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Last night's showing of WWE SmackDown Live saw the Fastlane main event become a six-pack challenge. It also saw the return of Rusev, its most popular competitor, after a few weeks of absence. It was nice to see him, even if he wasn't in a match.
Unfortunately, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan continued to drag down the show with their storyline to nowhere. Let's see who came out of the blue brand with some wind in their sails.
Loser: Sami Zayn
The man who would be one of SmackDown's top heels lost to Baron Corbin, who feels like he's there just for the sake of being there.
This whole angle heading into Fastlane just feels mediocre and unexciting. It's hard to get attached to anyone.
Winner: Ruby Riott
Ruby Riott needed a way to heat up before her match with Charlotte at Fastlane. Naomi served as such fodder. Riott's performance was fine enough, but she doesn't feel like more than bit competition to the SmackDown Women's Champion.
Winners: The Usos and New Day
No one's complaining about the renewal of this rivalry. Both the Usos and New Day showed off their talent on the microphone. Their upcoming match is the only real attraction for the Fastlane event.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura returned to action after a few weeks of absence. Tangling with Aiden English is beneath the level of the Royal Rumble winner, but it's better late than never as far as keeping him relevant and hot heading into WrestleMania.
Rusev continued to be the most popular out of all of them though, and it was frustrating to see him literally standing on the sidelines.
Loser: AJ Styles
No one expects AJ Styles to lose his title in the Fastlane match, but the WWE Champion took the loss anyway last night. John Cena is now in the Fastlane main event. That it came at the expense of the champion is puzzling when it could have happened another way, but here we are.
As we've come to expect from the blue brand, the show closed with a multi-man brawl. It felt repetitive and didn't excite for the pay-per-view.
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