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Loser: SmackDown
Everyone expected Brock Lesnar to win here, but Kofi Kingston getting squashed after a six-month title reign does nobody any favors. It makes him and everyone else he's beaten since February (believe it or not, that was the last time he was pinned clean), look like chumps. This kind of booking is one of the reasons why WWE doesn't create stars on its own anymore.
In that vein, Cain Velasquez, Lesnar's old UFC tormenter, debuted, and it was a nice segment, but what does this mean in the long term? Rumors are swirling they'll go at it at Crown Jewel, but even if they don't, this means that the WWE title is stuck in the same place that the Universal title was for over two years.
And no one was or is overly enthusiastic about Cain Velasquez. It feels like a UFC rerun from many years ago. The crowd apparently chanted for AEW after the segment.
Regardless of the glitz, a lot of people were disappointed with this show, and the landscape for SmackDown over the long term doesn't look promising with yet another part time title reign.
