Fastlane (2023)

The 2023 Fastlane was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the seventh and final Fastlane and took place on Saturday, October 7, 2023, at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the first Fastlane held since 2021, the first to take place on a Saturday, and the first to be held in October. This was WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event held in Indianapolis since Clash of Champions in September 2016, which was at the same arena when it was known as Bankers Life Fieldhouse (renamed in 2021). The event also replaced Extreme Rules, which was held in October the previous year and was discontinued in 2023. It was also the first and only Fastlane to livestream on Peacock.

The name of the event originally referred to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania", however, this was dropped for 2023 due to the event taking place six months after WrestleMania 39. This was also WWE's first major main roster event in which the company was not owned and controlled by the McMahon family after WWE was sold to Endeavor. The sale was finalized on September 12, 2023, with WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship merging to become divisions of a new entity called TKO Group Holdings, subsequently marking WWE's first major main roster event under TKO.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, which was the main match from Raw, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. In another prominent match, which was SmackDown's main match, John Cena and LA Knight defeated The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa). The event's pre-show also marked the first appearance of Jade Cargill in WWE, while the main pay-per-view featured the full-time return of Carlito to WWE since May 2010, and he became a member of the SmackDown brand in the process during the event.

Production

Background

Fastlane is a professional wrestling event first produced by WWE in 2015. It was held annually until 2019 when it was discontinued a first time but was reinstated in 2021, but was again discontinued. On June 20, 2023, however, WWE announced the revival of the event, with the seventh Fastlane scheduled for Saturday, October 7, 2023, at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This marked the first Fastlane held in October and on a Saturday. This was WWE's first pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held in Indianapolis since Clash of Champions in September 2016, which was at the same arena when it was formerly known as Bankers Life Fieldhouse (renamed in 2021). In addition to airing on traditional PPV, the event was livestreamed on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets, in turn marking the first and only Fastlane for which U.S. subscribers could only livestream the event via Peacock, due to the American version of the WWE Network ceasing operations two weeks after the 2021 event. This was also the first WWE pay-per-view event to livestream on Abema in Japan after Abema and WWE inked the deal to make Abema as its exclusive home for WWE Network in Japan on September 28, 2023. Tickets went on sale on July 14 via Ticketmaster.

The name of the event was originally a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania", as Fastlane was held in the two-month period between the Royal Rumble and WWE's flagship event. With Fastlane's revival for 2023, however, this theme was dropped due to the event taking place six months after WrestleMania 39. The 2023 event also replaced Extreme Rules, which had been held in October the previous year and was discontinued in 2023 after WWE discontinued some of its gimmick events.

From January 2023, there had been speculation that WWE had been placed up for sale. Hours before WrestleMania 39 Night 2 began, CNBC reported via multiple sources that a deal between WWE and Endeavor, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) via Zuffa, was imminent. The deal involved a merger of WWE with the UFC into a new publicly traded company, with Endeavor holding a 51% stake. The sale was confirmed the next day on April 3 and was finalized on September 12, with WWE merging with the UFC to become divisions of TKO Group Holdings. The 2023 Fastlane was in turn the first major main roster event held in which WWE was not owned and controlled by the McMahon family, and subsequently the first major main roster event under TKO.

Storylines

The event included five matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

At Payback, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, Nakamura viciously attacked Rollins, requiring medical personnel to assist Rollins out of the arena. On the following episode of Raw, as he was unhappy with the post-match incident, Rollins challenged Nakamura to a title rematch later that night; however, Nakamura declined, wanting to do it on his own terms. A brawl then ensued with Nakamura getting the upper hand. The fighting would continue over the next couple of weeks until the September 18 episode when a frustrated Rollins stated that Nakamura could choose the place, time, and stipulation for their championship rematch. The following week, Nakamura accepted Rollins' proposal, choosing a Last Man Standing match at Fastlane.

On the September 1 episode of SmackDown, John Cena made his return to WWE, which was his first appearance since Money in the Bank in July. He was interrupted by Jimmy Uso, who claimed the fans wanted to see him instead. Cena responded that Jimmy should have quit WWE instead of Jey Uso and then performed an Attitude Adjustment on Jimmy. Two weeks later, Cena was a guest on Grayson Waller's talkshow "The Grayson Waller Effect", only for Jimmy to interrupt again. Solo Sikoa also came out and feigned attacking Jimmy due to the latter's recent internal issues with The Bloodline, however, Sikoa and Jimmy instead attacked Cena, who was saved by AJ Styles. The following week, Cena and Styles challenged Jimmy and Sikoa to a tag team match for that night; however, after WWE official Adam Pearce conferred with Bloodline manager Paul Heyman, the match was scheduled for Fastlane. A contract signing for the match was setup to happen later that night; however, Jimmy and Sikoa brutally attacked Styles backstage. Styles was subsequently taken to a hospital, leaving Cena to confront The Bloodline alone and they laid out Cena in the ring. On September 25, WWE announced that Cena would be facing Jimmy and Sikoa in a handicap match at Fastlane. On that Friday's SmackDown, however, after Cena received another beatdown from The Bloodline, LA Knight made the save and signed the contract to be Cena's partner, which was made official—Cena had previously praised Knight at Payback after serving as the special guest referee for Knight's match at that event.

At SummerSlam, Iyo Sky cashed in her Money in the Bank contract and won the WWE Women's Championship right after Asuka had lost the title in the prior match. Following this, Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Sky) began feuding with Asuka, as well as Charlotte Flair, who sided with Asuka. On the September 29 episode of SmackDown, Flair stated that after defeating Bayley that night, she would challenge Sky for the title at Fastlane. After Flair defeated Bayley, Damage CTRL surrounded the ring in an attempt to attack Flair, however, Asuka came out to assist Flair. Bayley subsequently accepted the challenge on behalf of Sky for her to defend the WWE Women's Championship against Flair and Asuka in a triple threat match at Fastlane, much to the dismay of Sky.

On the September 22 episode of SmackDown, Latino World Order (LWO) members United States Champion Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar defeated Bobby Lashley's accomplices The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). Following the match, Lashley was disappointed in The Street Profits' performance and told them that if they could not win, he would find others who could. The following week, after a United States Championship match between Mysterio and Escobar, The Street Profits came out and attacked the two, which pleased Lashley. Fellow LWO members Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro came out to even the odds only for The Street Profits to overpower them. Later, Mysterio issued a challenge, pitting the LWO (Mysterio, Escobar, and either Wilde or Toro) against Lashley and The Street Profits in a six-man tag team match at Fastlane. The next day on SmackDown LowDown, Lashley accepted the challenge. On the next week's SmackDown, however, The Street Profits took out both Wilde and Toro, and it was later revealed that neither would be cleared for Fastlane. LWO's Zelina Vega worried about how they could compete being outnumbered, but Mysterio said he would make a phone call.