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I think it's time to be worried about the blue brand. While NXT and even RAW have been firing on nearly all cylinders recently, SmackDown has been trapped in a morass since the draft back in October, and it still hasn't let up. Last night's show absolutely didn't feel like we were supposed to be on the road to WrestleMania. It felt like a random filler show in December or during the infamous annual post-WrestleMania slump.
While there was one big surprise, the rest left a lot to be desired. Nevertheless, let's take a look and see who got the most and least out of the show.
Winner: Elias
Although this match was overshadowed by the antics of Baron Corbin, it was the first notable victory for Elias in a long time. Will it lead anywhere? That's probably doubtful. This match felt random as random can be. Nevertheless, there's a window open now for Elias to make something more of his victory. We'll see if WWE takes advantage of it or simply consigns this match to the heap of filler.
Cesaro's fate is unfortunate, but we simply have to expect that by now. Hopefully, he reunited with Sheamus and re-forms the Bar. He'd be much better utilized that way.
Loser: Roman Reigns
The feud must continue. Because of course, it does.
As usual, Baron Corbin was involved in a bunch of bad segments last night as he demanded yet another match with Roman Reigns. The latter would eventually answer and make a steel cage match for next week.
Hopefully, next week will be the end of it. It sounds like it will.
Nevertheless, Roman Reigns doesn't feel at all like the guy that's likely to take on The Fiend. Beating Baron Corbin once and for all will do nothing to change that situation. This feud has lasted way too long and sapped him of all vitality.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
I think it's safe to say that The Fiend Bray Wyatt's character was never quite the same after that disastrous Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins in October, but this might bring him back up toward his peak.
Goldberg surprisingly challenged the Universal Champion to a match at Super Showdown, so we have a marquee main event at the latest Saudi Arabian show.
If nothing else, Goldberg vs. The Fiend will be an interesting match, and notching a victory against so exalted a figure will make for wind in the sails of Wyatt as he heads toward a WrestleMania title defense.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Character development is always nice. That's what we saw last night with Daniel Bryan, who brutalized Heath Slater almost like he would if he were still the Planet's Champion character at this time last year.
It seems puzzling given that he just turned babyface again, and there's still no obvious WrestleMania match for him, but we'll see how this evolution affects his chances. It's unlikely he's going to be in the battle royal, that's for sure.
Loser: The SmackDown women's division
This was weird. Why would Naomi return to such a huge angle last week if she was only going to lose in a rather sloppy fatal four-way anyway? Carmella doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in being a title contender either, given how disastrous her reign as SmackDown Women's Champion was a couple of years ago.
There is the long friendship with Bayley that should make for a feud that doesn't feel totally filler at the very least, but still, we're all just counting down the days until this rough patch in the division is over, and praying that the confusion around Sasha Banks resolves itself in time. A Bayley vs. Carmella match at the end of this build probably won't make for a very good one. If Asuka and Charlotte couldn't carry her to a good title match...
Bayley vs. Sasha is still the obvious WrestleMania match, but until then, it's going to be a long, long road. There's still probably another month of this until the weather finally gets clearer.
