Despite serving as the final stop before WrestleMania 34 in April, the build to Sunday's WWE Fastlane pay-per-view can best be described as forgettable. Lucky for fans, the actual card was anything but.

Packed with multiple reveals and a flurry of frantic matches, Fastlane was already exceeding its paltry expectations entering the main event. But the six-pack challenge match for the WWE championship put the card over the top while producing an early match of the year candidate in the process at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. A beautiful disaster of sorts, with next-level energy and interlocking storylines, the main event was not only entertaining, it accomplished its goal of creating questions as to how things will play out for WrestleMania.

The final SmackDown-exclusive card of 2018 saw the blue brand's two main champions, AJ Styles and Charlotte Flair, find out their opponents for "The Show of Shows." Meanwhile, The Usos found a new foe altogether after a violent run-in ended their tag team championship bout.

CBS Sports was with you the entire way Sunday night updating this post live with results, grades and highlights of WWE Fastlane. Check it all out below.

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2018 WWE Fastlane results, grades

Tye Dillinger & Breezango def. Mojo Rawley, Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin via pinfall (Kickoff Show): Thrown together following a backstage argument during the kickoff show, this match played out as pedestrian as it was advertised. The six wrestlers did succeed, however, in heating up the crowd during the finish. It began with a hot tag to Dillinger and continued when he broke free from the finisher attempt of Gable and Benjamin. After chaos ensued, Dillinger packaged a superkick and Tye Breaker to pin Rawley. Grade: C

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Rusev via pinfall: Nakamura, the Royal Rumble winner, was kept strong ahead of his WWE championship match at WrestleMania. This physical match evolved from a slow and methodical start to heat up late and eat a chunk of time opening the card. A series of near falls and reversals helped ignite the crowd. Rusev appeared to have the match won late after Nakamura, who was setting up his finisher, walked into a Machka Kick for two. Nakamura then broke free from Rusev's Accolade to hit a running knee to the back of the head and his Kinsasha strike for the 1-2-3. Grade: B-

United States Championship -- Randy Orton def. Bobby Roode (c) via pinfall to win the title: Orton secured the one singles title (outside of Raw's universal championship) that has eluded him over a 17-year WWE career. The major problem with the lengthy match was the duo's inability to hold the crowd's attention. That wasn't without trying, however, as Orton and Roode established early the match's story of both being on alert to escape the other's finishing move. After intermittent periods of stalling brought the crowd down, Orton woke them back up by catching Roode off the second rope into an RKO outta nowhere for the finish. Out came Jinder Mahal to attack Orton, but Roode got the last laugh, hitting his Glorious DDT on both before walking off and likely continuing this three-man feud into WrestleMania. Grade: C+

Friends face off backstage: Kevin Owens angrily approached Sami Zayn in the locker room about turning on him at the end of SmackDown on Tuesday. Zayn attempted to reassure his best friend that he's still the "guardian angel" in his corner, but Owens stormed off and wouldn't have it.

Natalya & Carmella def. Becky Lynch & Naomi via pinfall: For a match that had kickoff show written all over it, this one sure got prime placement. Should inaugural women's Money in the Bank winner Carmella go on to cash in her contract anytime soon, it might explain the booking of giving her (and her gimmick briefcase) a bit of shine ahead of time. Late in the match, Carmella yelled for Natalya to grab the briefcase for her on the apron. Lynch caught wind of what was happening and cut Natalya off with a punch but the distraction allowed Carmella to hit a super kick for the 1-2-3. With almost no storyline behind it, this match was largely nothing different than is seen each week on SmackDown. Here's to hoping the finish was booked with a future purpose. Grade: C-

Tag Team Championship -- The Usos (c) vs. The New Day ends in a no contest: As we learned throughout their incredible 2017 feud, this match had as much potential to tease a five-star rating as any on the card. The two teams appeared on the road to getting there after an electric and high-pace start. In fact, the early part of the match was so good -- including both teams hitting the finishing move of the other as a sign of disrespect -- that it made what happened next that much more disappointing.

