The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown Live (July 16, 2019)
Following up on a lackluster Raw, SmackDown Live, thankfully with minimal "wild card" shenanigans, was even more lackluster than its older red sibling this week. There was nothing like the electrifying return of Bray Wyatt to make up for the stink of the show.
It was a typical formulaic episode full of tropes that fans have long been tired of seeing. More Shane McMahon, more questionable booking, more meaningless matches.
If this is the form that SmackDown is in heading into the Fox deal, the people backstage should be terrified, and if this is the best Eric Bischoff can do, color me unimpressed.
Did anyone manage to get anything more out of last night's episode?
Winner: Aleister Black
Undoubtedly the highlight of the night, this match couldn't equal the pace these two set at Extreme Rules, but it was still a fun thing to see. This time, Cesaro largely tried to keep Aleister Black grounded and avoid meeting him strike for strike, but this failed with a Black Mass.
It was a promising start for Black as a television singles wrestler. He should be a priority for WWE in the back half of 2019. His finisher, in particular, can get him over given how sudden and impactful it looks.
Let's just hope he has a good feud soon.
Loser: Liv Morgan
I don't really know why anyone expected anything different. Liv Morgan was a jobber when she was on Raw and now, finally, we see that she's a jobber on SmackDown. The brass obviously wanted to feed Charlotte after her being off TV for a month, so they sent Liv Morgan to literally do the job.
It's worse given that Liv Morgan was off TV herself for months, but it is what it is. This will dispel any misconceptions among fans about where she's seen by the people backstage.