Fastlane (2019)
The 2019 Fastlane was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the fifth Fastlane and took place on March 10, 2019, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It was the second Fastlane held at this venue after the 2016 event. An event was not held in 2020 due to the scheduling of that year's Super ShowDown event, but Fastlane returned in 2021.
Ten matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, The Shield defeated Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre in a six-man tag team match that was promoted as The Shield's final match together. In other prominent matches, Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair by disqualification, adding her back into the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 35, and Daniel Bryan retained SmackDown's WWE Championship by defeating Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali in a triple threat match. This event marked the final WWE pay-per-view appearance for Dean Ambrose, who left the company in April 2019 after he declined to renew his contract; he then joined All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling in May 2019 under his former ring name Jon Moxley.
Production
Background
is a professional wrestling event first produced by WWE in 2015. The name of the event is 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; the first two Fastlane events were held in February before moving to March. While the 2018 event was a SmackDown-exclusive event, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive pay-per-views following WrestleMania 34 that year, and the 2019 Fastlane in turn featured wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The fifth Fastlane was held on March 10 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, and was the second Fastlane held at this venue after the 2016 event. The event aired on pay-per-view worldwide and was available to livestream on the WWE Network.Storylines
The event comprised 10 matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, 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 SmackDown Live.At Elimination Chamber, The Usos defeated The Miz and Shane McMahon to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown, The Miz, who had been pinned, apologized to Shane for costing them the match and begged Shane to schedule a rematch. The Usos interrupted and insulted Miz, after which, Shane scheduled a rematch for the titles at Fastlane.
On the February 12 episode of SmackDown, The New Day's Kofi Kingston was a last-minute replacement for an injured Mustafa Ali in a gauntlet match to determine who would enter the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match last; Kingston pinned WWE Champion Daniel Bryan and lasted over an hour before being eliminated. At Elimination Chamber, Bryan retained the title in the titular match, with Kingston being the last wrestler eliminated. On the following episode of SmackDown, Kingston was granted a WWE Championship match at Fastlane after pinning Bryan in a six-man tag team match that featured Kingston, AJ Styles, and Jeff Hardy against Bryan, Samoa Joe, and Randy Orton. The following week, however, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon interrupted the contract signing between Bryan and Kingston. Although Vince praised Kingston, he replaced him with a returning Kevin Owens, stating that Owens was more qualified and more deserving of the opportunity.
At Elimination Chamber, The Boss 'n' Hug Connection defeated Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose, The Riott Squad, The IIconics, Naomi and Carmella, and Nia Jax and Tamina in a tag team Elimination Chamber match to become the inaugural holders of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. The following night on Raw, their championship celebration was interrupted by Jax and Tamina, and Jax taunted Banks about not being able to retain a championship in her title defenses. The following week, The Boss 'n' Hug Connection were scheduled to defend the titles against Jax and Tamina at Fastlane.
On the February 19 episode of SmackDown, during a backstage segment, SmackDown Women's Champion Asuka was interrupted by Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose. Rose challenged Asuka to a non-title match and defeated her after Rose feigned an eye injury. The following week, Rose was granted a championship match against Asuka at Fastlane.
At the Royal Rumble, Becky Lynch was unsuccessful in regaining the SmackDown Women's Championship, but later entered the women's Royal Rumble match and won by last eliminating Charlotte Flair, despite injuring her own knee. The next night on Raw, Lynch confronted Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey and chose to face her at WrestleMania 35. Lynch then refused a medical examination on her knee after a brawl with Flair on SmackDown. Stephanie McMahon gave Lynch an ultimatum: have her knee examined or be suspended until she does. Lynch still refused and attacked both Stephanie and Triple H. The following Raw, it was revealed that Lynch had been medically cleared; after she apologized for the attacks, the suspension was lifted, however, Vince McMahon overruled Triple H and Stephanie by suspending Lynch for 60 days and replaced her with Flair as Rousey's WrestleMania opponent. On the February 25 episode of Raw, Lynch was arrested after attacking Rousey; Rousey then demanded that Lynch be reinstated and left the championship in the ring. The following week, Stephanie declared the title vacant, reinstated Lynch, and scheduled a match between her and Flair for the championship at Fastlane. Later on, however, Rousey protested that she did not vacate the title and was only trying to send a message, prompting Stephanie to hand her back the title belt and change the stipulation of the Fastlane match: if Lynch won, she would be added back into the championship match at WrestleMania to make it a triple threat match.
On the October 22, 2018, episode of Raw, Roman Reigns went on hiatus due to leukemia and subsequently vacated the Universal Championship. Later that same night, Dean Ambrose turned on Seth Rollins, feeling that the trio's stable, The Shield, had made him weak. Rollins and Ambrose then fought over the next couple of months, with their feud culminating at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where Ambrose defeated Rollins. Reigns returned on the February 25, 2019, episode of Raw and explained that his leukemia was in remission and that he would return to action. Later that night, Drew McIntyre defeated Ambrose in a no disqualification match after interference from Elias. Afterwards, Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley joined Elias and McIntyre in their attack on Ambrose until Reigns and Rollins made the save. The following week, Reigns called out Rollins, wanting to reunite The Shield one more time. Rollins reluctantly agreed since it meant having to team with Ambrose again. Later, after Ambrose was defeated by Elias, Reigns and Rollins came out, but Ambrose exited through the crowd. Corbin, McIntyre, and Lashley then ambushed Reigns and Rollins, after which, Ambrose returned and aided his former Shield brothers. After gaining the upper hand, Ambrose joined Reigns and Rollins for the signature Shield fist bump and a six-man tag team match pitting the reunited Shield against Corbin, McIntyre, and Lashley was scheduled for Fastlane.
