WWE Fastlane 2021 Full Results, Recap, News, And Notes

The final stop on the road to Wrestlemania has come and gone. WWE Fastlane offered one final chance to shake up the championship bouts already set for next month's Wrestlemania. And lit seems like that might actually have happened for some of the expected matches on the next show.

WWE Fastlane 2021 took place at the Thunderdome, which emanated from the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the last pay-per-view event at the Thunderdome before WWE heads to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida next month for Wrestlemania. It remains to be seen what the company will do for the pay-per-views that follow.

If you missed the show but still want to watch ti, why not do so with WWE superstars? You can check out WWE's official watch-along below.

In the United States, this event streamed on both the Peacock streaming service, as well as the WWE Network. It was the last WWE Network event for American fans, as the service's programming is becoming a Peacock exclusive.

You can take a look at the card for WWE Fastlane 2021 below.

• Roman Reigns (c) vs. Daniel Bryan (Universal Championship)
• Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax (c) vs. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair (Women's Tag Team Championship)
• Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews (Intercontinental Championship)
• Riddle vs. Mustafa Ali (United States Championship)
• Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (No Holds Barred)
• Randy Orton vs. Alexa Bliss
• Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
• Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman

Below you'll find our results from the show, along with some thoughts on the matches, and any news that comes up. You should also take a moment to listen to the special episode of Wrestle Buddies below, in which Chris E. Hayner and Mat Elfring share their Fastlane predictions.

If you love all things wrestling, be sure to check out our Wrestle Buddies wrestling podcast.

Kickoff Show

Riddle vs. Mustafa Ali (United States Championship)

Given how Ali and the rest of Retribution have been booked lately, there was never any doubt that Riddle would retain his title in this match. The group that was introduced as outsiders looking to upset the norm within WWE have been booked as nothing more than enhancement talent with an origin story since not too long after Ali was named leader. Ali got in more offense than expected and the back-and-forth between the two was interesting. Yet still, Riddle finished him off with a top rope Bro Derek.

Winner: Riddle beats Mustafa Ali by pinfall to retain the United States Championship

After the match, thankfully, the members of Retribution walked out on Ali. Hopefully, that puts this storyline and faction out of its misery once and for all. Plus Mace and T-Bar took Ali out with a double chokeslam for good measure.

Main Show

Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax (c) vs. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair (Women's Tag Team Championship)

Here's hoping Shayna Baszler ends up in the mix for the Raw Women's Championship at Wreastlemania. As for now, the story of this match is Sasha and Bianca don't like each other much right now, and it's all because of Reginald. You remember him, right? He poured wine for Carmella, then had a crush on Sasha, and is now dating Nia Jax. It's all very confusing.

The match didn't last too long and it was centered around miscommunication between Sasha and Bianca, further cementing their feud leading into Wrestlemania--complete with Sasha continuing to show hints of the heel we all know and love. In fact, after slapping Bianca in the face, that could be construed as a full heel turn. We'll see how this shakes out on Smackdown.

Winner: Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax beat Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair by pinfall to retain the Women's Tag Team Championships

Backstage, Elias approaches Shane McMahon looking for an opportunity. Shane, on crutches, says he has an idea. So get ready to see Braun Strowman beat him up.

Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews (Intercontinental Championship)

These two went back-and-forth, showing off the immense power they both possess. Surprisingly, though, this match went shorter than expected. What we got was great and it will certainly lead to a showcase match at Wrestlemania--especially given how it ended. Big E was pinned in a way that allowed him to slightly shift his placement, leaving Apollo's shoulders pinned to the mat for the three count.

Then, Apollo assaulted Big E in the middle of the ring, making it clear this feud isn't over. While Big E retained, he was left lying in the middle of the ring as Apollo stood tall.

Winner: Big E beats Apollo Crews by pinfall to retain the Intercontinental Championship

Backstage, the WWE 24/7 Championship changed hands twice during an Old Spice commercial. No, none of that is a typo. Yes, it was funny.

Braun Strowman vs.Shane McMahon Elias

As expected, Elias took over for Shane McMahon in their match tonight, with Jaxson Ryker at ringside. This match was exactly what you think it was--Braun just throwing Elias around, clubbing him into oblivion, and screaming a lot. He even did a shortened version of the Strowman Express bit, running around the ring and slamming into Elias.

Elias got in a small amount of offense when Ryker distracted Braun, but that didn't last long and then the match was over pretty quickly.

