The biggest winners and losers on last night's SmackDown (May 1)

It feels like something in creative changed in the Superstar Shakeup as well, because SmackDown fired on all cylinders last night. All major storylines advanced and there was little filler in the equation. Even some overlooked superstars got to shine. It was the total opposite of Raw just the night before.

Who moved the needle forward and did anyone stumble backward?

---

Winners: Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, and The Miz

The show kicked off with a Miz TV segment where the A-lister attempted to troll both competitors for Sunday's US title match. One has to think he was looking to stir chaos in the division so that he could better position himself in it.

For their part, Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy were supposedly "cool with each other." Supposedly. After Shelton Benjamin interrupted as the fourth wheel, an eye-rolling tag team match was created, but it served the purpose of increasing tensions between Orton and Hardy when the former hit him with an RKO after the match.

Whether it heralds a full-blown heel turn is questionable, even doubtful, but at least it advanced the program. There's been too many "friendly" rivalries this year.

Winner: Big Cass

The promo started off on shaky ground, when Cass compared New York City to Montreal. Thankfully, it got better past that point. His mic work has clearly improved and by flattening his mock "Daniel Bryan" he drew heat from the crowd that he didn't have when the segment opened.

It wasn't nearly as good as last week's segment, but Cass did his job here. Did it make fans more want to see Daniel Bryan take him out on Sunday? Absolutely.

Winners: AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Samoa Joe

Shinsuke Nakamura demanded a public apology, which got AJ Styles riled up when he went out to the ring. AJ Styles wasn't met by Shinsuke Nakamura as expected, however, but rather by Samoa Joe, who made clear that he was coming for the WWE Championship once he was finished "putting Roman Reigns to sleep."

Nakamura's music hit then, and Samoa Joe was ready for a fight, but he instead ambushed AJ Styles in the ring and went for the jewels again. Nakamura's expressions as a crazed heel are excellent and have done more for him than his entire year as a babyface.

Sunday's no disqualification match puts this feud somewhat in a bind. It's clear there's still a lot more left to be told in this story, but if AJ Styles wins (which he likely will, as the history of challengers standing tall in go-home segments isn't a good omen), the feud will likely be out of gas. We'll just have to figure out where it goes from there, but I love the prospect of AJ Styles dealing with both Nakamura and Joe at the same time!

Loser: Sheamus

This was a random match stemming from a random backstage segment (this pancake crap from the New Day is getting old) and it showed that The Bar aren't exactly top-tier contenders in the tremendously strong SmackDown tag team division, for now, anyway.

Was the loss devastating? No. It did feel unnecessary, though, or could have been built up better. The biggest danger in WWE is getting on the 50/50 wheel, and that's what this felt like the start of for The Bar.

Winners: Absolution

"Absolution is dead." So said the woman that started the stable in the first place. It was long overdue. Paige's injury in December made it a ghost.

This is great news for both Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, who can now do something else, though they might stick around together for a while yet since neither of them seems ready to break out on their own. At least they can get out of Paige's shadow (and hopefully stop using her theme music).

We'll see where it goes from here, because Mandy Rose has a match with Becky Lynch next week.

Winners: Everyone in the 6-woman tag match

There's nothing you can do except instinctively roll your eyes when you know there's a another women's tag team match coming. Thankfully, this was an exception. The match itself was really good. Asuka, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte were clearly the stronger team, so the heels in Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, and Carmella had to use cunning tactics to offset the physical disadvantage. All six competitors looked like stars and played their parts to perfection.

Carmella, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce were annoying, as heels should be. Asuka once again looked like a wrecking ball, and this time, got the win for her team, silencing some worries about her booking going forward. Royce and Kay were gloating about their victory over her in particular, so perhaps a feud between them is developing.

Charlotte was mad for revenge, even going so far as to bring out her moonsault in the match.

Becky Lynch was perhaps the most interesting case of all last night. Long without any dimension to her character, she was showing a crisis of confidence as the match loomed. We know she has a match with Mandy Rose next week, and a feud between her and them would be just what she needs to reestablish herself.

If we see feuds of Lynch vs. Rose and Deville, Asuka vs. Kay and Royce, and Charlotte vs. Carmella during however long the latter's reign lasts, SmackDown's women's division will be in an interesting place in May and June, and will show more depth than it ever did last year, while hopefully heating Asuka, Charlotte, and even Becky, too, up for a series of tremendous title matches later in the year.