What time does WWE Fastlane 2018 start?

WWE Fastlane 2018 starts at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT tonight with the kickoff pre-show starting at 7:00 p.m. ET on the WWE Network.

WWE Fastlane 2018 airs tonight on the WWE Network at 8:00 p.m. ET as the final exclusive Smackdown Live branded pay-per-view. Every PPV post-Wrestlemania 34 will feature talent from both rosters. The kickoff pre-show featuring panel coverage and typically a match or two will start at 7:00 p.m. ET. The event card features the WWE Championship, WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship, WWE United States Championship, and Smackdown Tag Team Championship being defended.

This year’s Fastlane main event sees a ‘Six-Pack Challenge’ with WWE Champion AJ Styles, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, and Sami Zayn facing off for the title.

Last year’s Fastlane main event saw then Universal Champion Kevin Owens going up against Goldberg only to lose the belt post-haste after a momentary distraction by Chris Jericho.

AJ Styles will be the favorite to win, particularly if the NJPW-influenced dream match against Shinsuke Nakamura is the goal. Sure, the match will be big time at WrestleMania either way, but the WWE Championship puts it over the top. It’s hard to tell definitively of course, since they know any AJ Styles match vies for best of the night, every night with or without a championship involved.

The WWE Smackdown Women’s championship match will see Charlotte Flair defending against Ruby Riott. Though NXT’s Riott has been on a roll, it’s highly unlikely Flair will be dethroned from her spot. Considering Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss has lost against Flair on PPV previously, Riott is unlikely to win this one. She’ll likely get to put on a good show for the fans and impress management barring surprise booking.

We’ll see Bobby Roode defending the WWE US Championship against Randy Orton on the card, and it could truly go either way. Orton doesn’t really need the US Championship for further elevation while it fits in perfectly with Roode’s glorious gimmick. However, stranger things have happened than an unexpected US title run, we’ve seen both Styles and Cena maintain its prestige.

The Usos will defend their Smackdown Tag Team Championship against The New Day and it’s really a coin flip who wins. On one side, The Usos have been kept strong for a while now and might be slightly favored to maintain. On the other, WWE might want to give The New Day the titles in time for WrestleMania 34. They did host WrestleMania 33 and sell lots of merchandise, so it’s a prime opportunity.

Royal Rumble 2018 winner Shinsuke Nakamura will face Rusev, and Nakamura has to be the favorite for this one. They’ll want to keep Nakamura looking strong going into WrestleMania and a solid win over Rusev achieves that. Keep in mind that Rusev was once undefeated at one point in the company. There’s a slight chance Rusev might win through non-clean fashion to protect both talents but unlikely.

Women’s Money in the Bank winner Carmella and Natalya will face Becky Lynch and Naomi in a tag team match. It’s likely Carmella and Natalya win this one in non-clean fashion to keep Carmella looking strong going into WrestleMania 34. She is rumored to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase at Wrestlemania, so her perception should be protected. A loss of course is not make or break for any of the four talents in this case.

Remember to tune into the WWE Network starting at 7:00 p.m. ET for kickoff pre-show coverage and 8:00 p.m. ET for WWE Fastlane 2018.