Fastlane(2017)

Fastlane(2017) was a pay-per-view that took place on March 5th, 2017, live from Denver, Colorado. The event featured both the Raw and SmackDown brands, and the main event saw Goldberg and Samoa Joe team up to face AJ Styles and Shawn Michaels.



Background
This was the first pay-per-view of the series to bear the Fastlane name, and the final event on the Road to WrestleMania. This was the first time a tag team match had ever main evented a pay-per-view.

Following Elimination Chamber, GMs Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan announced a massive main event for Fastlane. A tag team match, forcing champions and challengers from Raw and SmackDown to team up, with the winning team main-eventing WrestleMania. World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg and Royal Rumble winner Samoa Joe did not work together at all, Joe abandoning Goldberg before a match against World Tag Team Champions Hideo Itami and Finn Balor. On the other hand, WWE Champion AJ Styles and Shawn Michaels got along quite well. They even defeated WWE Tag Team Champions American Alpha, albeit thanks to interference from The Club. An eliminaion stipulation was later added.

After losing the Raw Women's Title at Royal Rumble, Sasha Banks continued to look for opportunities to win back the belt. She teamed up with Asuka to defeat champion Bayley and Nikki Bella, though it was the Empress of Tomorrow that forced Bayley to submit. Sasha chose to wait for WrestleMania to use her title match, and Asuka was awarded a title match at this event. The Club(AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson) was officially formed after Gallows and Anderson helping Styles retain his WWE Title over The Rock. They would then defeat the Prime Time Players, setting their sights on the WWE Tag Team Titles. Luke Gallows defeated Jason Jordan in singles competition to earn a title match.

Mark Henry defeated Samoa Joe in a big upset on the February 20th edition of Raw, before being attacked by Brock Lesnar. A match was signed between these two beasts the very next week. Randy Orton issued a challenge to Baron Corbin for an Intercontinental Title match, which was accepted by the Lone Wolf. Orton's monster Braun Strowman choked out Corbin just days before their title clash. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, known as #DIY, made their Raw debuts by defeating the champions Hideo Itami and Finn Balor, earning them a title match. Finally, former tag team partners Tyler Breeze and Fandango were scheduled to go one-on-one after Breeze attacked Fandango following a match.

Event
Tyler Breeze defeated Fandango in a grudge match to open the show, getting the win with a Beauty Shot. Gargano and Ciampa didn't make it to the ring for their title match, being attacked by The Wyatt Family during their entrance, forcing the match to be called off. Randy Orton won the Intercontinental Title for the first time, hitting a RKO on Baron Corbin. After the match, he delivered a Punt Kick that knocked Corbin out of action. Brock Lesnar survived three World's Strongest Slams, eventually pinning Mark Henry with a F-5.

Chad Gable and Jason Jordan escaped once more with their WWE Tag Team Titles, as Jordan pinned Karl Anderson despite Anderson's foot being on the bottom rope. Asuka ended the second title reign of Bayley, tapping the Hugster out for a second time with the Asuka Lock. In the main event, Samoa Joe stood tall, locking in a Coquina Clutch on AJ Styles and forcing the official to call for the bell.