WWE Fastlane

WWE Fastlane is a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. It is broadcast live and has been available through pay-per-view (PPV) and via livestreaming on the WWE Network since 2015 and Peacock since 2021. The event was established in 2015 and replaced Elimination Chamber in the February slot of WWE's pay-per-view calendar; Elimination Chamber was pushed back to May that year. Beginning in 2017, the event moved to March, which made it WWE's first non-WrestleMania PPV to be held in March. In 2023, the event took place in October.

WWE Fastlane
WWE Fastlane logo used since 2019
PromotionsWWE
BrandsRaw (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023–present)
SmackDown (2018–2019, 2021, 2023–present)
First event2015

With the reintroduction of the brand extension in mid-2016, Fastlane was Raw-exclusive in 2017 and SmackDown-exclusive in 2018 before brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued following WrestleMania 34 that year. The event was produced annually until 2020 when Fastlane was removed from the schedule to allow WWE to hold that year's Super ShowDown PPV; however, Fastlane was reinstated in 2021, but it was again discontinued. The 2021 event was also WWE's first PPV available to livestream on Peacock in the United States before the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock and shut down on April 4, which also made it the final PPV available to stream on the American WWE Network before its closure. After a two-year hiatus, Fastlane was again reinstated for 2023.

The name of the event was originally a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania", as the event was held in the two-month period between the Royal Rumble and WWE's flagship event. With the event's revival in 2023, however, this theme was dropped due to Fastlane taking place six months after WrestleMania 39.

History

The American professional wrestling promotion WWE first held Fastlane on February 22, 2015, in Memphis, Tennessee, and it was broadcast live on pay-per-view (PPV) and was livestreamed on the WWE Network. For the 2015 calendar year, it replaced Elimination Chamber, which had been held in February from 2010 to 2014; the 2015 Elimination Chamber was in turn held in May. The name "Fastlane" 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.[1]

The event returned in 2016, also in February, thus establishing Fastlane as an annual PPV for the promotion.[2] In 2017, Fastlane was pushed back to March, with Elimination Chamber returning to its original February slot, which made Fastlane the first non-WrestleMania PPV to be held in March. The 2017 event was also held as a Raw-exclusive show, following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension in mid-2016 where the promotion again split its roster into brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform.[3] The 2018 event was then made a SmackDown-exclusive PPV,[4] but this would be the final SmackDown-exclusive PPV, as well as WWE's final brand-exclusive PPV, as following WrestleMania 34 that year, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued.[5] In 2020, Fastlane was removed from the schedule to allow WWE to hold that year's Super ShowDown PPV;[6] however, Fastlane was reinstated in 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 event was held in WWE's bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.[7]

The 2021 event was WWE's first PPV event to livestream on Peacock's WWE Network channel in the United States, following the merger of the American WWE Network under Peacock on March 18 that year. Fastlane was held during the transitional period (March 18 – April 4) and was simulcast on Peacock and the American WWE Network, which in turn made it the final PPV to air on the American WWE Network as following this transitional period, the American WWE Network shut down on April 4; this did not affect other countries, which maintained the separate WWE Network service (although a few other countries have since branched off onto other livestreaming platforms).[8]

In October 2021, WWE revealed their PPV calendar for 2022 and Fastlane was not included.[9] While there had been a to be announced event for February, on January 17, 2022, this event was revealed as Elimination Chamber.[10] Fastlane was in turn discontinued without a formal announcement. However, on June 20, 2023, after a two-year hiatus, WWE announced that Fastlane had been reinstated for October 7 of that year, dropping its "Road to WrestleMania" theme due to it taking place six months after WrestleMania 39. As WWE resumed live touring in July 2021, the 2023 Fastlane was scheduled for the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, replacing the Extreme Rules in the October slot.[11]

Events
Raw-branded event SmackDown-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Fastlane (2015) February 22, 2015 Memphis, Tennessee FedExForum Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 31 [1]
2 Fastlane (2016) February 21, 2016 Cleveland, Ohio Quicken Loans Arena Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns in a triple threat match for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 32 [2]
3 Fastlane (2017) March 5, 2017 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Bradley Center Kevin Owens (c) vs. Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship [3]
4 Fastlane (2018) March 11, 2018 Columbus, Ohio Nationwide Arena AJ Styles (c) vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn in a Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship [4]
5 Fastlane (2019) March 10, 2019 Cleveland, Ohio Quicken Loans Arena The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) vs. Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre in a six-man tag team match [12]
6 Fastlane (2021) March 21, 2021 St. Petersburg, Florida WWE ThunderDome at Tropicana Field Roman Reigns (c) vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Universal Championship with Edge as the special guest enforcer [7]
7 Fastlane (2023) October 7, 2023 Indianapolis, Indiana Gainbridge Fieldhouse Seth "Freakin" Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship [11]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

References
  1. Caldwell, James (December 8, 2014). "WWE News: February PPV gets a new title (w/Poll)". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  2. Paglino, Nick (September 27, 2015). "WWE Announces Date and Location for 2016 Fastlane PPV". WrestleZone. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  3. Taylor, Scott (December 12, 2016). "Get WWE Fastlane 2017 tickets this Friday". WWE. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  4. Ravens, Andrew (December 4, 2017). "Date And Location Officially Announced For 2018 WWE FastLane PPV". PWMania. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  5. WWE.com Staff (February 17, 2018). "WWE pay-per-views just got bigger for 2018!". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  6. Toro, Carlos (January 26, 2020). "WWE Announces Super ShowDown Pay-Per-View For February 27 In Saudi Arabia". Fightful. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  7. Johnson, Mike (January 17, 2021). "WWE FAST LANE PPV UPDATE". PWInsider. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  8. Defelice, Robert (March 8, 2021). "Standalone WWE Network App Shutting Down In The US On 4/4, New Details On The Transition To Peacock". Fightful. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  9. Labert, Jeremy (October 25, 2021). "WWE Announces Pay-Per-View Schedule For 2022, WrestleMania 38 Set To Be Two Nights". Fightful. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  10. Lambert, Jeremy (January 17, 2022). "WWE Confirms Elimination Chamber Event In Saudi Arabia". Fightful. Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  11. Keller, Wade (June 20, 2023). "WWE bringing back Fastlane event, date and location announced". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  12. "NOVEMBER 26, 2018 OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: SURVIVOR SERIES REVIEW, TONS MORE". F4W Online. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
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