Background in
Indianapolis,
Indiana.
Fastlane is a
professional wrestling event first produced by
WWE in 2015. It was held annually until 2019 when it was discontinued a first time but was
reinstated in 2021, but was again discontinued. On June 20, 2023, however, WWE announced the revival of the event, with the seventh Fastlane scheduled for Saturday, October 7, 2023, at the
Gainbridge Fieldhouse in
Indianapolis,
Indiana, and featured wrestlers from the
Raw and
SmackDown brand divisions. This marked the first Fastlane held in October and on a Saturday. This was WWE's first
pay-per-view (PPV) and
livestreaming event held in Indianapolis since
Clash of Champions in September 2016, which was at the same arena when it was formerly known as Bankers Life Fieldhouse (renamed in 2021). In addition to airing on traditional PPV, the event was livestreamed on
Peacock in the United States and the
WWE Network in most international markets, in turn marking the first and only Fastlane for which U.S. subscribers could only livestream the event via Peacock, due to the American version of the WWE Network ceasing operations two weeks after the 2021 event. This was also the first WWE pay-per-view event to livestream on
Abema in
Japan after Abema and WWE inked the deal to make Abema as its exclusive home for WWE Network in Japan on September 28, 2023. Tickets went on sale on July 14 via
Ticketmaster. From January 2023, there had been speculation that WWE had been placed up for sale. Hours before WrestleMania 39 Night 2 began,
CNBC reported via multiple sources that a deal between WWE and
Endeavor, the parent company of
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) via
Zuffa, was imminent. The deal involved
a merger of WWE with the UFC into a new publicly traded company, with Endeavor holding a 51% stake. The sale was confirmed the next day on April 3 and was finalized on September 12, with WWE merging with the UFC to become divisions of
TKO Group Holdings. The 2023 Fastlane was in turn the first major main roster event held in which WWE was not owned and controlled by the
McMahon family, and subsequently the first major main roster event under TKO.
Storylines The event included five matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,
Monday Night Raw and
Friday Night SmackDown. At
Payback,
Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated
Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the
World Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, Nakamura viciously attacked Rollins, requiring medical personnel to assist Rollins out of the arena. On the following episode of
Raw, as he was unhappy with the post-match incident, Rollins challenged Nakamura to a title rematch later that night; however, Nakamura declined, wanting to do it on his own terms. A brawl then ensued with Nakamura getting the upper hand. The fighting would continue over the next couple of weeks until the September 18 episode when a frustrated Rollins stated that Nakamura could choose the place, time, and stipulation for their championship rematch. The following week, Nakamura accepted Rollins' proposal, choosing a
Last Man Standing match at Fastlane. On the September 1 episode of
SmackDown,
John Cena made his return to WWE, which was his first appearance since
Money in the Bank in July. He was interrupted by
Jimmy Uso, who claimed the fans wanted to see him instead. Cena responded that Jimmy should have quit WWE instead of
Jey Uso and then performed an Attitude Adjustment on Jimmy. Two weeks later, Cena was a guest on
Grayson Waller's talkshow "The Grayson Waller Effect", only for Jimmy to interrupt again.
Solo Sikoa also came out and feigned attacking Jimmy due to the latter's recent internal issues with
The Bloodline, however, Sikoa and Jimmy instead attacked Cena, who was saved by
AJ Styles. The following week, Cena and Styles challenged Jimmy and Sikoa to a tag team match for that night; however, after WWE official
Adam Pearce conferred with Bloodline manager
Paul Heyman, the match was scheduled for Fastlane. A contract signing for the match was setup to happen later that night; however, Jimmy and Sikoa brutally attacked Styles backstage. Styles was subsequently taken to a hospital, leaving Cena to confront The Bloodline alone and they laid out Cena in the ring. On September 25, WWE announced that Cena would be facing Jimmy and Sikoa in a
handicap match at Fastlane. On that Friday's
SmackDown, however, after Cena received another beatdown from The Bloodline,
LA Knight made the save and signed the contract to be Cena's partner, which was made official—Cena had previously praised Knight at Payback after serving as the
special guest referee for Knight's match at that event. Following this,
Damage CTRL (
Bayley,
Dakota Kai, and Sky) began feuding with Asuka, as well as
Charlotte Flair, who sided with Asuka. On the September 29 episode of
SmackDown, Flair stated that after defeating Bayley that night, she would challenge Sky for the title at Fastlane. After Flair defeated Bayley, Damage CTRL surrounded the ring in an attempt to attack Flair, however, Asuka came out to assist Flair. Bayley subsequently accepted the challenge on behalf of Sky for her to defend the WWE Women's Championship against Flair and Asuka in a
triple threat match at Fastlane, much to the dismay of Sky. On the next week's
SmackDown, however, The Street Profits took out both Wilde and Toro, and it was later revealed that neither would be cleared for Fastlane. LWO's
Zelina Vega worried about how they could compete being outnumbered, but Mysterio said he would make a phone call. Prior to Payback, Jey Uso "quit" WWE after a falling out with The Bloodline on SmackDown. At Payback,
Cody Rhodes revealed that he pulled some strings and Jey was reinstated as a member of the Raw roster. ==Event==