Fastlane (2016)

The 2016 Fastlane was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the second Fastlane and took place on February 21, 2016, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. This was the last Fastlane to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July.

Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match to become the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to face Triple H at WrestleMania 32. In other prominent matches, AJ Styles defeated Chris Jericho, and Charlotte defeated Brie Bella to retain the WWE Divas Championship.

Production

Background

In February 2015, WWE held a pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event titled Fastlane. The name of the event was chosen as a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania", being held in the two-month period between the Royal Rumble and WWE's flagship event. On September 26, 2015, a second Fastlane event was scheduled for February 21, 2016, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, thus establishing Fastlane as an annual pay-per-view for the promotion.

Storylines

The event comprised eight matches, including one of the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television programs, Raw and SmackDown.

At the Royal Rumble, Triple H won the Royal Rumble match by eliminating WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On the following night on Raw, Stephanie McMahon scheduled a triple threat match featuring the rumble runner-up Ambrose, the previous champion Reigns, and Brock Lesnar at the event, with the winner facing Triple H at WrestleMania 32 for the title.

At the Royal Rumble, Kalisto defeated Alberto Del Rio to win the WWE United States Championship. Del Rio then invoked his rematch clause to face Kalisto for the title at the event. The match was later moved to the Fastlane Kickoff pre-show, with Del Rio challenging Kalisto to a two-out-of-three falls match.

On the February 1 episode of Raw, Brie Bella defeated WWE Divas Champion Charlotte in a non-title match, earning a title match against Charlotte at the event.

On the same episode of Raw, Sasha Banks split from Team B.A.D., thus turning face, causing her former teammates Naomi and Tamina to attack Banks during her match against Becky Lynch. Lynch assisted Banks, setting up a tag team match between the two teams for the event.

Kevin Owens won his second Intercontinental Championship on the February 15 episode of Raw in a fatal five-way match also involving Tyler Breeze, Dolph Ziggler, Stardust and then-champion Dean Ambrose. Ziggler, who had defeated Owens in the previous two weeks on Raw, then challenged Owens to an Intercontinental Championship match at the event, with the match being confirmed for the event despite Owens refusing the challenge.

On the February 15 episode of Raw, an installment of The Cutting Edge Peep Show, hosted by Edge and Christian, was announced for the event, with WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods) as their special guests.

The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Braun Strowman, and Erick Rowan) began feuding with Big Show, Kane, and Ryback, with The Wyatt Family attacking the trio, after Wyatt's victory over Kane on the January 25 episode of Raw, Big Show's victory over Rowan on the February 1 episode of Raw and Wyatt's victory over Ryback a week later. On the February 15 episode of Raw, Big Show defeated Strowman by disqualification after the Wyatt Family attacked Big Show. During the post-match, Ryback and Kane came out to assist Big Show, setting up a six-man tag team match for the event, with Big Show, Kane and Ryback facing Rowan, Strowman and fellow Wyatt Family member Harper for the event.

AJ Styles made his WWE debut during the Royal Rumble match. On the following night on Raw, Styles defeated Chris Jericho. Jericho then defeated Styles in a rematch on the February 11 episode of SmackDown. On the following episode on Raw, Styles challenged Jericho to a third match at Fastlane, which Jericho accepted on the following episode of SmackDown.

Event

Pre-show

During the Fastlane Kickoff pre-show, Kalisto defended the United States Championship against Alberto Del Rio in a two out of three falls match. Kalisto won the first fall by disqualification after Del Rio attacked him with a chair. Del Rio won the second fall after a Double Foot Stomp on Kalisto, who was hanging on the middle rope. Kalisto pinned Del Rio with a roll-up to win the third fall and retain the title.

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks facing Team B.A.D. (Naomi and Tamina). The match ended when Banks applied the Banks Statement on Tamina whilst Lynch applied the Dis-arm-her on Naomi, who both submitted simultaneously.

Next, Kevin Owens defended the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler. Owens executed a Pop Up Powerbomb on Ziggler to retain the title.

After that, The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, and Braun Strowman) faced Big Show, Kane, and Ryback. Ryback executed Shell Shocked on Harper to win the match for his team.

In the fourth match, Charlotte defended the Divas Championship against Brie Bella. Charlotte forced Brie to submit to the Figure Eight Leglock to retain the title.

In the fifth match, AJ Styles faced Chris Jericho. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho Styles touched the ropes, forcing Jericho to break the hold. Jericho executed a Codebreaker on Styles but Styles's arm being under the bottom rope voided the pinfall. Styles executed a Styles Clash on Jericho for a near-fall. Styles forced Jericho to submit to the Calf Crusher to win the match.

Edge and Christian hosted the Cutting Edge Peep Show, with WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods), who first insulted Edge and Christian but then began to insult The League of Nations (Sheamus, King Barrett, Alberto Del Rio, and Rusev). When The League of Nations appeared, The New Day left the ring with Edge and Christian.

In an unannounced penultimate match, Curtis Axel (accompanied by Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, and Heath Slater) faced R-Truth. Axel won the match by pinning R-Truth with a roll up.

Main event

In the main event, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) fought to determine the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32. To start the match, Lesnar performed two German Suplexes on Reigns, before Ambrose got involved. The action spilled at ringside, where Lesnar threw Reigns into the barricade. As Ambrose attempted a Suicide Dive, Lesnar reversed it into an Overhead Belly-to-Belly Suplex. Back to the ring, Lesnar performed two more German Suplexes and an F-5 on Reigns, but Ambrose avoided a pinfall at a two count. Lesnar performed three German Suplexes and attempted an F-5 on Ambrose, but Reigns performed a Spear on Lesnar for a nearfall, saving Ambrose. Reigns performed a Superman Punch on Lesnar, taking him out of the ring. As Reigns attempted a second Superman Punch, Lesnar reversed it into a second F-5 attempt on an announce table, but Ambrose attacked Lesnar with a low-blow, which was followed by a Double Powerbomb from Reigns and Ambrose on Lesnar through the announce table. After brawling themselves, Reigns and Ambrose stopped Lesnar from returning to the match with a second Double Powerbomb through a second announce table. Reigns and Ambrose buried Lesnar under the pieces of the two announce tables. Ambrose performed a Dirty Deeds on Reigns for a nearfall. Lesnar jumped back to the ring and performed a Double German Suplex on Reigns and Ambrose, while the last was on the shoulders of the first. Reigns performed a second Spear on Lesnar and Lesnar performed a Kimura Lock on Reigns, but Ambrose attacked both men with a chair. When Lesnar rolled out of the ring after one more chair shot from Ambrose, Reigns performed a Spear from a high jump on Ambrose for a pinfall. Aftermath, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H came out and stared down Reigns at the ring.