In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship shot against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31.

In the penultimate match, Rusev defeated John Cena via technical submission to retain the WWE United States Championship.

In another prominent match, Bad News Barrett retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose.

On December 8, 2014, WWE scheduled a pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event titled Fastlane to be held on February 22 that year at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

The name "Fastlane" was chosen as a reference to its position on the "Road to WrestleMania", being held in the two-month period between the Royal Rumble and WWE's flagship event.

On November 23, during the main event of Survivor Series, Sting made his first appearance in a WWE ring by attacking Triple H with a Scorpion Death Drop and dragging Dolph Ziggler on top of Seth Rollins, giving Team Cena the win and causing the Authority to be removed from power.

[7] On the January 19 episode of Raw, Sting appeared backstage during the main event, a 3-on-1 handicap match between John Cena and the team of Big Show, Kane, and Rollins.

The distraction allowed John Cena to pin Rollins for the win, which reinstated the recently (kayfabe) fired wrestlers Ziggler, Ryback, and Erick Rowan.

[10] After failing to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble, John Cena was being interviewed after the event.

[12] After a loss to The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) on the February 16 episode of Raw, Stardust attacked Goldust.

[14] On the February 9 episode of Raw, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Erick Rowan came out and helped Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns to defeat Seth Rollins, Big Show, Kane and J&J Security (Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury).

[14] Afterwards, it was announced that Ziggler, Ryback, and Rowan would face Rollins, Big Show, and Kane in a six man tag team match at the event.

[16] The actual pay-per-view opened with Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback facing Seth Rollins, Big Show, and Kane (accompanied by Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury) in a six-man tag team match.

While attempting a Curb Stomp on Ryback, Randy Orton returned and performed RKOs on Noble, Joey Mercury, and Kane while Rollins fled the arena.

After the match, Stardust shook Goldust's hand, but then attacked him backstage and informed his father, Dusty Rhodes, that their feud was not over.

[17] In another segment, several hooded torchbearers stood on the entrance ramp while a casket was wheeled down to the ring, leading the audience to believe that The Undertaker was returning.

[17] In the main event, Roman Reigns defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship contendership at WrestleMania against Daniel Bryan.

Visibly upset, Bryan shook Reigns' hand but added that "you better kick his (Lesnar's) ass" as the show ended with the two leaving the ring.

[18] Kenny Herzog of Rolling Stone magazine headlined his article with "It's Roman Reigns, Deal With It", while remarking that "it seemed as if the Fastlane ticket holders came in protest, or at the very least begrudged".

[19] Throughout the night, the crowd for Fastlane was noticeably quiet, which Benjamin Tucker of Pro Wrestling Torch acknowledged.

Tucker felt that the Memphis crowd was being wrongly blamed for the "Fastlane snoozer", writing that, "It's sad to see individuals lash out at others who spend their hard-earned money to see something they love because "they didn't do it right."

[24] Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Erick Rowan avenged their loss on the February 26 episode of SmackDown, defeating Rollins, Kane, and Big Show.

[27] On March 9, a tag team match pitting The Bella Twins against Lee and Paige was scheduled for WrestleMania 31.

[28] The Usos received a championship rematch against WWE Tag Team Champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro on the following Raw.

[21][25] On the March 2 episode of Raw, Stephanie McMahon stated that Cena would not be competing at WrestleMania unless Rusev agreed to a match.