop, the crowd erupted in a “let’s go!” chant.

Lesnar’s size and skills are fading later in the match, as Ambrose is able to get him out of the ring with a clothesline. Ambrose does not realize that he is about to walk into a massive football tackle, or spear in pro-wrestling jargon, from Reigns. Reigns is now the new number one contender, as he and the champion Triple H share piercing stares at each other. This is despite the boos and jeers against Reigns, whom the fans have not been in favor for in quite some time.

Ambrose and Lesnar’s rivalry will now be taking a turn for the extreme, as the two wrestlers are now facing off in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 32, as reported by Bleacher Report.

A No Holds Barred match is an “anything goes” match, where all kinds of weapons can be used and the pinfall can take place anywhere in the AT&T Stadium, or even all over Arlington.

The highly anticipated third matchup between “the Phenomenal One” AJ Styles and the equally brilliant Chris Jericho brought out enthusiasm for both hardcore professional wrestling fans and casual fans.

Early on in the match, Jericho showed no signs of being in his mid-40s, by hitting a mid-air dropkick to an already aerial Style. The two veterans continued to exchange hard-hitting strikes, similar to the matches Styles wrestled overseas in Japan.

Styles hit his finisher the Styles Clash, but Jericho kicks out at two. Jericho takes the match to the outside and hits his own finisher, the Walls of Jericho on Styles in an attempt to wear him down.

After trading off some unique offensive moves between each other, the winner of this “best of three” series is Styles. Jericho taps out to Styles’ Calf Crusher submission maneuver.

The main women’s match on the card is Charlotte, the daughter of wrestling legend Ric Flair successfully defending her WWE Divas Championship against Brie Bella. Bella is the wife of the recently retired Daniel Bryan. Despite Bella wrestling quite well against the champion, Charlotte retains her title after making Bella submit with a modified version of her father’s famous Figure-4 leglock.

Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens defends his newly won title against Dolph Ziggler, in other title match on the main card. The two squared off and event traded back and forth sharp kicks to the face. The intensity and drive of the two wrestlers made the crowd chant, “this is awesome!” Owens hit his signature pop-up powerbomb, where he throws his opponent in the air, and slams them down in a quick, but devastating fashion, and retains his title.

The real dud on the card was a six-man tag match between the bizarre Wyatt Family and a tandem team of Big Show, Kane and Ryback. Kane and Big Show are not lighting the ring on fire at their age, and Ryback is currently floundering with is generic character. However, that did not stop the random team to actually beat the Wyatts. This is yet another big loss for the fan favorite Wyatt Family.

WWE Fastlane 2016 is in the books, and fans are not happy with the results. Especially with Reigns still being treated as the top guy, despite the WWE fanbase wanting Ambrose as the number one wrestler. The Wyatt Family continues to lose even with promises of looking strong. WWE needs to cut out the filler segments on special events, as the fans attending want wrestling, not lame comedy. Styles-Jericho III, the two title matches and the opening match made Fastlane worth checking out for the undercard. WrestleMania season is approaching, and the wrestling world is ready for the Showcase of the Immortals.