AJ Styles Addresses Fastlane: Latest Rumors, Preview for WWE SmackDown Feb. 20

After fading into the background last week, AJ Styles will take center stage on Tuesday's WWE SmackDown.

The Phenomenal One finds himself in a most unenviable position. He's set to collide with five Superstars at the Fastlane pay-per-view on March 11 with his WWE Championship on the line.

Before that battle, Styles will get a chance to speak up about the whole situation, and verbal fireworks are all but certain.

Phoenix will host a WWE event for the second night in a row as SmackDown slowly builds toward Fastlane. The show will feature a No. 1 Contender's match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and the blue brand's women's champ in action.

News updates, the SmackDown preview on WWE.com and storyline projections help take a look ahead at what will go down on the latest episode set to kick off at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network.

News, Rumors

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), Mojo Rawley has signed a new contract.

Fans of the powerhouse have to hope he will follow Dolph Ziggler's lead after doing so. The Showoff took a hiatus toward at the end of his last deal and was soon thrust into the WWE title picture after re-signing.

Chad Gable, meanwhile, looks to be furthering a storyline through social media.

The former SmackDown tag champ wasn't happy with how he and his tag team partner Shelton Benjamin suffered their last loss. Gable took to Twitter to complain:

Chances are, some of this sentiment will bleed into the on-screen SmackDown product.

Diamond Dallas Page was apparently in Phoenix on Monday, shooting interview footage for WWE projects, as reported by PWInsider's Mike Johnson. If the Hall of Famer is still around by the time SmackDown arrives, perhaps WWE could squeeze him in for a cameo. 

SmackDown Streaks

Charlotte Flair knocked off Sarah Logan last week to continue a strong run of late. That marked the sixth consecutive win in singles action for the SmackDown women's champ, per CageMatch.net.

Champions are too often asked to lose in non-title action, hurting their momentum in the process. But that's not how WWE is handling Flair. The Queen has beaten all comers except when it comes to tag team bouts. 

She's 2-3 in her last five tag bouts.

Kevin Owens, on the other hand, hasn't been successful regardless of the match type recently. After dropping last week's clash with Baron Corbin, KO is now winless in his last six bouts, per CageMatch.net. To this point, he's 0-5-1 in 2018.

It's odd that someone SmackDown has billed as a WWE title contender has been made to stumble so often.

Preview

Surprise. The women's division is getting another six-person tag team match. WWE has overused this type of bout for the women, and that's not going to change on Tuesday.

Flair will team up with Becky Lynch and Naomi to take on The Riott Squad.

Over the past few weeks, Flair has looked to take revenge on The Riott Squad for attacking her. She's beaten Liv Morgan and outlasted Logan during that quest. Now, it's time to face the whole faction at once.

The Bludgeon Brothers clearly want a crack at The Usos.

Last week, Harper and Rowan smashed a monitor that displayed an Usos promo. They have been relegated to beating up nobodies to this point, but a showdown with the champs appears imminent. 

Look for WWE to take a step in that direction on Tuesday's show.

But before The Bludgeon Brothers get their title opportunity, either Gable and Benjamin or The New Day will. Those two teams bickered last week, in part because Gable and Benjamin tossed The New Day's pancakes to the floor.

On Tuesday, they will battle for the right to face The Usos at Fastlane.

Credit: WWE.com

There have been no official announcements about a United States Championship match at the PPV, but one can guess that either Jinder Mahal or Randy Orton (or both) will be involved. Both men confronted U.S. titleholder Bobby Roode last week. 

Roode has bad blood with both men, and neither has anything else going on at the moment. A Triple Threat is probably the direction SmackDown is heading with this, something we may see confirmed as soon as Tuesday night.

As for the blue brand's top prize, the WWE Championship, four challengers are in line to take on Styles: Owens, Corbin, Sami Zayn and Ziggler. 

Corbin beat KO to earn his spot in the Fatal 5-Way. Ziggler got by Zayn to do the same. The fact, though, that Styles is in such a disadvantageous position in the first place has to leave the champ furious.

The show's authority figures' power game has Styles in a terrible spot, and whatever he has to say about it won't be kind.

The slow-burn, Bryan and McMahon-heavy story will roll on in Phoenix with The Phenomenal One likely pointing fingers.