Sasha Banks

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler beat SmackDown women's champion Sasha Banks and 2021 women's Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair on Sunday at Fastlane to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships.

Baszler capitalized on dissension between Banks and Belair to roll up the former from behind and secure the pinfall.

As the champions celebrated their win, the challengers continued their argument inside the ring, with Banks slapping The EST of WWE.

Sunday marked a rematch from last month's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, which saw Banks and Belair fall short in their bid to knock off Jax and Baszler and secure the women's tag team titles.

At Elimination Chamber, Reginald played a significant role in Banks and Belair losing, as his attempt to interfere by handing The Boss a champagne bottle backfired and resulted in her getting pinned by Jax.

He continued to stick his nose in the business of Banks and Belair in subsequent weeks, leading to The Boss slapping him and telling him to get lost. Jax was there to pick up the pieces, though, as she recruited him to join her and Baszler.

With Reginald on their side this time around, Jax and Baszler had an added element in their favor at Fastlane, and Banks and Belair had to account for his antics.

While the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships were on the line, much of the focus was on The Boss and The EST of WWE, as there was intrigue surrounding whether they would be able to coexist so close to their WrestleMania 37 match.

The relationship between the two was mostly cordial entering Fastlane, and their rivalry could best be described as friendly. Rather than running each other down verbally or attacking each other, they both announced their intent to prove they are the best women's wrestler in WWE at WrestleMania.

Because of the "anything you can do, I can do better" mentality that exists between Banks and Belair, the possibility of some miscommunications at Fastlane was undoubtedly present.

Jax and Baszler haven't always been 100 percent on the same page, but they have dominated the women's tag team division for months, and they undoubtedly had the teamwork advantage on their side.

The champions left Fastlane with the WWE women's tag team titles as expected, allowing Banks and Belair to focus solely on their upcoming showdown on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

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With Fastlane—the final WWE pay-per-view before WrestleMania—set for this weekend, hype within the pro wrestling world for WrestleMania 37 is starting to reach a fever pitch.

WrestleMania 37 will emanate from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, next month and will be a two-night event encompassing April 10 and 11.

This marks the second consecutive year that The Show of Shows has spanned two nights, and it will also represent the return of fans to WWE, as the stadium will be filled to partial capacity after a full year of fans not being able to attend WWE shows.

Last year's WrestleMania was supposed to take place at Raymond James Stadium, but it was moved to the WWE Performance Center with no fans in attendance amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The return of fans has ramped up the anticipation even more than usual, and that will continue to be the case as more matches get announced in the coming weeks.

For now, here are a few of the biggest things fans can expect to see when WrestleMania 37 takes center stage in Tampa.

Fans Will Breathe New Life into WWE Product

WWE was thrust into an incredibly difficult position last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to call an audible and announce just a few weeks before WrestleMania 36 that it was changing venues and no fans could attend.

The company still managed to pull off a highly entertaining show, though, and it has continued to produce Raw, SmackDown and NXT every week since then.

WWE has made adjustments and done its best to create as realistic and interactive of an environment as possible, including the formation of the ThunderDome. With that said, there is no true replacement for a live audience.

Tickets for WrestleMania 37 recently went on sale, and while Raymond James Stadium won't be filled to capacity, there will be more than enough fans present to make a significant difference.

Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs at the same venue felt as normal as any NFL game did throughout the entire 2020 season due to the crowd in attendance, and WWE will look to do something similar.

Wrestlers always talk about the importance of connecting with a live audience, and that will finally be possible at WrestleMania 37.

In an interview I recently conducted with Charlotte Flair, she commented on the return of fans at WrestleMania, saying:

"You never realize what you have until it's gone, right? I know that sounds so cliche, but being able to make eye contact with the fans when you're walking down your entrance is like the best feeling ever and creating and feeling that emotion as a performer.

"Yes, it's been different, and the ThunderDome is incredibly innovative, but to feel live emotion is gonna be a whole different level. As a whole, I think just sending a positive message to the world that eventually things will get back to normal as well is important, but I'm so excited."

WrestleMania 37 will have a different feel than most WrestleManias since it won't be a sold-out crowd, but it will mark a return to normalcy compared to last year.

A great crowd can make even a mediocre show seem special, so regardless of what WWE puts forth, this year's marquee event figures to come across as a massive spectacle thanks to the presence of the WWE Universe.

Belair and Banks Will Make Women's Wrestling History

Only two matches have officially been announced for WrestleMania 37 thus far. The Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Edge is likely to headline Night 2, but it is the other confirmed contest that will make history and could steal the show.

Bianca Belair won the 2021 women's Royal Rumble match, giving her the option to challenge a champion of her choice at WrestleMania. After weeks of interaction, SmackDown women's champion Sasha Banks became the clear choice, and The EST of WWE made it official on February 26.

Belair vs. Banks will be significant for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it will mark the first time two Black women face each other in a singles match at WrestleMania.

It also has a strong chance to headline Night 1 of The Show of Shows, which would make it only the second women's main event in WrestleMania history, following Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte from WrestleMania 35.

Banks, along with Bayley and Asuka, helped carry the women's division through the pandemic, and she has already competed in many of the greatest women's matches in WWE history, so there is no question that she deserves the distinction.

Belair is still in the early part of her career, but her potential is off the charts, and she has reached new heights in recent months. She is undoubtedly the next big star in women's wrestling, and a WrestleMania main event would help her achieve that honor.

There are still plenty of matches yet to be announced, but it is difficult to envision anything being big enough, or with enough of a story behind it, to knock Belair and Banks out of a spot they have earned.

On top of potentially main-eventing, everything is in place for Belair and Banks to possibly put on the greatest women's wrestling match in WrestleMania history.

There are a few contests that are in the conversation, including Banks vs. Lynch vs. Flair at WrestleMania 32, Flair vs. Asuka at WrestleMania 34 and Flair vs. Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36, but The Boss vs. The EST of WWE could top them all.

Belair and Banks should get all the time they need to tell an excellent in-ring story, and they won't disappoint on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

The Fiend Will Provide Another Cinematic Classic

While WWE has yet to make it official, all signs seem to be pointing toward "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt being part of a cinematic match at WrestleMania for the second consecutive year.

Last year, he faced John Cena in a Firefly FunHouse match. It wasn't even the best cinematic bout on the card, as that distinction went to the Boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles, but it was groundbreaking in its own right.

The Firefly FunHouse match was more of an experience than a wrestling match, but fans still talk about it to this day because of how unique it was.

It was essentially a retrospective of Cena's career, but ultimately it was The Fiend who pinned the veteran and got revenge on him for beating Wyatt at WrestleMania 30.

The Fiend is currently in a rivalry with another familiar foe in Randy Orton. The Viper was actually part of The Wyatt Family at one point, but he turned on Wyatt after winning the 2017 men's Royal Rumble match and beat him for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33.

More recently, Orton burned The Fiend alive at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December, and neither Wyatt nor his alter ego have been seen on WWE programming since.

Orton's rivalry with The Fiend has continued, though, thanks to the presence of Alexa Bliss, who has made life miserable for The Viper. Recently, she has seemingly put a spell on him that has resulted in black liquid oozing out of his mouth.

A couple of weeks ago, a demonic version of Orton told him that he would eventually have to confront his past sins, which is precisely what the Firefly FunHouse match was about for Cena.

If WWE produces a reprisal of that, with Orton replacing Cena, it promises to be one of the most entertaining and memorable aspects of WrestleMania 37.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

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