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Credit to WWE again. They tried as best they could on a day when most people were going to be with their families and wouldn't watch. Even without the presence of the red hot women's division, last night's show was an enjoyable experience for those of us who went back to watch it later.
Who got the most and least out of last night's show? Lets take a look.
Winners: Gallows and Anderson
A fun eight man tag team match (minus the New Day on commentary) resulted in a surprise. Gallows and Anderson pinned the reigning tag team champions to score the victory. The implication is that they may have leapfrogged the Usos (who clearly have unfinished business with the Bar) in tag team title contention.
If so, Gallows and Anderson probably don't have much of a chance to win the titles, but a match at an event like the Royal Rumble would definitely raise their stock for the coming year.
It's interesting that SAnitY managed to avoid getting pinned as well. Perhaps something else is in store for them later.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Is there any better heel on the main roster at the moment than the NEW Daniel Bryan? Interrupting a good bit of Christmas fun (which was the perfect way to use R-Truth and Carmella) suited him so well.
It was Christmas, and the Grinch won last night. This is all only going to make the moment Daniel Bryan loses the WWE Championship a much bigger deal. He's only been champion for a little over a month, and he already feels like a bigger deal than AJ Styles felt throughout his entire year-long reign.
Bryan's booking since the heel turn has been nothing short of masterful - a rarity on the main roster. Lets hope it continues in 2019.
Loser: Andrade "Cien" Almas
This was yet another fantastic match from Andrade "Cien" Almas on SmackDown, but it's unfortunately another big loss for the former NXT Champion. Since arriving on the blue brand in April, he's wowed us with his skill in the ring just like he did previously on NXT, but he has yet to score a big victory on the main roster. He's taken top guys to the limit, but never gotten past the finishing point.
This makes viewers believe there's a glass ceiling over a star's head, preventing him from getting over. Such is the case with Almas. Reportedly, he's unhappy with his position in the company, and losing a talent who could deliver for many years to come would be a tragedy indeed.
Given what happened later on in the night, lets hope things get better for him in 2019.
Winner: Mustafa Ali
Almas' loss was Ali's gain. After having a great match with the former NXT Champion, Mustafa Ali was attacked by none other than Daniel Bryan.
If it wasn't obvious before, it should be now. A title match between Bryan and Ali is on the cards. It could well happen at the Royal Rumble, which would be huge for the former "heart of 205 Live".
There's no chance Ali would walk out of Phoenix (or anywhere else) with the championship at the moment, but the feasibility of jumping from a brand that has had its struggles to retain an audience, to having a title match with a modern day legend, potentially on one of WWE's biggest nights of the year, is a huge boost in status, suggesting great things to come for Ali in his career.
This is how you build new stars, which WWE has struggled or refused to do in recent years. If this is the sort of thing the "new era" will be about, it's a welcome change.
Loser: The Miz
In a retread of the weakest angle on the blue brand at the moment, it looks like The Miz is going to be saddled with a Shane McMahon build heading into WrestleMania. It's a prominent spot, I suppose, but it's not a great use of the A-Lister's talents, and it means that we're going to have to continue watching this angle for the next few months.
Shane McMahon always makes the angles he's a part of a drag, no matter how promising they initially appeared to be. Lets not forget the never-ending Owens and Zayn vs Shane feud a year ago.
Shane McMahon will inevitably come away with the victory at MetLife Stadium on April 7. It's only a matter of how much damage this angle ultimately does to The Miz, but given that he's essentially bulletproof, there's some reason to be cautiously optimistic that it won't be too severe.
Winner: Rusev
Finally. Rusev won the United States Championship last night.
A year after it should have happened, WWE finally appears to be taking advantage of Rusev's organic popularity. There's reason to be skeptical. We'll need to see where things go from here, but it's a start, at least.
The change is also long overdue for the US title itself. Nakamura's non-existent reign damaged it greatly. The United States title was the least important part of SmackDown's mid card ever since Nakamura won it in July. With the title now in Rusev's hands, the division suddenly appears more open.
The long-suffering Andrade "Cien" Almas, for starters, will have something to do and go after.
Of course, it's also possible that everything could close off yet again, but this was a nice start. If there's someone who could start reviving the fortunes of the US title, it's the still-incredibly popular Rusev.