Winner: Braun Strowman beats Elias by pinfall

Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

The new version of Rollins has dropped the religious overtones without losing the egotistical edge that made him so easy to hate, creating a practically perfect version of this character--and it makes you badly want to see him lose. And while this match had some of the lowest stakes, but this was easily the best of the night until this point. A great back-and-forth bout between two top-notch performers. Meanwhile, the whole time Seth was complaining about Cesaro swinging him weeks ago.

In the end, Seth picked up the win with a curb stomp as he heads toward the inevitable match with Cesaro at Wrestlemania. Now we're left to wonder what Nakamura does next because he should be a major focus on WWE programming but is constantly left on the sidelines.

Winner: Seth Rollins beat Shinsuke Nakamura by pinfall

In other news, it's revealed that Rhea Ripley will make her Raw debut tomorrow.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (No Holds Barred)

For the uninitiated, a No Holds Barred match just means anything goes. You can use weapons, you can fight all over the arena, you can even design a moveset consisting of nothing but low blows. You simply have to beat your opponent by pinfall or submission inside of the ring. So it should come as no surprise that these two were immediately swinging kendo sticks at each other all over the ringside area.

The beauty of this particular match is both of these men are hard-hitters and they've been real-life friends for decades. That gives them plenty of room to really push each other to the limit. As such, we watched them swing sticks at each other, hurl the steel steps at each other, battle through the Thunderdome, and really have some fun with the carnage they were inflicting. One of the highlights of the match was Drew throwing Sheamus through a section of Thunderdome audience screens, resulting in lots of sparks flying. It's not the most extravagant bump we've seen in WWE, but an entertaining visual all the same.

Another cool moment saw Sheamus hitting White Noise on Drew through the announce table, though he was still unable to score a victory from it. In the end, McIntyre's Claymore Kick sealed the deal. That was expected, given McIntyre is going to Wrestlemania to fight Bobby Lashley. Still, this was a fun match that looked like it hurt quite a bit.

Winner: Drew McIntyre beat Sheamus by pinfall

Randy Orton vs. Alexa Bliss

Raise your hand if you think The Fiend is returning tonight. Everyone? We thought so. Naturally, the "match" is not so much a match, as it's a place for Alexa to play with her toy. She makes Randy cough up more black sludge, shoots fire in his face again, and just leads him around the ring, taunting him. She also has a lighting rig dropped from the ceiling next to him.

Then, it finally happened. The Fiend returned, but this is a burned and mutilated Fiend with a somehow scarier mask that makes him look sort of like the Toxic Avenger. He dropped Randy with a quick Sister Abigail, then Bliss took the pinfall victory while the even more horrifying version of The Fiend looked on. Hopefully, we'll learn tomorrow on Raw how else this creepy version of The Fiend is.

Winner: Alexa Bliss beat Randy Orton by pinfall

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Daniel Bryan (Universal Championship)

The match started out in a very fun way, with Bryan trying to tie ROman up in some traditional mat wrestling maneuvers, which is the type of wrestling we haven't really seen from Roman before--but which Bryan excels at. It even started getting to Reigns, as Bryan was getting the better of him. Even when Roman seemed to lose his temper and throw his power around, Bryan tied him up. It left the Universal Champion in a position he hasn't found himself in since becoming the HEad of the Table.

Once Reigns was fed up with being made a fool of, he started throwing his full weight at making Bryan hurt--all while Edge looked on from ringside. The back-and-forth between Reigns and Bryan made both look like dominant fighters--and made the Universal Championship look like the most coveted title in WWE. After all, do you remember the last WWE Championship match between The Miz and Bobby Lashley? It left quite a bit to be desired.

Instead, this was a match where the two put everything they had into beating each other up. Of course, logically, it never seemed like Roman was going to lose the title going into Wrestlemania, but they did all they could to make it seem like a possibility in what was definitely the best match of the night--and Roman's best since winning the Universal Championship.

Then came the expected shenanigans. The ref took a bump, leading "outside enforcer" Edge to take over. Jey Uso came in and threw around some superkicks, and in the end, Edge hit both Roman and Bryan with a steel chair, screamed "this is mine," and walked away angry. Roman crawled over to Bryan and got the pinfall victory, but it's worth noting he was tapping out before Edge hit Bryan with a chair.

Given the outcome, hopefully, we get a triple threat at Wrestlemania. What a match that would be.

Winner: Roman Reigns beat Daniel Bryan by pinfall