11. Cesaro & Tyson Kidd vs. The Usos – Fastlane 2015
Fastlane has become the new pitstop between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania over the last few years. While that means we don’t often see the biggest of marquee matches on the show, we have gotten to see some excellent battles since the first edition of the show in 2015.
One of those matches took place at the inaugural event as The Usos took on the duo of Cesaro and Tyson Kidd. The latter team had not been together terribly long at the time but showed great promise as two of the best workhorses in WWE. Opposite them were The Usos who could always be counted on to have a good match.
What resulted was a tag team match that was tremendous fun, an indication of the high level of quality the Kidd and Cesaro team would have during their relatively short run. Natalya and Naomi also got involved with each of them backing up their respective husbands adding to a match you should go back and watch.
10. Samoa Joe vs. R-Truth vs. Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio – Fastlane 2019
The United States Championship bounced around a lot in 2019 and that was again the case at Fastlane. R-Truth came into the show as champion and put the title on the line against Rey Mysterio, Andrade, and Samoa Joe.
Andrade and Mysterio had been blowing people away with their performances on SmackDown in the months prior and they put on another stellar outing here. Add Samoa Joe to the mix and you have a bunch of very good guys mixing it up, each with their own distinct style.
The match itself was very fun, culminating with Samoa Joe winning his first title on the main roster. A hidden gem that should be revisited.
9. The Revival vs. Chad Gable & Bobby Roode vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black – Fastlane 2019
If these three teams had been given 20 minutes to have the best match they could, they would place much higher on this list. Unfortunately, WWE’s tag team division was not being highlighted in 2019 and thus this match was thrown together with little fanfare. That being said, this is still a match that should be watched.
Chad Gable, Bobby Roode and The Revival had been tearing it up on house shows and they showed why at Fastlane 2019. Add Aleister Black and Ricochet to the mix and you have three excellent teams. This match was fast-paced and fun and a perfect example of why tag team wrestling should be featured more in WWE.
8. Neville vs. Jack Gallagher – Fastlane 2017
Early 2017 was likely when the WWE Cruiserweight Championship was at its most important. The credit for that should go towards Neville and his presentation. He was a top heel in the division who did not lose to anyone, could talk, and was given good wrestlers to face in his title matches.
One of those matches was at Fastlane against Jack Gallagher. While Gallagher often worked a more comedic style, he was a more than capable wrestler. In this match, Gallagher’s style was a great contrast to Neville’s no-nonsense attitude. It took a while for the fans to get into the match but by the end, they knew they were seeing something great.
7. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman – Fastlane 2017
When Roman Reigns was scheduled to face Braun Strowman at Fastlane 2017 no one thought the match would be good. Strowman is not the most versatile performer and Reigns was in the middle of the most-hated stretch of his career. However, these two pulled off a really cool match.
Whereas the last entry was a technical showcase, this was big man smash vs. bigger man smash. Sometimes this is all you need to have a simple yet effective match. It may not work upon repeated viewings, but this remains the likely candidate for Strowman’s best match of his career.
6. AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho – Fastlane 2016
WWE somehow managed to blow through 18 months’ worth of storylines in about two months with AJ Styles and Chris Jericho. The two had four singles matches and a run as a tag team in those two months. Thankfully, those matches were good. Particularly their match at Fastlane 2016.
Jericho was a particularly great first rival for Styles who arrived in WWE at the Royal Rumble. Jericho and Styles’ match at Fastlane was a fantastic back-and-forth match ending with Styles’ first win on WWE pay per view.
5. Daniel Bryan vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Kevin Owens – Fastlane 2019
This is a difficult match to place on a list like this. Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali are three of the best wrestlers in WWE. No one will deny this. However, on this night, this was not the match fans wanted to see and that is a major factor into the enjoyment of this match.
This Triple Threat match took place right in the middle of the build to KofiMania. When Mustafa Ali was added to this match last minute, people in attendance were still disappointed it wasn’t Kofi. Despite this, they had a very good match, which shouldn’t be surprising.
4. AJ Styles vs. John Cena vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin – Fastlane 2018
WWE doesn’t often break out the Six Pack Match very often but when they do they can be either disastrous or really fun. Thankfully, in this case, it was the latter. AJ Styles was in the midst of his year-long WWE Championship reign with a WrestleMania match with Shinsuke Nakamura looming. To get there, he had to make it through John Cena, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler.
This match was a proper blend of chaos and technique. You had the storyline of Owens and Zayn feuding with Shane McMahon adding intrigue to the match as well as John Cena trying to find his way to WrestleMania.
All the elements made for an exciting match and one of the best matches from Styles’ title reign. For sure one of the best matches in Fastlane history.
3. The Shield vs. Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre – Fastlane 2019
When WWE announced that Dean Ambrose was leaving the promotion in 2019, they immediately geared up for yet another reunion tour for The Shield. To date, this is the last match the group has had on pay per view and they went out with one of their best.
Opposite them was the gang of big scary heels comprised of Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre. The three large men were imposing enough to get the upper hand in the match but it would not be enough.
Just as they had done over six years earlier, The Shield went out on top. While they would have one last match at their own special event, this will likely be the final pay per view match the group ever has.
2. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose – Fastlane 2016
While this was one of the best matches to have ever taken place at a Fastlane pay per view, it is also one of the most frustrating. 2016 was not a great time for Roman Reigns. He was being pushed to the moon much to the chagrin of the WWE fans.
At Fastlane 2016, he faced Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar for a shot at Triple H’s WWE Championship at WrestleMania 32. The match itself was tremendous fun with Reigns and Ambrose working together to slay the beast. However, Ambrose did the bulk of the work only for Reigns to snag the pin at the end.
This was indicative of how WWE booked at the time and a perfect illustration of why fans didn’t take to Reigns. Ambrose was better equipped at this time to be a main event babyface but WWE went with Reigns again. This was made all the worse when the Roman Reigns vs. Triple H match at WrestleMania was poorly received but in a vacuum, this Triple Threat is a must-watch.
1. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan – Fastlane 2015
One year earlier, we had a very similar scenario. Roman Reigns had won the Royal Rumble in 2015 but put his WrestleMania title shot on the line against Daniel Bryan. Bryan was the fan-favorite and who everyone wanted to see win. Unfortunately, WWE had other plans.
Reigns still had a long way to go to be the performer he is today but there was no better opponent for him at this time than Bryan. Bryan was one of the company’s best and a true ring general and was able to have the best match of Reigns’ career up to that point.
WWE’s plan of Daniel Bryan endorsing Reigns did not work out for them but it did give us the best match in Fastlane history. Take what you can get I suppose.
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