The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown Live (July 16, 2019)

Following up on a lackluster Raw, SmackDown Live, thankfully with minimal "wild card" shenanigans, was even more lackluster than its older red sibling this week. There was nothing like the electrifying return of Bray Wyatt to make up for the stink of the show.

It was a typical formulaic episode full of tropes that fans have long been tired of seeing. More Shane McMahon, more questionable booking, more meaningless matches.

If this is the form that SmackDown is in heading into the Fox deal, the people backstage should be terrified, and if this is the best Eric Bischoff can do, color me unimpressed.

Did anyone manage to get anything more out of last night's episode?

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Winner: Aleister Black

Undoubtedly the highlight of the night, this match couldn't equal the pace these two set at Extreme Rules, but it was still a fun thing to see. This time, Cesaro largely tried to keep Aleister Black grounded and avoid meeting him strike for strike, but this failed with a Black Mass.

It was a promising start for Black as a television singles wrestler. He should be a priority for WWE in the back half of 2019. His finisher, in particular, can get him over given how sudden and impactful it looks.

Let's just hope he has a good feud soon.

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Loser: Liv Morgan

I don't really know why anyone expected anything different. Liv Morgan was a jobber when she was on Raw and now, finally, we see that she's a jobber on SmackDown. The brass obviously wanted to feed Charlotte after her being off TV for a month, so they sent Liv Morgan to literally do the job.

It's worse given that Liv Morgan was off TV herself for months, but it is what it is. This will dispel any misconceptions among fans about where she's seen by the people backstage.

Winner: Ember Moon

It looks like Ember Moon is finally going to get a title shot, and on one of WWE's biggest stages, no less. That's a big boost for her career. This became clearer after Bayley joined her as the mystery partner to dispatch Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville.

The match itself should be a fine addition to the SummerSlam card. Unfortunately, neither women are among the more charismatic performers in the division, so selling the story is going to take some work, and quite frankly, I don't have faith in WWE's brass to give them the best platform to do so.

So what we're probably going to see is a slog for a few weeks promoting the match and then an excellent contest once they actually get in the ring.

Honestly, it could be worse, given the state of the women's division this year. This match could be one of the division's 2019 highlights.

Losers: The New Day

Imagine losing a day after your faction wins most of the gold on SmackDown. That's exactly what happened last night, as The New Day took on Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, and Elias in a six-man tag team match. And, to make matters worse, it was the WWE Champion that took the pinfall.

This is precisely why nobody gets over for long in this company and why it's so severely lacking in star power.

Sure, the match looks like it set up Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton at SummerSlam, and given the history those guys have, it could make for a fine story and match, but taking the typical route to get there of the challenger pinning the champion in a non-title match is lazy and detracts from the coming feud.

WWE needs to take a long, hard look at its booking tropes if it wants to convince us that it's changing.

Loser: Andrade

Stick a fork in Andrade, at least for now.

For over a year, Andrade's been the guy that has good matches with the top stars on SmackDown and then comes up just a bit short.

Now? He's losing to Apollo Crews.

That's a demotion no matter which way you slice it. Apollo Crews has been neglected for years and no one believes he's suddenly in line for a push.

This was just a meaningless match with the wrong result.

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Winner: Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens is getting over as a babyface, that's clear. This was an otherwise nothing segment though, with the match going to a no-contest and then Owens stunning Shane McMahon before departing.

Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon isn't a feud we should be particularly keen on seeing again. Remember what happened last time?

Hopefully, Owens will get the rub at SummerSlam and see Shane McMahon off television for a good long time. That's the only thing that matters now.