Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman: WWE Fastlane 2017 Match Preview and Pick

The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object.

It is a story that has played out in wrestling rings across the globe for decades and will continue to do so because of its effectiveness. On Sunday, the culmination of the most recent telling of that tale will occur when Roman Reigns squares off with Braun Strowman in one of the highest profile matches on the Fastlane card.

The contest, and its outcome, will certainly have WrestleMania implications.

Will Reigns slay the beast and roll into The Showcase of the Immortals, prepared to do battle with whomever is placed before him? Or will Strowman continue his dominant ways, running over the former WWE champion en route to an even more significant contest on wrestling's grandest stage?

Preview

Strowman has been an unstoppable force in WWE since the brand extension that sent him to the flagship show as a singles competitor for the first time in his main roster career. Without the guidance of Bray Wyatt or the tag team partnership of Erick Rowan, he has been a revelation as the first legitimate beast of a competitor to tear through Raw since Brock Lensnar's most recent title reign came to an end.

He has squashed unnamed talent and obliterated popular stars like Sami Zayn.

The January 3 episode of Raw, though, featured the first time Strowman was manhandled in any way, shape or form. Taken down by Reigns and Goldberg's double spear, he was understandably humbled, a feeling he had not felt in quite some time.

At the Royal Rumble just weeks later, he sought revenge and got it in the grandest way imaginable: He interfered in the WWE Universal Championship match between Reigns and Kevin Owens, putting the babyface through a table and costing him the opportunity to wear gold. 

It was the ignition point for the rivalry that would dominate Monday night airwaves for the next month.

Unfortunately for Reigns, it has been rather one-sided.

Strowman has dominated every confrontation, leaving Reigns lying in the center of the ring, reeling from the latest offensive onslaught he has dealt out.

The February 27 episode of Raw saw Strowman withstand an incredible assault from Reigns, including a spear through the guard barricade, to punish the second-generation star one more time.

Ever-resilient, though, Reigns fought through the agony he was enduring following an Irish Whip into the corner that broke the turnbuckle, and he signed the contract to make their match for Fastlane official.

Who Should Win

It is easy to say "Strowman should win because..." but in reality, Reigns is the guy the company is trying to build itself around. He is clearly the favorite to supplant John Cena as the franchise star, and as such, he should be the first Superstar to pin Strowman's shoulders to the mat in singles competition since last July.

It would be a signature win that sets him on track for a potential match with The Undertaker, which was seemingly set up this past January when The Big Dog eliminated The Phenom from the Royal Rumble match.

Strowman will recover, probably in short order. He is a main event-level heel who has been one of the few legitimate breakout stars produced by Raw since last summer's brand extension. He stands alongside Samoa Joe and Owens as a top-tier heel on the Monday night roster and should find himself still in plans for a significant 'Mania match.

If booked correctly, Strowman could very well gain more from defeat than from victory, with a loss propelling him forward, and the agony of defeat unleashing an even angrier, more dangerous and destructive force than before.

Who Will Win

All signs point to Reigns knocking off Strowman here and setting him up for a major WrestleMania match.

He has been beaten down so often, and even on Monday he was left struggling to regain his composure after another vicious and brutal beating. One has to imagine 50-50 booking will dictate that Reigns finally figures out what he must do to defeat the The Monster Among Men and break off into his WrestleMania program.

It is the correct choice, like Reigns or not, and one that will make whatever he does on the grandest stage known to sports entertainment even more significant than it already will be.

Prediction

Roman Reigns pins Braun Strowman