The biggest winners and losers of SmackDown 1000

SmackDown 1000 was a superior show to Raw's 25th anniversary special in January. This was a show that had a nice mixture of returning legends and highlights from the current talent at the same time. Batista returned to tease a potential WrestleMania match, but the other big highlights all came from the current talent, which was a nice touch to the show.

A major title change occurred and two big angles got wind in their sails.

Far from resting on its laurels for a lazy nostalgia trip, SmackDown 1000 did a good job of acknowledging the past while working to build the future. Let's take a look at who got the most and least out of last night's show.

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Winners: The Usos

The Usos haven't had a good 2018 since WrestleMania, which is a shame because of how good their 2017 was. Things might be turning the corner for them now, because they defeated AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan in a tag team match.

Styles and Bryan were looking good throughout the contest until a miscue cost the latter to hit the former. Bryan then ate a double superkick from The Usos for the three count.

Not only did this put wind in the sails of Styles and Bryan's emerging rivalry, but it also gave The Usos a major credibility boost that they desperately needed. It would have been a bad look indeed for them to return to television on such a big episode only to lose. Instead, they won the match, and, with certain results that occurred later in the night, they might have something much bigger in store for them very soon.

Let's hope that happens, because the Usos deserve to be featured far more than they have been as of right now.

Losers: Rusev and Aiden English

This segment really felt like it didn't need to happen. The Miz won this match so easily and Aiden English's distraction felt like such an afterthought in it that something else could have happened during the time it got instead.

This wasn't what the Rusev vs. Aiden English rivalry needed after cooling off with the reveal that One Night in Milwaukee was a dud. English looked particularly bad here, but Rusev fell into the trope of the spot that he's in as well. For the first time, it felt like a lower mid card rivalry that WWE doesn't care at all about.

This match should have instead been scheduled for next week's episode. At least it could have been given the proper run time and angle development that would have made it far more worthwhile to the audience. Instead, it was a lowlight of an otherwise solid episode.

Winner: Becky Lynch

This was perhaps the best interview segment all year. Edge returned to a huge ovation and had the SmackDown Women's Champion as a guest on the Cutting Edge.

In a surprising move, the veteran gave the current talent a heartfelt warning that she was walking the wrong path, reminding her that he walked a similar path, but all it gave him was regret and loneliness.

Lynch mirrored Edge's performance, telling him off for intruding into her affairs and saying that she loves herself in response. To add insult to injury (almost literally), she told him to get out of her ring before he hurts his neck again.

Charlotte Flair arrived and the two brawled, but there was no doubt who stole the show again.

Becky Lynch continues to hit home runs at every chance she gets and it would be a foolish decision indeed to take the championship from her at Evolution.

Winners: The Bar

This was a confusing match, but the result was excellent. We have new SmackDown Tag Team Champions! The Bar deserved the win and the division is a lot more interesting with them on top of it than with the New Day reigning. There are only so many times you can talk about pancakes and be entertaining. The New Day passed that mark a year ago.

With the victory of The Usos earlier in the night, we already have an intriguing possibility of a feud between those two teams. It would be a fresh rivalry. We only saw one match between them, and that was an excellent Survivor Series battle between the two teams last year. It certainly whetted our appetites for something more.

There is another angle, because during the match, The Big Show came back and helped the Bar to secure their victory, randomly turning heel for the millionth time in his career. I suppose SmackDown's 1000th episode wouldn't be complete without the random Big Show turn.

Loser: Shinsuke Nakamura

It's understandable that WWE would want to have a big main event for the 1000th episode of SmackDown, but this was a questionable long term decision. Sure, it was a first time ever match, but you've now wasted that moniker, and Nakamura's loss wasn't what he needed. The United States Championship felt like it didn't matter at all, which followed already shaky booking. It hasn't been booked well under Nakamura, that's for sure.

It was obvious that Mysterio wasn't going to lose his first match back, so that begs the question of why choose Nakamura instead of someone lower on the ladder like Aiden English? It wouldn't have been as exciting of a main event, but it would have preserved long term rivalries going forward and kept the United States Championship protected.

I suppose it wouldn't be WWE without rushing into things without regard for the long term.