Ahead of Sunday’s WWE Fastlane at the Quickens Loan Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, here are some predictions on what to expect from the action.
Roman Reigns to beat Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar and earn the No 1 contenders spot for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
The WWE have done a great job of making Dean Ambrose a serious contender here, and the build-up has been largely focused on him.
But he is not winning on Sunday. Roman Reigns is, as a revenge match with Triple H at WrestleMania 32, is the match the WWE want to close their biggest show of the year on April 3.
Reigns has almost played a supporting role in the lead-up to the encounter, which on the one hand is odd, but has also been refreshing as it has allowed Ambrose to demonstrate he could be a main event player for the WWE, if he was given the chance.
But right now the storyline calls for Reigns to gain his redemption over the Authority, who stacked the deck against him by making him defend the world title in the Royal Rumble match, and he lost the belt after Triple H tossed him out from behind.
Their rivalry goes back to November and should culminate at WrestleMania with Reigns regaining his championship.
Unfortunately Ambrose’s role is to take the pin, but the hope is WWE have something good in mind for him for WrestleMania as he deserves a starring role, even if it is not in the main event.
It may seem weird to have not mentioned Brock Lesnar until now, but Lesnar is not winning this match.
His role is to add some star power, brutalise both men, and then be distracted by the Wyatt family to set up a singles match with Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania.
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Kevin Owens to beat Dolph Ziggler to retain the Intercontinental title
Owens won the Intercontinental title on Monday, and I do not expect to see him lose it on Sunday.
Ziggler beat him twice in successive Raws earlier in the month, but that, in hindsight, was done to set up some intrigue here as Owens faces a man who has had the measure of him of late.
Owens is walking out as champion, probably with some nefarious tactics along the way, and he will carry the belt to WrestleMania where he could face either Sami Zayn or AJ Styles, both men with who he has history with and stories that would write themselves.
Charlotte to beat Brie Bella to retain the Divas title
Charlotte has improved sizeably on the main roster since becoming a heel and aligning herself with her father Ric Flair, and her cutting promos on Brie Bella in the build-up to this programme have been great.
Charlotte is on a collision course with Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch at WrestleMania and this will be a title retention for her.
Brie Bella will have the crowd support, given she is the wife of the now retired Daniel Bryan, and expect some good near falls from her, but she is not leaving with the gold.
AJ Styles to beat Chris Jericho in a singles match
I do not think the result is in too much doubt here. The men are at 1-1 in the series, and Styles, as the younger man, and the newer man to the WWE, needs to go over here.
It is what happens post-match that should be most intriguing. If Jericho reacts violently to losing, or even cheats to win the match, the WWE are setting up a further match at WrestleMania.
Jericho has consistently shown a willingness to put younger talent over, particularly now he is a part-timer, and Styles will come out on top overall, it is just a case of if that is on Sunday or on April 3.
If Styles wins cleanly and Jericho accepts the loss, it is likely to be feud over and both men will move on to different opponents for the build-up to the biggest event of the WWE year.
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The Wyatt Family to beat Ryback, Big Show and Kane in a 3 x 3 tag match
This has been thrown together at the last minute, but this is designed purely to build up the Wyatt Family as a threat ahead of WrestleMania.
They will win this match to set up Bray Wyatt for his likely match against Brock Lesnar, while expect Braun Strowman to be given a good showing with rumours still high that he will get a singles match at WrestleMania too.
It is depressing, however, that every year the WWE have to make up for their poor booking of Wyatt, and his cohorts, by putting them over strong in January and February.
In 2014 they went over The Shield, only for Wyatt to lose to John Cena. Last year, the momentum of Dean Ambrose was sacrificed to make Wyatt look good so he could be a creditable threat to the Undertaker.
At least this year in Ryback, Big Show and Kane, the WWE are not hurting anyone likely to be in a main event spot this year, with the end goal being Wyatt looking strong before losing to Lesnar on April 3.
Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to defeat Naomi and Tamina in a Divas tag match
This should be one of the most predictable matches on the card.
Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch are the unlikely tag partners who will not get on, but will have enough to dispose of Banks’s former Team BAD teammates, before going back to rivals.
The pair will almost certainly go on to challenge for the Divas title at WrestleMania in a triple threat with Charlotte, and this is a good way of keeping them busy and looking strong, while keeping them away from the title picture for a month.
Kallisto to retain the United States title against Alberto Del Rio in a two out of three falls match
This rivalry was great last month as the pair traded the title with wins, and it is surprising they are having a fourth title match in just over a month here.
Presumably it is because Del Rio has little else to do, with the majority of his League of Nations teammates hurt, but given he has already lost twice Kallisto, a probably third loss will only hurt his character more.
Which is a bad thing as the WWE need strong heels right now and Del Rio, if given the chance, could be superb, but the early excitement of his return is being frittered away.
This should be a good match, but Del Rio will need protecting, if as expected, Kallisto holds onto the title.
WWE Fastlane will be televised on the WWE Network, which is available through OSN, on Monday morning in the UAE from 5am.