After The Usos hit tandem splashes over the top rope and onto the floor, The Bludgeon Brothers' music hit. With sledgehammers in hand, Harper and Rowan brought an instant end to the match by viciously attacking both teams. The BB's attack was as long as it was violent; they took out all five members (Big E, who didn't wrestle in the match, included) with creativity, including Rowan picking Harper up and slamming him on The Usos. The duo closed by teaming up to slam Woods onto the ring steps with their finisher, leaving his body twitching as paramedics administered treatment. All things considered, the beating was handled in believable and strong fashion as WWE creative used the platform to set up what should be a multi-team feud over the next month. But the mixture of predictability and the disappointment of seeing such a great match detoured left a sour taste. This was a plot twist that would've worked just as well on Tuesday night. Grade: B- 

AJ Styles wants plans to remain the same: Interviewed in the back by Renee Young, Styles said he had every intention of retaining his title tonight and going on to face Nakamura at WrestleMania 34. Nakamura attempted to interrupt Styles, but the champion cut him off and left the interview area.

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Women's Championship -- Charlotte Flair (c) def. Ruby Riott via submission to retain the title: This one had equal stretches of highs and lows, including a pair of sloppy spots right at the peak of the crowd's interest. Yet Riott also had her moments, helping to make this a physical affair. But in the end, the post-match developments made any prior sins instantly forgotten. With Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan constantly looking to interfere at ringside, Lynch and Naomi ran in to even the sides for Flair. Eventually, all four were ejected by referee Mike Chioda. The finish came shortly after as, with Riott sitting on her shoulders, Flair creatively whipped her face-first into the top turnbuckle. She then hit a spear to set up her Figure Eight to force the tap. Grade: B

Asuka challenges Charlotte Flair: Immediately after the finish, Asuka's music hit. "The Empress of Tomorrow" emphatically sauntered to the ring with a smile on her face after removing her mask. She then pointed to the WrestleMania sign and stared down Flair as the crowd popped huge. The term "dream match" gets thrown around far too often, but this fits the bill in every way possible. Asuka, who earned the chance to choose after winning the inaugural women's Royal Rumble, decided to put her unbeaten WWE record on the line against the company's top female wrestler. Get ready for something special. 

WWE Championship -- AJ Styles (c) def. Kevin Owens (via pinfall), John Cena, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin to retain the title: Dueling storylines, an insane pace and one memorable spot after another -- this match had just about everything. It also served as the perfect tipping point for the road to WrestleMania 34, just 28 days out from April 8. What we do know is that Styles retaining the title despite the immense kayfabe odds he faced secures a much-anticipated showdown with Royal Rumble winner and former New Japan Pro-Wrestling rival Shinsuke Nakamura. But where the other members of this match are headed for WrestleMania isn't so clear, which is a good thing. Sunday's match stirred the pot in terms of potential storylines, however.

Despite starting the match with a frantic four-pack of Attitude Adjustments, Cena came up empty in securing a WrestleMania match and sold his disgust perfectly by pushing the camera away with his hand after the match. Corbin was mostly a non-factor, and even Styles spent the majority of the match laying outside the ring after being put through a table, really only factoring into the finish.

Zayn also lived up to his promise by literally laying down for Owens in the middle of the ring, though KO refused to take the bait and a brawl ensued. But the biggest development came from SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon who, after eating a super kick from Owens that was meant for Zayn, twice robbed the match of possible finishes. McMahon pulled the referee out of the ring after Owens hit a pop-up power bomb on Ziggler and followed up by pulling Zayn out to prevent him from pinning Ziggler after a Heluva kick.

The finish was set up by Corbin grabbing the ring steps and using them to clean house in the center of the ring. Cena countered by knocking him out and hit Ziggler with an AA onto the steps. But as Cena went back to the well for a second AA attempt, Owens interrupted to hit a power bomb. Before KO could go for the pin, Styles came from out of nowhere to connect with a Phenomenal Forearm to finish Owens. Grade: A

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