WWE Fastlane 2021, WWE’s debut on Peacock, featured Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Universal Championship with Edge as an enforcer, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks chasing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, Randy Orton vs. Alexa Bliss, Big E vs. Apollo Crews for the Intercontinental Championship and Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus in a No Holds Barred Match.

WWE Raw viewership continued to hold up with 1.843 million viewers, while SmackDown’s overnight viewership was down double-digits for Edge’s first match in over a decade. The evidence continues to pile up that Edge’s return has had no effect on television ratings.

WWE Raw Ratings—Last Five Weeks

• March 15, 2021—1.843 million
• March 8, 2021—1.900 million
• March 1, 2021—1.884 million
• February 22, 2021—1.890 million
• February 15, 2021—1.810 million

• March 19, 2021—1.946 million
• March 12, 2021—2.171 million
• March 5, 2021—2.252 million
• February 26, 2021—2.145 million
• February 19, 2021—2.217 million

WWE Fastlane 2021—Key Competition

Pro Wrestling Bits—Drew McIntyre Interview

WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Week—10,182,972 views (Up from 8,266,164)

• Most-Viewed: Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon (1,403,676 views) 
• Least-Viewed: Rhea Ripley is on her Way to WWE Raw (145,007 views)
• Median Viewership: 696,782

WWE SmackDown Total YouTube Viewership this past Friday: 5,311,215 views (Down from 7,030,499)

• Most-Viewed: Edge vs. Jey Uso (1,616,390 views) 
• Least-Viewed: Relive some of Edge’s Greatest Moments (152,553 views)
• Median Viewership: 390,966

WWE Fastlane 2021 Results—Sunday, March 21, 2021

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler def. Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler—WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

A “spa day” was the storyline excuse for Reginald’s absence this week, but it was great to see him back.

In a feud where Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair continue to go back and forth as to who the best is, both keep losing on the way to that match.

Big E def. Apollo Crews—WWE Intercontinental Championship

Big E’s trash talk early in this match was awesome.

The Dusty Finish in this match—not to mention Apollo Crews saying “It’s Not OVAH!” suggests that it will continue on into WrestleMania, and I have no problem with that.

Braun Strowman def. Elias

Shane McMahon wore a Strowman Express t-shirt that replaced “Strowman” with “Stupid,” and I found it much funnier than I probably should have.

Poor Elias was fed to the wolf after Shane McMahon suffered a storyline knee injury while training.

This was some of the best booking of Braun Strowman in many months, and much of it was because he wasn’t booked to say a word. Of course, this didn’t last long as he had to eventually start selling for Elias.

At one point, Jaxson Ryker threw Elias back into the ring against Braun Strowman, and it felt like somewhat of a betrayal.

Seth Rollins def. Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura looked to be in some of the best shape in his career.

Seth Rollins continued to specifically mention the 22 times that Cesaro swung him.

No matter how obnoxious and unlikable the Seth Rollins character becomes, he will always wrestle like babyface.

This was yet another match that deserved a live crowd as Rollins and Nakamura worked very hard in this 50/50 spectacle.

Drew McIntyre def. Sheamus—No Hold’s Barred

If WWE didn’t have a video package for this match, given all the history it has to work from, I would have been so sad.

So this match was good enough for Drew McIntyre to dress up in Braveheart facepaint, but not good enough to have a No. 1 Contender stipulation?

Had this match been a Falls Count Anywhere Match, Sheamus would have had the match won after thee White Noise through the table, when he laid his head on Drew for more than three seconds.

McIntyre sweated off nearly all his facepaint by the end of this match, telling you just how hard they worked.

Alexa Bliss def. Randy Orton—The Fiend Returns

Similar to how Fiend matches get the red light, Alexa Bliss matches get a pinkish-purple hue.

This match was essentially Randy Orton vs. Magic.

After seeing all the dangerous magic this Alexa Bliss character is capable of, Randy Orton still foolishly tried to wrestle her.

There were no stipulations announced for this match that should have made it legal for The Fiend to interrupt this match right in front of the referee’s eyes.

Roman Reigns def. Daniel Bryan–WWE Universal Championship

Not only is Roman Reigns wearing a Thor-like glove, he’s now quoting the famed supervillain by saying “I am inevitable.”

Based on how this match was built up, I fully expected this match to include a lot of submission wrestling. I was not let down.

Like a true savage, Roman Reigns tried to get Daniel Bryan to look into the camera and tell the world who the main event of WrestleMania is.

Jey Uso couldn’t have come at a better time for Roman Reigns.

I smell a WrestleMania Triple Threat, or Daniel Bryan vs. Edge at the very least.