Till date, in the history of WWE, there have been only a handful multi-man WWE Championship matches. It was back in the year 2010 when the most coveted prize in the sports entertainment was put on the line amongst six superstars. Following that night, it took almost eight years to witness another similar lineup in a PPV event for a title match.
As announced by Shane McMahon, previously, the WWE Champion was scheduled to defend his title against five other superstars. It happened on last night’s PPV event of Fastlane. The Six-pack challenge witnessed names like AJ Styles, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin fighting it out for the prime title present in the blue brand.
Let’s all take a moment to admire the beauty (and flat-out devastation) of the #StylesClash!#WWEFastlane #WWEChampionship @AJStylesOrg pic.twitter.com/NKaBPiIcQq
— WWE (@WWE) March 12, 2018
The implications were huge at Fastlane, in this matchup since the winner will get once in a lifetime opportunity to walk into Wrestlemania 34 as the WWE Champion. It means that the main event spotlight will be waiting for the winner. The champion had all the odds stacked against him since he had less than 20 percent of chances to retain the title in this match which was contested under no disqualification capacity.
Tables are BREAKING…
Bodies are FLYING…#WrestleMania dreams are SOARING…It’s all GOING DOWN in the #WWEChampionship #SixPackChallenge match! #WWEFastlane @SamiZayn @FightOwensFight @AJStylesOrg @JohnCena @BaronCorbinWWE @HEELZiggler pic.twitter.com/gSblPveTKh
— WWE (@WWE) March 12, 2018
Shane McMahon was present at the ringside area to watch it from the best spot. John Cena started the match at a fast pace delivering Attitude Adjustments to each of the participants of the match except for AJ Styles. The title-holder was able to get out of the hold and landed on his feet. All the other superstars recovered from the AA and entered the ring targeting Cena. This created chaos inside the ring.
.@ShinsukeN, @AJStylesOrg will see YOU at #WrestleMania! pic.twitter.com/3AuNX2GlHC
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) March 12, 2018
.@JohnCena was a fraction of a second away from becoming the unprecedented 17-TIME World Champion… Not to be.#WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/qn7E0aaaea
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) March 12, 2018
The match continued excitingly as Sami Zayn laid for his best friend, Kevin Owens. While the latter one went for a pinfall, Zayn rolled him up for a near-fall. This started a fight between the two friends which went to the ringside area. Via a miscommunication, Owens delivered a superkick on Shane McMahon hinting that the rivalry was not over.
Simply put: A PHENOMENAL night.#WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/zsfySB86lk
— WWE (@WWE) March 12, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: Unsure of his path to @WrestleMania now more than ever, at the end of the day, @JohnCena has nothing but RESPECT for @WWE Champion @AJStylesOrg. #WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/KUF1TZHQP0
— WWE (@WWE) March 12, 2018
John Cena grabbed this opportunity and hit Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler with AAs. But, the pinfall was broken by Kevin Owens, right away. He delivered a pop-up powerbomb taking eyes off from AJ Styles who came flying down with a phenomenal forearm. This helped him to retain the WWE Championship at Fastlane. With this victory, AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title is now confirmed at Wrestlemania.