On the February 11 episode of Raw, The Revival defeated Bobby Roode and Chad Gable to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. The following week, NXT call-ups Aleister Black and Ricochet made their main roster debuts, and then defeated The Revival in a non-title match on the February 25 episode. On the March 4 episode, Black and Ricochet were granted a Raw Tag Team Championship match against The Revival, but it ended in disqualification after Roode and Gable attacked The Revival. A triple threat tag team championship match between the three teams was then scheduled for Fastlane.
After several weeks of feuding, a match between Andrade and Rey Mysterio was scheduled for the Fastlane Kickoff pre-show.
On March 8, a tag team match between The New Day and Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura was scheduled for the Fastlane Kickoff pre-show.
Event
Pre-show
Backstage during the Fastlane Kickoff pre-show, R-Truth's manager Carmella was attempting to get people to sign a petition so that Truth could have a rematch for SmackDown's United States Championship, as Truth had lost the title on the previous episode of SmackDown in a fatal four-way match to Samoa Joe, which also involved Andrade and Rey Mysterio. Joe interrupted and said that he had no problem facing any of them. It was then announced that Joe would defend the United States Championship in a fatal four-way match against Truth, Andrade, and Mysterio on the main show, subsequently canceling the pre-show match between Andrade and Mysterio.Also during the pre-show, Kofi Kingston was told that Vince McMahon had wanted to see him in regard to the WWE Championship match on the main card.
In what then became the only match on the pre-show, The New Day faced Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura. In the end, Big E and Woods performed the "Midnight Hour" on Rusev to win the match.
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with The Usos defending the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Miz and Shane McMahon. The climax saw Miz perform a frog splash on Jey. However, Jey countered into a roll-up on Miz to retain the titles. After the match, a disappointed Miz and Shane hugged Miz's father, who was in the front row. After Shane consoled Miz and his father, Shane then attacked Miz from behind, turning heel.Next, Asuka defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Mandy Rose, who was accompanied by Sonya Deville. In the end, Rose tripped on the ring apron, which Deville had moved prior to obtaining a kendo stick, allowing Asuka to perform a kick to the face on Rose to retain the title.
After that, The New Day's Kofi Kingston came out for what he thought was a triple threat match for SmackDown's WWE Championship, after Vince McMahon agreed to put Kingston in the WWE Championship match with Big E and Xavier Woods banned from ringside. However, Kingston ended up facing The Bar in a 2-on-1 handicap match, in which both Cesaro and Sheamus could be in the ring at the same time. In the closing moments, after The Bar continued to dominate Kingston, Big E and Woods came out to assist Kingston, only to get intercepted by Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. The Bar then performed a double "White Noise" on Kingston to win the match.
In the fourth match, The Revival defended the Raw Tag Team Championship in a triple threat tag team match against the teams of Bobby Roode and Chad Gable, and Aleister Black and Ricochet. In the end, The Revival performed "Shatter Machine" on Gable to retain the titles. After the match, Roode, Black, and Ricochet attacked The Revival, with Ricochet and Black performing their respective finishers on them.
Next, Samoa Joe defended the United States Championship in a fatal four-way match against R-Truth, Andrade, and Rey Mysterio. In the end, Mysterio performed the 619 on Joe and went for Droppin' the Dime, but Joe countered it into the "Coquina Clutch" on Mysterio, who passed out, thus Joe retained the title.
After that, The Boss 'n' Hug Connection defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Nia Jax and Tamina. In the climax, Bayley countered a powerbomb attempt by Jax into a hurricanrana to retain the titles. After the match, Jax and Tamina attacked Banks and Bayley. Beth Phoenix, who was on commentary, came to their aid, but was attacked by Jax and Tamina. Natalya then came out to assist, but was also overpowered by Jax and Tamina.
Next was the triple threat match for the WWE Championship that Vince McMahon announced earlier. After Kevin Owens and WWE Champion Daniel Bryan made their entrances, Mustafa Ali was then revealed as the third participant. In the climax, Ali performed a Tornado DDT on Bryan outside the ring, only for Owens to powerbomb Ali on the apron. Rowan prevented Owens from entering the ring and Bryan covered Ali for a nearfall. As Ali leapt from the middle rope, Bryan performed a running knee on Ali to retain the title. After the match, Rowan performed a chokeslam on Ali.
In the penultimate match, Becky Lynch faced Charlotte Flair with the stipulation that if Lynch won, she would be added back into the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 35 to make that match a triple threat match. Lynch showed up with crutches and during the match, Flair focused on Lynch's injured knee. Lynch intercepted a Moonsault from Charlotte, who managed to enter the ring at the eight count. Lynch applied the Dis-arm-her, but Flair escaped the hold and applied the "Figure-Eight Leglock". However, Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey came out and attacked Lynch, thus causing Lynch to win by disqualification. Due to Lynch winning, she was added to the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 35.
In a small filler segment, Elias appeared to sing to the crowd, but was interrupted by Lacey Evans, who walked down the ramp and then exited. Randy Orton then surprise attacked the distracted Elias with an "RKO". AJ Styles then appeared and performed a "Phenomenal Forearm" on Orton.