Predicting the match order at Fastlane 2018

It’s one thing to predict the winners and losers at Fastlane 2018, but how about taking a guess at the match order on that card?

WWE has announced 6 different matches for the main card of Fastlane 2018.

Here is my subjective view of how important each of these 6 segments rank on the Fastlane card, ordered from most important to least important.

1. Six-Pack Challenge
2. The Usos vs. New Day
3. Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott
4. Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton
5. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev
6. Becky & Naomi vs. Carmella & Natalya

It is important to come up with a list like this to get an idea of which matches are going to be placed in the key spots on the card or take up the most time, and which matches might end up in the cool-down spots or be given the least amount of time.

Main event

This one is a no-brainer. The Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship match is clearly going to main event this card, and it would be shocking if any other match was placed in that spot.

Opening match

The opening match of the night is usually one of the mid-level attractions with good work rate that doesn’t require a dedicated video package ahead of time to hype it up.

I’m tempted to put the Usos match here, but this card is desperate for a strong match later in the night to carry the middle of the show.

With that in mind I am going to actually start the show with Nakamura versus Rusev. I don’t normally start the show with a match that feels like filler, but the crowd will probably be hot for Nakamura while also thunderously chanting Rusev Day. It’s best to put Nakamura here to make him look like a big deal rather than later in the show when the crowd is asleep thanks to Randy Orton’s match, or after the Usos and New Day have already stolen the show.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev
Segment 2:
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6: Six-Pack Challenge

Pick a women’s match for Segment 2

If Nakamura opens the card, then one of the women’s matches will probably be placed in Segment 2. I normally put one of the least important matches of the night in this spot, which would be Carmella’s match. However in this case, as I’ve already started the show with one of the least important matches of the night, I should probably put Charlotte and Ruby here. One potential caveat is that if Carmella is cashing in on this night, her match should probably come earlier in the night than Charlotte’s match. I guess that means I don’t think Carmella will be cashing in.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev
Segment 2: Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6: 6-Pack Challenge

Everything else

Becky’s match looks like the best candidate for the cool-down match in Segment 5, right before the main event.

That means a really strong match should precede it in Segment 4. I can’t really imagine too many scenarios where the New Day’s match is worse than Roode’s match. That means the tag championship match will go in Segment 4, with Orton and Roode landing in Segment 3.

Finalized card

So here is my final prediction for the match order at Fastlane, along with guesses on the bell-to-bell match times.

Segment 1: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev (12 minutes)
Segment 2: Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott (11)
Segment 3: Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton (15)
Segment 4: The Usos vs. New Day (18)
Segment 5: Becky & Naomi vs. Carmella & Natalya (8)
Segment 6: Six-Pack Challenge (30)

This card looks like it needs a 7th segment to fill out 3 hours, so I’m pushing the main event towards 30 minutes to help make up the gap. This week’s episode of SmackDown devoted most of its final hour to these guys, so there’s a decent chance the Six-Pack Challenge eats up a ton of time.

That’s my prediction for the match order at Fastlane. What’s yours?