Fastlane (2017)

The 2017 Fastlane was the third Fastlane professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw brand division. The event took place on March 5, 2017, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was the first Fastlane event to be brand exclusive, following the reintroduction of the brand split in July 2016, and the first non-WrestleMania WWE pay-per-view to take place in March. This was also WWE's last pay-per-view event to take place at the Bradley Center before its closure in 2018 with future WWE events in Milwaukee held at Fiserv Forum.

Ten matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Goldberg defeated Kevin Owens to win the WWE Universal Championship, becoming the only person to win the Universal Championship, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman, ending Strowman's undefeated streak, Bayley retained the Raw Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair, thus ending Flair's undefeated streak in singles matches at pay-per-views, Neville retained the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Gentleman Jack Gallagher, and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson retained the Raw Tag Team Championship against Enzo Amore and Big Cass.

Fastlane is a professional wrestling event first produced by WWE in 2015. The name of the event is a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania", being held in the two-month period between the Royal Rumble and WWE's flagship event. While the first two Fastlane events were held in February, on October 22, 2016, the 2017 event was scheduled for March 5 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which made it the first Fastlane to be held in March, and in turn WWE's first non-WrestleMania pay-per-view (PPV) held during that month. In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension where the promotion divided its roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands where the wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. Each brand also received their own exclusive monthly pay-per-views. The 2017 Fastlane, which was the third Fastlane, was in turn held exclusively for Raw. In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view, the event was livestreamed on the WWE Network. Tickets went on sale on December 16 through Ticketmaster.

The event comprised 10 matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.

On the January 2, 2017, episode of Raw, Goldberg was the first guest on The Kevin Owens Show, where he confronted WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. Goldberg declared that he would win the Royal Rumble on January 29 and face the Universal Champion at WrestleMania 33. After eliminating Brock Lesnar from the Royal Rumble match but failing to win, Goldberg accepted Lesnar's challenge for a final match at WrestleMania 33 after interrupting Owens' and United States Champion Chris Jericho's promo. After Owens mocked Goldberg, Goldberg then challenged Owens for the Universal Championship at Fastlane. Jericho accepted the match on the behalf of Owens and it was made official later that night. Owens was initially mad at the decision, but conceded, knowing that Jericho would have his back in the match. However, the following week on Raw, Owens turned on Jericho during Jericho's "Festival of Friendship" for Owens, brutally attacking Jericho, who was taken to a medical facility. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Owens shifted his focus to Goldberg. He insulted Goldberg and stated that he would outsmart him at Fastlane. Owens then stopped short of explaining his attack on Jericho. Goldberg appeared the following week to address the comments made by Owens and promised that he would defeat Owens and be the Universal Champion going into his WrestleMania 33 match with Lesnar. Owens came out, touted how he had defeated everyone he had faced, and then said that he would end Goldberg at Fastlane.

Also on the January 2 episode of Raw during the first edition of The Kevin Owens Show, Braun Strowman announced that he would be in the Royal Rumble match. Roman Reigns came out to confront those in the ring and declared that he would defeat Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. After a stare down, Reigns and Goldberg double-speared Strowman. At Royal Rumble, Strowman attacked Reigns during his Universal Championship match against Owens. The following night on Raw, Strowman revealed that he had helped Owens retain the title due to his dislike of Reigns and because Owens had promised him a title shot. Owens denied this, but Strowman showed footage confirming his claim. General Manager Mick Foley then scheduled the match for later that night, where Strowman won by disqualification when Reigns interfered in the match and attacked Strowman. On the February 6 episode of Raw, after easily dispatching of four local competitors, Strowman demanded better competition from Foley, who then scheduled Strowman to face Reigns at Fastlane. During Reigns' match against Samoa Joe later that night, Strowman came out and caused a distraction for Reigns, allowing Joe to win. Strowman then attacked Reigns. The following week, Reigns demanded to face Strowman that night but Commissioner Stephanie McMahon denied his request and warned Reigns that if he interferes in the match between Strowman and Mark Henry, his Fastlane bout with Strowman would be canceled. Due to this, Reigns waited until after the match to confront Strowman. After Strowman defeated Henry, Reigns came out and performed two Superman Punches on Strowman, but got powerslammed. On the February 20 episode, after Strowman defeated Big Show, Reigns again confronted Strowman, but was again overpowered. The following week, Strowman demanded to have a contract signing with Reigns so that Reigns would not back out of their match. Reigns came out for the contract signing and a brawl ensued immediately.

At the Royal Rumble, Neville captured the WWE Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Rich Swann. The following night on Raw, Neville came out for a "coronation", but was interrupted by Swann, who stated that he would get a rematch, and then a brawl ensued. The next night on 205 Live, it was revealed that Swann got injured during their confrontation on Raw. On the February 6 episode of Raw, Austin Aries revealed to Neville that a fatal five-way elimination match between T. J. Perkins, Tony Nese, Cedric Alexander, Noam Dar, and Gentleman Jack Gallagher was scheduled for the following night on 205 Live to determine the number one contender for Neville at Fastlane. The next night on 205 Live, it was announced that Nese suffered an injury on Raw and that his spot would be taken by the winner of a match between Mustafa Ali and Ariya Daivari; Ali defeated Daivari to qualify for the Fatal 5-Way match later on. In the fatal five-way, Gallagher last eliminated Perkins to become the number one contender. On the February 20 episode of Raw, the two had a contract signing. A short scuffle occurred and Neville retreated. The next night on 205 Live, Gallagher defeated Nese to show that he was ready for Neville at Fastlane. The following episode of Raw, Neville teamed with Nese to face Gallagher and Perkins, which Gallagher won for his team when he made Nese submit. On the following 205 Live, Neville addressed the entire cruiserweight locker room. He said that 205 Live was supposed to showcase the best cruiserweights, but faltered before his arrival. He was interrupted by Gallagher, and the two brawled with Gallagher getting the upper hand.

On the Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Cesaro and Sheamus invoked their rematch clause for the February 6 episode of Raw, but were unsuccessful due to interference from Enzo Amore and Big Cass. This led to a match the following week, where Cesaro defeated Amore. However, on the February 20 episode, Amore and Cass defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to become the number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championship at Fastlane.