The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (April 24)

Last night's SmackDown was a disappointment for the stacked roster it now has. It's clear that both brands are in a holding pattern until the Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash have concluded, as many interbrand matches prevent new storylines from developing.

That's not to say that last night was totally without incident. A few things cleared up, giving us hints of what we can expect for the coming months.

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Winner: Big Cass

The show started with a promotion that Daniel Bryan would appear on Miz TV. The segment was highly anticipated. Instead, Big Cass appeared, being revealed as having laid Daniel Bryan out. It wasn't entirely without worth though, as Cass delivered the best promo of his career, explaining his motivations in his attacks, upset that a giant of a man like him was being overlooked by the "ordinary" Daniel Bryan, who got medically cleared on the same day.

The delivery was crisp and Cass' motivations clear. He wasn't revealed as Miz's muscle. Cass and Bryan will have a match at Backlash, where we'll be able to determine if the former's ring skills have improved along with his mic skills. Nonetheless, Cass probably has more fans than he did last week. As long as he isn't rocketed to the title, he's shown he deserves a chance.

Winners: The IIconics

After a catty promo, the IIconics scored a cheap win over their opponents, Asuka and Becky Lynch, by pinning the latter via Peyton Royce using the ropes for leverage. It was a nice way to give the heel duo some momentum while still protecting their opponents, particularly Asuka, who looked like her old buzzsaw self in this match as its star in the ring.

The false sense of confidence that Peyton Royce and Billie Kay got as a result of their crooked win should make for an interesting dynamic as the story moves forward. As long as there aren't too many 50/50 tag team matches, it should be fun to watch.

Winner: Carmella

In an irony, Big Cass' ex-girlfriend Carmella also had the best promo of her career last night, generating an unusual amount of heat, annoying the audience to death by repeating her video package. It was far better mic work from her than we're used to.

For her part, Charlotte looked like a poised queen, which made her sudden attack on the champion more memorable. Carmella did a good job of getting Charlotte over as a babyface, as the crowd came alive with "woo!" chants.

Loser: Randy Orton

In a lazily-booked mirror image of last week, Randy Orton emerged in lieu of Jeff Hardy to challenge Shelton Benjamin. The match was rather dull and thanks to the unexpected appearance of Sunil Singh, Benjamin picked up an upset victory.

When the U.S. title picture moves on from Jinder Mahal though, is anyone really excited to see Randy Orton in it? This match didn't do much to pique interest. You have to wonder what the reason for Randy Orton's existence is at this point.

Winners: Andrade "Cien" Almas and SAnitY

Though they didn't appear last night, Andrade "Cien" Almas and SAnitY got vignettes hyping their debut. This doesn't happen too often with NXT call-ups, so it bodes well for their future, suggesting the company has big plans for them. Both arrivals are eagerly anticipated.

SAnitY should liven up an already lively tag team division to a fever pitch. Meanwhile, Andrade "Cien" Almas will immediately put wind in the sails of a long-stagnant SmackDown mid-card, likely en route to a main event presence later in the year.

Both vignettes were well-done.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

In a matter of weeks, Shinsuke Nakamura has already established himself as possibly the hottest heel in the company. His physical charisma is far better suited to this role than he was as a babyface. He even changed his entrance music so that fans couldn't sing along with it.

Of course, we saw a low blow last night, and the "Nutcracker Nakamura" meme got further ammunition. The atmosphere between him and AJ Styles felt intensely personal as well.

Something about Shinsuke Nakamura wasn't entirely clicking as a babyface. As a heel, it's an entirely different story, and he's been hotter in these two weeks than at any point since coming to WWE, including his NXT run.

Hopefully, this feud will still go longer yet.

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