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Unsurprisingly, last night's SmackDown exceeded the Raw before it in quality. With a great tag team match and a tantalizing preview of a future dream match, the show's action delivered, and the booking was mostly proper as well. All systems were go on the road to Hell in a Cell, with thankfully less of the hollow marketing we've come to expect on Raw concerning WWE Evolution.
You see, with its two-hour format, SmackDown simply doesn't have the time to do hollow marketing and needs to focus more on the quality of the show. With the talent it has, that's a guarantee as long as the writing isn't atrocious.
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Speaking of that talent, who picked up the most momentum on last night's episode as Hell in a Cell gets closer?
Winners: Cesaro and Sheamus
At this time last year, Cesaro and Sheamus were MVPs on Monday Night Raw, consistently delivering standout performances. Though repetitive, their rivalry with the Shield was one of the things that made Raw worth watching through a typically slow fall season. You were guaranteed at least one high quality match every episode.
On SmackDown, they, unfortunately, haven't been featured heavily. That might now soon be changing, as the duo won a triple threat tag team match against Gallows and Anderson and, more surprisingly, the Colons.
They'll now advance to meet the winners of next week's similar triple threat to determine the new number one contenders for the tag team titles.
You'll recall that it was Cesaro and Sheamus who ended the New Day's record-breaking run as tag team champions a couple of years ago, so it would be interesting to see them renew their rivalry.
Already, SmackDown's tag team division is looking up now that the Bludgeon Brothers' reign is over.
Loser: Jeff Hardy
Is it too harsh to say that Jeff Hardy's promos have been consistently among the worst and most awkward of 2018? Because they certainly have been. Time after time, he speaks in riddles that no actual person ever says. While that might work for some characters, it just feels confusing here.
Without Randy Orton to play the villain, Jeff Hardy wouldn't be nearly as well off as he is now. Randy Orton's actions have at least made the Hell in a Cell stipulation appropriate for this encounter.
Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas
At first it appeared that things didn't look good for Almas. Fresh off an unnecessary loss against Rusev last week, it looked like he didn't have a chance against the much more highly-placed Daniel Bryan. Thankfully, however, the match was booked smartly.
After a tantalizing preview of what these two men could deliver in a proper match, The Miz ambushed Daniel Bryan and caused a disqualification. Maryse was also in the picture and got revenge on Brie Bella for last week.
All superstars came out looking better here, but Almas gained the most.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe continues to outshine AJ Styles in every segment. It's because of him and the tremendous character he plays that finally, the main roster has found a feud that's worthy of being mentioned in the rivalry of the year conversations that will come in December.
Joe didn't get into any violence this week. Instead, he simply taunted AJ Styles and got him to come into the parking lot in a rage, to find that there was nothing there.
This match deserves to be taking place inside the Hell in a Cell structure, far more than Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman or Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton. If it doesn't, it will be a terrible decision by WWE's creative team.
Winner: Becky Lynch
After defending her title and thankfully sending Carmella back down to jobber territory where she belongs, Charlotte Flair was ambushed by Becky Lynch. Once again, the so-called heel received tremendous cheers. It's clear that the roles here are misaligned, but Becky has played a tremendous heel, the kind that SmackDown has lacked.
With Charlotte certain to jump to Raw to challenge Ronda Rousey, the endgame for SmackDown's women's division should be to build to Becky Lynch against a rejuvenated Asuka at WrestleMania. There are many reasons to have doubts about WWE doing the right thing, but this could potentially be the start on that road.
