We've reached the final stop on the Road to WrestleMania -- an extravaganza that will be taking place over the course of two nights in April -- with WWE Fastlane taking center stage on Sunday night. As much as we all want to look ahead to the biggest show of the year, though, we must first focus on the loaded action set to go down at WWE Fastlane on Sunday night inside the state-of-the-art ThunderDome.
In the likely main event of the night, Roman Reigns will be out to continue his dominant run as universal champion when he takes on Daniel Bryan. Edge has already declared his intention to challenge for the title at WrestleMania, a choice he was able to make after winning the Royal Rumble. Edge could also be involved in the match as special enforcer if he defeats Jey Uso on Friday's episode of SmackDown. If Uso wins, he will claim the role, tilting the scales even more in favor of Reigns.
Fastlane goes down Sunday, March 21 from the ThunderDome inside St. Petersburg, Florida's Tropicana Field. The event will begin at 7 p.m. ET following an hour-long kickoff show that begins at 6 p.m.
Let's take a look at how our experts believe Fastlane will play out.
2021 WWE Fastlane predictions
United States Championship: Riddle (c) vs. Mustafa Ali
Riddle simply is not losing the title right now, and especially not against Ali. Ali's main story is his issues with members of the RETRIBUTION faction failing him, with Riddle simply a representation of those failings. This match feels tacked on to the show after Ali already lost a title shot on Raw with no real reason for a rematch. Pick: Riddle retains the title -- Adam Silverstein & Brent Brookhouse
Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
With Rollins clearly scheduled to fight Cesaro at WrestleMania -- despite that match not being announced yet -- it would make little sense for him to lose to Nakamura here. There could perhaps be a scenario where Cesaro interferes and forces a disqualification, but if it gets to a clean finish, Rollins is the one who needs his profile built up after missing months of action while on paternity leave. Pick: Seth Rollins wins -- Silverstein & Brookhouse
Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton
WWE is not going anywhere near Bliss and Orton having a "real match." This is likely nothing more than an elaborate setup for The Fiend to make a dramatic return, setting up an Orton vs. Fiend match for WrestleMania. With that in mind, there's no need to pick a winner here as it's unlikely the match has any sort of actual finish. -- Brookhouse & Silverstein
Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon
My hope is that this match was put on Fastlane instead of WrestleMania because WWE realized fans were not interested in seeing it after an awful segment two weeks ago. However, it seems more likely that this will be a prelude to a 'Mania match, further setting it up in storyline. Therefore, despite not knowing exactly how it will happen, the expectation should either be a disqualification or McMahon finding a way to outsmart Strowman and pick up the win. Pick: Shane McMahon wins -- Silverstein & Brookhouse
Intercontinental Championship: Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews
This is the lone match on the card where the outcome is truly up in the air. Theoretically, Crews has lost to Big E too many times to take another L here, especially considering his remixed character and what appears to be a big push coming his way. However, Big E has been champion less than three months, and there's not a great reason to take the title off him ahead of the biggest event of the year without a planned main event push ahead. Switching the title to Crews and back to Big E just three weeks later at WrestleMania feels like an unnecessary effort, so let's stick with the chalk here. Pick: Big E retains the title -- Silverstein
It feels a little premature to take the belt off of Big E, but Crews' transformation feels like it demands a victory. He lost repeatedly before taking a full step into being a heel, so if a complete overhaul doesn't lead to him getting a win, how effective was the move? With two nights to fill for WrestleMania, it would be easy enough to put the belt on Crews before moving it back to Big E in April, establishing that Crews' character change was meaningful. Pick: Apollo Crews wins the title -- Brookhouse
Women's Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair
WWE far too frequently gets its women's singles champions involved in the tag team title picture, and here we are once again not only with two WrestleMania combatants teaming up unnecessarily but doing it for the second straight month. There is absolutely no reason to change the titles here, and using a tag team loss as a feud kick-starter for Banks and Belair is as unnecessary as the match occurring in the first place. There are plenty of other teams who should be going after the titles at WrestleMania, and there's no reason to double book the champ. Pick: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler retain the titles -- Brookhouse & Silverstein
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (No Holds Barred)
McIntyre losing here simply makes no sense. Sheamus is on one of the best runs of his career in terms of in-ring performances and should be in the WWE title picture, but McIntyre is already established as Bobby Lashley's challenger at WrestleMania. That means he should not be taking a loss here. The match could end in another no contest, forcing a Sheamus vs. McIntyre match on the first night of WrestleMania with the winner getting Lashley on night two -- that's just a theory. If anyone gets their hand raised at Fastlane, it's McIntyre. Pick: Drew McIntyre wins -- Brookhouse & Silverstein
Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Even if WWE decides to add Bryan to the WrestleMania match between Reigns and Edge, it would be shocking if they chose to take the title off of a dominant heel champion going into the biggest event of the year. If Edge or Bryan take the title off of Reigns, it will be done in front of a live crowd to create a "WrestleMania Moment." The action should be hot and Bryan will likely seem to be just on the verge of winning the belt, but between Reigns' camp and a special enforcer (either Edge or Uso), there are enough ways for Bryan to end up taking the loss. Pick: Roman Reigns retains the title -- Brookhouse & Silverstein
