The day after FastLane

It's the day after SmackDown Live's Fastlane and in which I thought it was going to be a boring event, I was never happier to be proven wrong.

Somehow, this told a much better story than Elimination Chamber in many aspects, as well as finally getting me excited for the blue brand. I can't remember the last time I was pumped up for SmackDown but here we are. In just under 24 hours, I can't wait to see how the next four weeks will unfold before the big party in New Orleans for WrestleMania.

So, without further ado, let's get into the pay-per-view and give my reaction to each match. Let's go!

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Rusev

​The night opened up with Shinsuke Nakamura taking of Rusev in a thrilling opening match. While the match started slow, it wasn't until near the end of the bout that made me sit right up. Rusev started to show tons of offense and surprised everybody by connecting a huge Machka Kick towards Nakamura.

Eventually, Nakamura came out on top after connecting with a kinshasa and reminded everybody where he'll be on April 8th, and pointed to the WrestleMania sign.

Grade: B+

As I mentioned in my preview, it absolutely sucked that Rusev, the most popular guy in WWE, had to eat the loss against the man who's in one of the main events at WrestleMania. However, Rusev sure looked strong in the match. Hopefully, Rusev reminded the creative team that not only can he get a crowd going, he sure can get everybody on their feet with a sudden Machka Kick. ​

Randy Orton def. Bobby Roode to become the new United States Champion

The second match of the night was for the United States championship as Bobby Roode tried to defend it against Randy Orton.

Once again, the two competitors went back and forth and put on another fun offensive display. One highlight of the match was this perfectly executed superplex from the top rope by Orton midway through the match.

As Roode desperately tried to find some sort of spark in the match, unable to find the Glorious DDT, the champ tried to pull a Hail Mary and do some sort of top rope jump onto Orton. Only issue? Roode landed right into an RKO which gave Orton the accomplishment of being a grand slam champion.

After the match, however, Jinder Mahal came out after being felt robbed in recent weeks of an opportunity to go for the gold. Mahal went on to attack Orton. Soon after, Roode came back in the ring and attacked both Mahal and Orton with a Glorious DDT.

Grade: B

I was caught off guard with Orton leaving Fastlane as United States champion. In my preview, I spoke about how great of a champion's entrance Roode would have with the U.S. Title at WrestleMania. Clearly, that won't happen.

Despite having a solid match, the ending gave us our preview on what to expect for New Orleans. With a new champion, Mahal getting involved at the end, and Roode sending a message to both of them, it looks like we'll have a triple threat match at WrestleMania.

Carmella & Natalya def. Becky Lynch & Naomi

Next on the list, we switch our attention to the last minute women's tag match that was made as Carmella and Natalya took on Becky Lynch and Naomi.

Not a lot to say about the match. Some quick action here and there, some heel-ish moves getting the Money in the Bank briefcase involved, etc.

It wasn't until Becky was completed distracted and was greeted by a Carmella superkick to seal the victory for the Queen of Hearts and herself.

Grade: C-

Well, as you can see from my bit (and yes I did watch the match), there was nothing much to it. The one thing that caught me by surprise was Carmella picking up the win. It gives her a bit of a push to continue to let fans know that she is Ms. Money in the Bank and is just waiting for her moment to strike and cash in.

New Day and Usos end in a No Contest

One of the more anticipated matches came next with the tag team titles on the line as the Usos looked to defend their titles against the New Day and walk into WrestleMania as champions.

Let me tell you before the ending was what it was, I was having tons of fun. The Usos and New Day were using their own moves on each other. From the New Day doing the Uso Splash to the Usos doing the Midnight hour, things were highly entertaining.

However, all of that was ruined after a specific duo decided to tell everybody they're lingering around the SmackDown Live tag team division.

Grade of the match: B-

Grade of ending: C

I had to split the grading here because we had two different stories being told throughout this contest.

First of all, the match. The Usos and New Day were doing what we all knew they could do, entertain us and put on a show. With their aerial move set and strong chemistry on display when working together, we were yet again getting another classic. I picked New Day to win in my prediction, yet I wasn't sure if that was the direction WWE was heading. Regardless, I wasn't going to be disappointed.

Second, the ending. I wish this didn't happen during the match, but I also can't see another way you introduce the Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) into the tag team mix. They showed what they were built for, absolute destruction. The Usos and New Day were tossed around like how the Hulk tossed around Loki in The Avengers.

Of course in making that Avengers reference, you have the destruction of poor old Xavier Woods in which WWE reported that he suffered a thoracic spine injury. Whether that's storyline or not, it still looked brutally painful.

After they sent a message to both teams, Harper and Rowan clearly want one thing, the SmackDown tag team titles.

Charlotte def. Ruby Riott to retain the SmackDown Live Women's Championship

The third of four titles to be defended in the night was next as Charlotte took on the leader of the Riott Squad, Ruby Riott.

In what started as a simple one-on-one contest, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan came out immediately to be at ringside for their leader. Of course, that was also quickly short-lived as Becky Lynch and Naomi immediately came out to stand by Charlotte's corner.

With some dirty tactics by the Riot Squad in attacking Charlotte behind a distracted referee, and Lynch and Naomi going after Morgan and Logan, all of the ringside women were eventually ejected by WWE referee Mike Chioda.

Aside from that outside interference, Ruby and Charlotte as well put on a decent fight for the WWE Universe. Ruby went on the offensive in the first half of the match to which, eventually, Charlotte came crawling back. Not to mention, she had a very impressive moonsault from the barricade.

