The biggest winners and losers from last night's SmackDown (June 5)
SmackDown last night was neither good nor bad. It was kind of just there, though it still proved superior to the recent showings from the red brand, which have been actively bad rather than just the bland kind of bad. The show took place in Corpus Christi, Texas, a town infamous among fans for its dead reactions, though a few superstars did indeed get some responses from the crowd.
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With the exception of one storyline, nothing really felt important last night. We saw a tepid contract signing between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura that didn't do anything to advance their feud, a 6-man tag team match that, while fun, was ultimately meaningless, and a random mixed tag in the middle of the show. It really did feel like SmackDown was on autopilot.
However, some people did manage to walk away from the town infamously called "Corpses Christi" by the WWE Universe with some wind in their sails. But who?
Winner: Asuka
Carmella remains heatless, and her segment died the usual death that her segments tend to do in front of live crowds, but it did advance the feud between her and Asuka, and thankfully, it wasn't anywhere near the series of catastrophic segments we've seen over on Raw between Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn.
Carmella is trying to show Asuka's lack of confidence following her defeat to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania, advancing the former's character and giving her a new obstacle to overcome.
Asuka did so by taking on Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in a handicap match, winning in the end, only to be blindsided by Carmella.
It's interesting to note that WWE opted not to show Carmella eliminating Asuka from an NXT battle royal in January of 2016. This is a surprising respect for continuity and canon, as they've chosen to ignore that elimination. After building this kind of angle, one has to imagine that Asuka is more the favorite to walk out with the championship at Money in the Bank, as a loss following this build would do a lot of damage to her character, and it appears that WWE wants to keep her strong.