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The Blue Brand continued an attempt to build its Royal Rumble programs on last night's SmackDown. With the major pay per view now only two weeks away, the pressure on the superstars is certainly increasing. With WrestleMania season already underway, who got the closes to a prominent spot on last night's show and who lost out? Let's take a look.
Winners: The Miz and John Morrison
Despite his long absence from WWE, it didn't look like this partnership missed a beat as John Morrison ragged on the fans for turning on The Miz after one bad day, while the latter boasted about his former tag team ally's accomplishments to remind viewers who he was.
This ultimately led to a match between The Miz and Kofi Kingston, which the former won.
A tag team title match between these two and the New Day at the Royal Rumble is now almost a guarantee. Morrison and Miz might well win it.
Either way, the odds are high that Miz and Morrison will be involved in the tag team title picture heading into WrestleMania, which isn't a main event level match to be sure, but it's certainly a lot better than what Miz was doing at this time last year with his awful feud with Shane McMahon.
Loser: Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss lost to Mandy Rose last night. It might have come through a distraction, but it's these kinds of lame finishes which help no one.
Besides that, Mandy Rose has been booked low for so long that losing to her only hurts Alexa Bliss in comparison, given her long list of accolades (however much I personally disliked her time at the top of the women's division).
One suspects that Bliss will get her revenge at some point, but this was a bad look.
Winners: Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Lacey Evans
If these two were going to clash at the Royal Rumble (despite Lacey Evans' failure in big matches to date), this was the kind of segment that the rivalry needed, especially considering how overshadowed it already is and will be to the RAW women's title match featuring Becky Lynch and Asuka. It still won't compare, but it needed some more sizzle anyway.
Lacey Evans was scheduled to face Sasha Banks, only for Bayley to inform her that Sasha wasn't present. Lacey charged backstage and Bayley ambushed her.
In addition to heating up this rivalry, it also foreshadowed the impact of one of Bayley or Sasha turning on each other, as it signified how tight the two still are. Emphasizing the importance of the friendship and then abruptly ending it will make for the ingredients of a hot title match.
The SmackDown women's title might be overshadowed at the Rumble, but I suspect it's going to be the more anticipated match of the two at WrestleMania, given the likelihood of Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler.
Winner: Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman battled Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match last night, being blindsided by Cesaro and Sami Zayn, resulting in his victory by disqualification.
One suspects that eventually, Braun Strowman is going to get his hands on Nakamura alone in a title match. The possibility for Braun Strowman to win his first singles title in WWE, and his first title to last more than 24 hours, is open.
It seems unbelievable, but it's something that he hasn't yet done. If he pulls it off (and that still is an "if," given his booking history), he'll have done it at the right time, and could make it into WrestleMania as champion.
Will Tyson Fury await him there? If so, it would be the most important Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania in years. It would probably be a singles match for the gold, too.
Of course, it will have come at Shinsuke Nakamura's expense, so he would come out on the losing end, but it hasn't happened yet. With Braun Strowman's erratic booking, nothing is certain.