After all that, Charlotte ended up getting Ruby into the Figure Eight and sealed the deal by having her tap out to retain the women's title.

But do you really think the fun stops at the bell?

Asuka's music suddenly hit and greeted Charlotte in the ring to send one message.

Grade of the match: B

Grade of the aftermath: A

Once again, this is worth to be split into two grades.

The match: Ruby looked good. For somebody who was just recently called up within the year and ends up with a championship opportunity is always a good sign. In a losing effort, Ruby did look strong and showed she can keep up when she's placed in a high profile match. I saw no flaws in the match and Charlotte continued to look good. For an obvious result, this didn't turn out too bad.

The aftermath: HOLY S---! Okay, first of all, I owe my buddy a WWE shirt. The reason being, I was surely convinced that Asuka was going to face Alexa Bliss for her Raw women's title at WrestleMania. I was easily fooled by WWE. To me, it felt like they were making it clear on Raw that it was going to be Alexa and Asuka in four weeks. Of course, I'm heavily wrong and was easily swerved. I am very much looking forward to seeing Asuka and Charlotte face off and should not disappoint come April 8th.

As for the red brand, this might pave the way to what everybody is now expecting in Nia Jax to challenge for the Raw women's title.

AJ Styles retains the WWE Championship in a Six-Pack Challenge

I will gladly start this bit the same way I started the Men's Elimination Chamber match reaction in the last aftermath post. Only this time, it's exciting to write it.

Look at it. Take a damn good look at the graphic you see above. It was the dream match that we all wanted.

We got it.

In what was a wild and highly entertaining Six-Pack Challenge, AJ Styles came out victorious after hitting the Phenomenal Forearm on Kevin Owens to finally enter WrestleMania as the WWE Champion. Even though it's only his third WrestleMania, it already feels overdue.

Before I get to the grade, knowing how big the match was, I'm just going to talk about each superstar involved and their key moments before I give my reaction. I figured it would be too difficult to give a proper play-by-play like the rest of the card.

John Cena

This man came out hunting and went after everybody. Within the first twenty seconds, Cena managed to give an AA to FOUR men. He got everybody but AJ Styles in which they started their little scrap and got the ball rolling. Later on down the road, Cena got very intense and put Styles through a table with an AA that kept him out of action until the end.

Regardless, once Cena realized he lost, he sat in the corner of the ring looking completely dejected. I thought his face on the ramp after he lost to The Rock at WrestleMania 28 was bad, I had to think again. Cena even kept pushing the camera away as he thinks it's the end of the line and won't be a part of WrestleMania. (For now...)

Dolph Ziggler

Well, he was fun. I guess. As I said in my preview, it felt as if Ziggler was redundant and I personally think that was proved at Fastlane. Regardless, he did provide some entertainment for fans in the match, especially when Ziggler was sent flying through the Plexiglas by Baron Corbin.

At the end of the day, nothing was really set up for Ziggler in terms of having some sort of program for WrestleMania. He showed up, did his thing, and we can move on from this portion.

Baron Corbin

Well, speaking of redundant, Baron Corbin everybody! (applause)

Once again, I have to say the same thing for Corbin as I did for Ziggler. He appeared in the match, threw the steel steps around before it came back to bite him, and that was that. Props to him for breaking some of the Columbus Blue Jackets' bench?

Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens

Well, I definitely need to put these two together after what happened.

If I had to start somewhere (in no particular order), it's the moment when Sami Zyan was willing to lay down for Owens so he can become WWE Champion. As Zayn promised him a few weeks ago on SmackDown, this almost looked certain to happen. However, Owens thought otherwise, tried to attack Zayn, in which Sami was able to sneak a roll-up but couldn't get the three.

Next, the superkick. As Zayn was seen bickering with Shane McMahon who sat ringside, Owens tried to get Sami from behind with a superkick, missed, and got the commissioner instead. Fun right?

Finally, moments after that kick, Owens hit a pop-up powerbomb on Ziggler. As he went for the pin, Shane pulled Owens out of the way which got him livid. In just an instant moment right after, Zayn hit his Helluva Kick on Owens, attempted the pinfall, and was also pulled by Shane.

Have mercy, but it looks like we have a crazy set up between the three for WrestleMania. ​

Grade: A

Once again, an unreal performance by everybody. Yes, the match did feel unnecessary before it happened. However, it still ended up being a really fun car wreck.

This brings me to the winner of the match, AJ Styles. After he was saying for weeks that he wanted it to be Nakamura and himself to fight for the WWE title at WrestleMania, he got what we all wanted. Once he set up for The Phenomenal Forearm, it felt as if the entire WWE Universe got extremely excited with what's to come.

Aside from that, the storylines with the predominant figures were continued to be played out and it gives fans a better idea of what to anticipate for WrestleMania. The fact that the Six-Pack Challenge continued to tell stories for us shows that they really did an excellent job in the match.

Ziggler and Corbin will eventually find something I'm sure. But, again, kudos to them.

Overall grade of the show: A-

Spectacular stuff, in my opinion, from the SmackDown Live roster. Like I said at the top of the post, I was not into SmackDown at all. Nothing got me to turn on my TV, or follow up on the results. I just felt very bored with that side of WWE and shifted my attention to Raw.

Not anymore. There's going to be an equal amount of attention for both brands now. It's definitely going to want me to watch the Fastlane fallout tomorrow night as we sit back and watch how the journey to the Mercedes-Benz Super Dome will unfold.

27 days away to WrestleMania.