WWE Fastlane 2021 saw a number of good to great matches and the return of a main-event performer.
WWE FASTLANE 2021 WAS THE FIRST SUCH EVENT SINCE 2019
The sixth Fastlane event and the first since 2019 was held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and broadcast from the WWE Thunderdome. Fastlane 2021 was the first event to also stream via Peacock’s WWE Network channel in the United States.
Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. During the Fastlane Kickoff pre-show, Riddle defended the United States Championship against Mustafa Ali. Riddle retained the title, leading to Retribution turning on Ali and attacking him.
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defended and retained the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship against SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. After a Shane McMahon/Elias segment, Big E managed to retain the Intercontinental Championship against Apollo Crews and was attacked by Crews after the match.
Elias was quickly defeated by Braun Strowman in a throwaway match. In the following match, Seth Rollins faced Shinsuke Nakamura. In the climax, Rollins performed a Black Magic Kick and a Curb Stomp on Nakamura to win the match.
Then, Drew McIntyre faced Sheamus in a hard hitting No Holds Barred match where it was McIntyre who managed to trump his old friend yet again.
Randy Orton faced Alexa Bliss in an intergender match, with the former spitting up black liquid beforehand. After a match full of fireballs and lightning, The Fiend returned and attacked Orton, leading to Bliss pinning him for the victory.
In the main event, Roman Reigns, accompanied by Paul Heyman, defended the Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan, with Edge as the special match enforcer. In the middle of the match, as Bryan tried to attack Reigns with the chair, Reigns ducked and Bryan accidentally struck Edge. Bryan then applied the Yes! Lock on Reigns again and Reigns tapped out, however, an enraged Edge attacked both Bryan and Reigns with the steel chair before departing backstage. A second referee came down and Reigns pinned Bryan to retain the title.
