Huge Takeaways From SmackDown Live- WrestleMania Bound

SmackDown Live has been in the doldrums recently and that is putting it mildly. It felt like their creative team was desperately trying to make it to Fastlane and then they can sort of hit the reset button on certain things and truly start their build to WrestleMania. That's exactly what this week's episode of the blue brand was all about. We know who the WWE Champion is going to be heading into WrestleMania, Asuka has arrived, bring on the Huge Takeaways from the Fastlane fall out.

5. The Stage Is Set For Styles And Nakamura

AJ Styles successfully defended his WWE Championship at Fastlane which means the dream match between him and Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania is official. It was The Phenomenal One who opened this week's SmackDown Live and he was quickly joined by The King Of Strong Style as the two sent jibes back and forth in preparation for their showdown. That match is still a little under four weeks away, but on Tuesday night, Styles' opponent was Rusev. That meant SmackDown Live's three most popular Superstars were all in front of the WWE Universe at the same time. Obviously, The Lion of Bulgaria didn't win as Aiden English interfered before he could tap to the calf crusher. Nakamura then came to his WrestleMania opponent's rescue when the proponents of Rusev Day put the boots to him.

4. The Bludgeon Brothers Finish What They Started

One of the most anticipated matches on the Fastlane card was the latest chapter in the rivalry between The Usos and The New Day. Unfortunately, a terrific match was interrupted when The Bludgeon Brothers finally decided to leave their mark on the Tag Team Title scene by wreaking havoc on both teams. They wreaked so much havoc in fact that only two of their five victims made it to SmackDown Live this week, Big E and Jimmy Uso. The two of them set their differences aside for the evening and went about getting revenge on Harper and Rowan. They looked good, to begin with as they jumped the behemoths and grabbed a couple of steel chairs in order to do some more damage. The match itself didn't go so well though as the former Wyatts picked up the win over the makeshift team.

3. Charlotte vs Asuka Is Gonna Be Big

Very few people will have expected Ruby Riott to pick up a win over Charlotte Flair at Fastlane, but fair play to the now former number one contender as she gave a good account of herself. Unfortunately for Riott, that performance was quickly eclipsed as immediately following the match Asuka emerged and revealed that she wants Flair, not Bliss, at WrestleMania. A blockbuster announcement to say the least. That means The Empress has been performing double duty this week. Not only did she pick up a win over Mickie James on Raw, but she was also on SmackDown Live for a face to face with The Queen. Clearly, both women are very excited about their WrestleMania match and Asuka reiterated what she said to Bliss on Monday, she has opted for Flair because she wants to beat the best.

2. The US Title Is Triple Threat Bound

Despite Randy Orton making his WWE debut all the way back in 2002, The Viper has never managed to get his hands on the United States Championship. That was until Sunday night at Fastlane when he defeated Bobby Roode for the title. The Glorious One didn't hang around when it comes to cashing in his rematch though, informing Orton that it will be taking place at WrestleMania. The chances of that match being a one on one are very slim as Jinder Mahal continues to poke his nose in. This week on SmackDown Live thanks to a little help from Sunil Singh he picked up a win over Roode. The Apex Predator was lurking though and delivered an RKO to The Maharajah post-match.

1. Have Zayn And Owens Gone Too Far This Time?

For the entirety of SmackDown Live, it was teased that Shane McMahon had a big announcement to make. He actually had two. First, he informed the WWE Universe that he will be taking a leave of absence from his role as commissioner, and second that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will be going one on one at WrestleMania. If McMahon hadn't been planning on taking some time off then what happened next would have forced him to. KO and Zayn came to the ring and delivered a beat down to end all beatdowns to their commissioner. It started in the ring, moved to ringside where they put a steel chair over his head and slammed him into the ring post, and finished it off by dragging him backstage and Owens power bombed him on to a nasty looking piece of equipment.

NEXT: SAMI ZAYN AND KEVIN OWENS' WRESTLEMANIA FATES ANNOUNCED