When World Wrestling Entertainment revealed that the new name for their February pay-per-view would be Fastlane in 2015, a fair few fans were left scratching their heads. Gone was the lengthy association between that month and the Elimination Chamber bouts, and No Way Out was an even more distant memory. Instead, WWE focused on the literal, citing Fastlane as part of the 'Road To WrestleMania'. This year, the main event saw a Triple Threat encounter which promised to solidify who would face Triple H at the promotion's biggest annual showcase. Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns were the combatants, and it would end up being the latter who scored the match-winning pinfall. Before the event, many people could see this coming, as much as some hated to admit it. Massive table bumps, a first one-on-one WWE pay-per-view match for a relative newcomer, and even references to former ECW, WCW and WWE talent - Fastlane had a little bit of everything, and this article looks at the best bits.
10. Mauro Ranallo Gets Fastlane Chance
For the Kickoff portion of the event at least, Mauro Ranallo joined JBL and Byron Saxton behind the announce desk. This was an interesting experiment once again by WWE, because it offered up a different flavour on commentary. Ranallo works well within the WWE system, but he also has a distinctively different style of delivery when compared to Cole. This was a good idea, and it helped freshen up the Kickoff program. By the time Michael Cole did resume his regular duties as part of the main pay-per-view, there was no danger that some were already tired of hearing his voice. In the future, it'd be nice to see Ranallo and Cole split the matches across these events, but that may be a little too experimental for WWE's tastes. For what it was, this made the show pop a little more than usual. JBL and Saxton had to adapt themselves quickly to Ranallo's different method of delivery, which kept them on their toes. If nothing else, it was great to see the Smackdown announcer get a chance on a different stage.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
