12 Worst WWE Pay-Per-Views Without A World Title Match
7. Fastlane 2016
The second consecutive February pay-per-view without a World Title match was again designed to give Roman Reign necessary shine ahead of his WrestleMania championship showdown. Again, it failed.
Taking the place of Daniel Bryan this year were Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar, who had experienced wild spikes in popularity thanks to Ambrose's own challenge for the title in January's Royal Rumble and Lesnar's chaotic feud with The Undertaker and lingering problems with the Wyatt Family.
Reigns won because of course he did, but neither of his foes had the nuance and wherewithal of a Bryan to try and help present the now-former WWE Champion as a credible contender the vocal majority of the audience had to get behind.
As it turned out, Ambrose and Lesnar would ride the wave of momentum in a match against one another at the 'Show of Shows', when Brock's planned match with Bray Wyatt collapsed under the weight of another predictable decline for the backwoods hillbillies. Losing on this show to makeshift triumvirate The Big Show, Ryback and Kane, the family couldn't have looked any weaker before their leader's supposed money clash with 'The Beast'.
Elsewhere, a chronic Edge & Christian 'Cutting Edge Peep Show' segment with the New Day in one of the lamest skits all five have ever been involved with and a Curtis Axel/R-Truth match felt like a cruel joke at the audience's expense.