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Last night's WWE SmackDown Live episode was a tale of good and bad. When it was good, it was great. However, it had its moments that dragged the show down, especially in its opening segment before a certain superstar made a big return.
Still immensely superior to Raw, the blue brand has gotten its start on the road to SummerSlam off mostly nicely, and with the exception of its train wreck of a women's division, it shows a lot of promise.
Speaking of that division, the clouds might finally be starting to thin as a major development took place in it last night, although it could take some time yet to blow them all away.
Who got the most out of this episode of SmackDown, and who lost out?
#1 Loser: Becky Lynch
The night's biggest loser - Becky Lynch managed to stay over despite a drag of a promo by Carmella to open the show (word for word, the thing sounded the exact same as an Alexa Bliss' promo - another display of WWE's creative bankruptcy).
Dumb Babyface Syndrome struck Becky, as it strikes all babyfaces, and she needed to be saved by Charlotte Flair. This resulted in the eventual loss of her one on one title shot, as the match will now be a triple threat contest.
Seeds of dissension were sown between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, and that could lead to a big angle later on, one which might hopefully revitalize this carcass of a division, but for now, it's a big blow to Becky's fans, who have been waiting for nearly two years for her to get a legitimate chance at winning the title.
With the possibility of Asuka also being added to the match next week, Becky's chances of essentially being used as a plot device rather than a real contender, at least for this feud - could go up even more.
#2 Winners: The Bar
The Bar is back, and it was great to see them, especially since their match with The Usos was an excellent way for WWE to close out the month. All four men were MVPs of 2017, and it was nice to see them show why in this year of dilapidated tag team wrestling.
After a thrilling back and forth contest, sullied only by the New Day on commentary with their omnipresent pancakes, The Bar picked up the victory to advance in the tournament, where they'll face the aforementioned team next week.
The Bar and the New Day have a lot of history together, so next week should be a fun match. I doubt it, but hopefully The Bar will win.
#3 Loser: Samoa Joe
This wasn't a bad segment by any stretch. Samoa Joe took mediocre writing and made it sound real and intimidating. He has a penchant for doing that.
Still, I was expecting much more. AJ Styles was nowhere to be found last night, and the WWE Championship again was made to feel relatively unimportant in comparison to other feuds on the blue brand.
Hopefully things will pick up next week.
#4 Winner: Randy Orton
Randy Orton was the star of the show last night. This was one of the best segments all year.
After starting off on wobbly legs with a horribly scripted promo from Jeff Hardy (WWE writers really need to take the hint that no actual person talks about fifth eyes), Shinsuke Nakamura attacked the former from behind. Randy Orton came by, and after a Kinshasa - took his time with Hardy.
Instead of the generic beat-down followed by a finisher, Randy Orton only teased it. He did some stomps instead, and blissfully, there was not a low blow in sight.
Orton took his beat-down to the announce table, where he yanked Jeff Hardy's chain off his neck and scrubbed the paint off his face, erasing his identity.
Where was this Orton these last few years?
#5 Winners: Daniel Bryan and The Miz
This was a strong promo that stirred the feud between these two competitors. Bryan wants to face Miz at SummerSlam, but the latter is playing coy, getting inside his rival's head and calling him a crybaby.
Bryan for his part, accused Miz of basically being a wannabe Rock or John Cena by citing his overall failures to take his talents from the squared circle to Hollywood. It was a taunt that cut to the core of Miz's identity as the A-lister.
The slow build which hasn't relied on generic beat downs or bad promos has been great so far. Miz playing keep away will only work for so long though. We'll have to see what happens next week.
#6 Winner: Charlotte Flair
It doesn't matter that this match was really bad, though better than their Backlash encounter. The result was that Charlotte Flair got added to the match at SummerSlam, causing a potential rift with Becky.
The biggest question about the match now is if Asuka gets added or not, but either way, this scenario unfortunately probably means that Carmella will retain her championship at SummerSlam.
However, if it leads to a heel turn for Charlotte, Becky, or if she finds herself involved - Asuka, SmackDown will have come out ahead overall, since there won't be a need for Carmella to be the show's top heel anymore, a role she's failing at.
