Intercontinental title match announced for WWE Fastlane
An Intercontinental title match has been made official for Fastlane.
WWE announced tonight that Big E will defend his Intercontinental title against Apollo Crews at Fastlane. The pay-per-view is taking place on Sunday, March 21 and will air live on Peacock and the WWE Network.
On SmackDown three weeks ago, Big E was stretchered out as part of an angle where Crews attacked him with the steel steps. Big E had told Crews that he had already gotten enough chances and wasn’t going to get another shot at Big E’s Intercontinental title.
Big E returned to SmackDown tonight for the first time since Crews’ attack. Big E called Crews out and agreed to give him a title match, but Crews didn’t come to the ring. Big E then issued an Intercontinental title open challenge that was answered by Sami Zayn.
Big E retained the Intercontinental title against Zayn but was attacked by Crews after the match. Crews gave Big E two Angle slams and hit him with the steel steps. In a post-show interview, Crews was asked why he didn’t accept Big E’s challenge for a title match tonight. Crews said he doesn’t cater to Big E and will face him at Fastlane instead.
Crews has recently undergone a character change where he’s embraced his Nigerian heritage and has claimed to be a descendent of Nigerian royalty.
Here’s the updated card for Fastlane:
- Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Daniel Bryan (Edge and Jey Uso are facing each other on SmackDown next week to determine the special guest enforcer for the match)
- Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defend against SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair
- Intercontinental Champion Big E defends against Apollo Crews
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.