The biggest winners and losers from last night's SmackDown (July 10)
Despite the return of pyro to cap off the show, last night's SmackDown was rote, formulaic, and tired. The company clearly isn't trying, and it showed up on last night's episode despite the efforts of a stacked roster.
An advertised Samoa Joe match never materialized. Both the WWE Championship and United States Championship feuds were wasted in being "built" by a mundane tag team match. Things didn't get a whole lot better from there, either.
WWE certainly gave no reason for skeptical fans to tune into Extreme Rules on Sunday. If this was the purpose of the go-home show, it failed spectacularly. Nothing feels like it's important. The show definitely feels like you don't need to watch it., and sadly, with that $1 billion deal with FOX on the way, we can expect things like this to continue.
There's no incentive for the company to try anymore, and it's becoming more and more obvious.
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Did anyone manage to pick up the pieces and walk away from this show better off than before, or were there only losers?
Winners: The Miz and Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan was involved with Kane in Team Hell No for most of this show, but the real way he won was in the opening segment opposite The Miz. All the while they have a championship match, this feud has begun to build, and it's the one fans are really looking forward to.
Both Miz and Bryan hinted that they wanted to get violent with one another, and the tension was about to explode before The Bludgeon Brothers and SAnitY came by to set up the usual tag team match.
Despite the formula that took over later, this was an excellent segment that set the table for things to come. Unfortunately, it did nothing for Sunday's pay per view.