World Wrestling Entertainment is trying something new this year. In previous years WWE held an event between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania called Elimination Chamber. The danger of the chamber and its ability to reshape the WrestleMania card were big selling points, and back when there were two world titles, it was often used to find a second contender when the Royal Rumble winner had already chosen WHICH world title he would challenge for at Mania. The problem for WWE is that the structure of the Elimination Chamber was very heavy – often billed as “ten tons of unforgiving steel” – and pretty close to that in actual weight. It was increasingly hard for WWE to find venues where a cage big enough to surround a wrestling ring weighing approximately ten tons could be hung from the ceiling. The weight and size alone weren’t the sole issue – sports arenas now routinely put large and expensive video boards in the middle of the stadium for replays and for a better view of the action if you’re in the “cheap seats” too far away. Hanging ten tons of steel from the rafters just isn’t going to work with all those expensive/delicate electronics and all their cords. WWE’s solution is “Fastlane” – a brand new PPV with a relatively meaningless name. What’s not meaningless is the main event between Roman Reigns (-420) and Daniel Bryan (+330). Reigns was manipulated into putting the world title shot he had already won at the Royal Rumble on the line, and even though the odds favor Reigns retaining that shot it’s still a tricky situation given that the rumor mill has Bryan winding up in a triple threat against Reigns and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 in San Jose. Because of that news whistling in the wind, there are some interesting odds at play here. For example you can bet for/against the idea of a “no contest” for both men – either man winning is a -616 favorite but the chance it ends in a “schmoz” as they say is a +406 dog. That may be a chance worth taking. You should also be aware of the difference between the “initial ruling” lines mentioned above and the “end of broadcast ruling” lines – Reigns goes up to a -1350 favorite while Bryan is an even bigger dog at +650. There are other matches with big implications for WrestleMania at play as well. Rusev puts his United States title on the line against John Cena, and he’s a -300 favorite, but Cena is surprisingly close at +220 given Rusev’s long unbroken streak of never being pinned on PPV. Nikki Bella is actually a stronger favorite defending her Divas title at -400, with Paige a +280 underdog to win the belt again. Wade Barrett is actually the underdog to retain his Intercontinental title at +240, with Dean Ambrose coming in the -320 favorite. Last but not least the Uso brothers put their tag titles on the line against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, which is the biggest coin flip match of the whole card. The challengers are -150 to win and the Usos a very slight +110 dog to retain. Be sure to check the latest odds before considering a wager, and as always remember that these previews are for entertainment purposes only. If you do bet please spend only what you can afford.
