WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from January 28

Every week on Bleacher Report, I take an in-depth look at WWE SmackDown to recap the action, offer analysis and grade the matches, segments and anything else that takes place on the show, as well as make a few predictions for future events.

We're still dealing with the fallout from Sunday's Royal Rumble, but equal attention is being paid to building the storylines that will make up the card for Fastlane on Feb. 21.

AJ Styles made his SmackDown debut in a match against Curtis Axel, Goldust and R-Truth had more misunderstandings and we got to see Kalisto defend his newly won United States Championship against Neville.

It wasn't a memorable show, but it was one worth watching. Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's SmackDown.

The New Day and Miz vs. Usos, Titus O'Neil and Dolph Ziggler

The New Day kicked things off with a promo directed at The Rock and his cousins The Usos. It didn't take long for The Miz to interrupt them, which is the reverse of what usually happens. It's The Miz who is always being cut off by someone else.

Of course, The Usos quickly rectified the situation by coming out in the middle of The Miz's rant. After some words were exchanged, Titus O'Neil and Dolph Ziggler came out and it turned into an eight-man tag match.

The action was good, but it's always hard to make things interesting with this many people in the ring at the same time.

As usual, it turned into a huge brawl toward the end, with O'Neil picking up the win for his team by pinning The Miz. Certain things could have been done better, but this was a good way to start the show and get the fans in the right mood for the rest of the night.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• The New Day keeps saying the tag titles are gold, but they couldn't be any more bronze.
• Xavier Woods is becoming on of the best mic workers in WWE. He loses himself in his character.
• Kofi Kingston sold a slap to the chest from O'Neil like he was hit with a wrecking ball.

Kalisto vs. Neville

Kalisto defended the United States Championship in his first match after winning the title from Alberto Del Rio at the Royal Rumble, and he did it against Neville.

These are easily the two best high-flyers the company has right now, so expectations were high for this to be an exciting, fast-paced match.

They wasted no time pulling out some of their coolest tricks, with the fight quickly spilling to the outside and both men taking a hard fall into the barricade.

The best part about this match was how they took the time to let their moves land. They didn't just pop back to their feet after a big spot. They sold each other's offense, and it helped make their performances more convincing.

Kalist won the match after countering a German suplex into the Salida del Sol. While it wasn't a five-star bout, it certainly showed how capable Kalisto is without a tag team partner.

Grade: A-

Notes and Highlights

• It was a nice change of pace to see two babyfaces compete in a match without any animosity between them.
• Mauro Ranallo referencing The Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask makes me like him even more.
• Neville seemed to be acting a bit more like a heel as he used his size and power advantage to control Kalisto. It's unlikely he is turning heel anytime soon, but it helped the flow of the match. They shook hands when it was all over to show their mutual respect.

The Highlight Reel

Chris Jericho hosted an episode of The Highlight Reel with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns as his guests for the evening.

Ambrose brought Jericho an orchid to brighten up the set of his show, while Reigns gave Y2J a stool to display the flower. It was a quick, funny moment to set the mood for the segment.

Reigns and Ambrose claimed they wouldn't let their upcoming match at Fastlane affect their friendship, but they also said they wouldn't hold back.

The Wyatt Family showed up and spewed some of their gibberish before the segment came to an abrupt end. While there was nothing wrong with what we saw, nothing was actually accomplished.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights

• It was a classy move by Jericho to put AJ Styles over after their match on Raw.
• How was Reigns pushed over Ambrose when The Shield broke up? Ambrose is so much better in the ring and on the mic.
• Jericho should have been interviewing AJ Styles. It would have been a lot more interesting than what we saw.

AJ Styles vs. Curtis Axel

The Social Outcasts were out to complain about how they weren't trending after Raw, and Curtis Axel specifically called out AJ Styles for eliminating him in the Royal Rumble.

Styles came out and a singles match got underway. Axel was aggressive early on, but Styles'  signature brand of exciting offense eventually gave him the upper hand.

Heath Slater, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose tried to get involved, but Styles managed to take all three of them out before finishing off Axel with the Styles Clash.

It would have been nice to see them get two segments to work with, but they did a good job with the time they had.

Grade: B

Notes and Highlights

• Styles' entrance music is starting to grow on me, but it's still one of the five worst theme songs in WWE today.
• Jerry Lawler summed up WWE's views on TNA perfectly when he said: "If it didn't happen in WWE, it didn't happen."
• It's good Styles didn't come to WWE right from TNA. He is treated like a big deal as a result of his success in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Had he signed with WWE right after leaving TNA, he might have fallen into obscurity like so many others.

Charlotte vs. Natalya

Anyone who saw the match these two women had at the first NXT TakeOver were probably excited to see this bout. Unfortunately, this was just an excuse to continue the feud with Charlotte and Becky Lynch.

Natalya and Charlotte have great chemistry and technical ability, so they put on a good performance in the short time they had before Charlotte picked up the win.

The Divas champion applied the Figure 8 again after the match was over, but Lynch made the save and sent Charlotte running for cover.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• Ric Flair doesn't need to accompany his daughter to the ring anymore. She can get enough heat on her own.
• Aren't Paige and Natalya supposed to be friends now? Why didn't Paige make the save?
• It's also a little weird Sasha Banks didn't make an appearance after her beatdown of Charlotte at the Royal Rumble.

The Wyatt Family vs. Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose

This match was apparently made after what happened during The Highlight Reel, but it would have made more sense for someone to make the challenge during that segment than it did to just have them end up in the main event out of nowhere.

Just like the first match of the night, this was a pretty standard multi-man tag bout. Everyone got some time in the ring, and the match eventually devolved into a huge brawl.

Luke Harper carried most of the weight for team, and being in the ring with someone as versatile as Chris Jericho helped him showcase his unique style.

Braun Strowman's interference caused a disqualification. The Wyatts continued to put a beating on everyone until Big Show came out to make the save. The show ended with the good guys standing tall while Wyatt and his crew retreated to the back.

Grade: B

Notes and Highlights

• It's good to see Wyatt competing more often. It usually would have been him sitting out instead of Strowman, but somebody backstage must have realized Strowman is more valuable as an enforcer than he is as a wrestler.
• Luke Harper is so impressive. He needs to be given a bigger role while he is still in his prime fighting years.
• Judging from the way the announcers talked about it, it looks like The Wyatt Family will continue to focus on Brock Lesnar. They will probably cost Lesnar the match at Fastlane to set up some kind of WrestleMania bout.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

There's a segment from Thursday's show that didn't get its own slide but must be addressed. Goldust was shown trying to recruit R-Truth to be his tag team partner again.

Truth is a proven comic talent, and this duo could be very entertaining together.

Other than that, it was a pretty average episode of SmackDown. The Rumble got a lot of attention through video packages and recaps, which is to be expected after an event with so many storyline developments.

We still only know of one match for Fastlane—the Triple Threat match between Reigns, Ambrose and Lesnar to determine the No. 1 contender at WrestleMania—but some of the feuds are giving hints as to how the rest of the card will look.

This week's predictions will all address possible additions to the Fastlane card.

Predictions

• Kalisto will defend the U.S. title against Alberto Del Rio and at least one other person.
• The Usos will earn another shot at the Tag Team Championships.
• Big Show will face either Bray Wyatt or Braun Strowman.
• Mauro Ranallo will be one of the announcers for Fastlane if he isn't already booked for another event that night.
• Charlotte will defend the Divas title against Banks and Lynch.

What did you think of this week's SmackDown?

Thanks for reading and follow me on Twitter: @BR_Doctor.