The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (March 5)
Fastlane is the most useless pay per view on the WWE calendar, and it showed last night, as WWE put out another poor episode. The company's track record with these go-home shows just hasn't been good lately. With one exception, last night's show fell flat, including in the build to the WWE Championship match.
Nevertheless, were there any people who got a lot out of last night's show?
Loser: Daniel Bryan
Oh look, another unnecessary opening promo to create a match that could have been booked beforehand. Oh look, another way to introduce someone we already knew was there - Eric Rowan. Oh look, another way to fill time that didn't ultimately lead to anything later in the night, anyway.
WWE's booking formula is beyond tired and unfortunately, it's bitten Daniel Bryan's reign this month. An interesting title reign has been rendered moot by the way they've been booking him lately.
Things should get better after Fastlane, but the corresponding damage will have already been done. As for Kevin Owens, this has been a complete waste of a return. Expect him to fall back into 50/50 land in the mid-card as soon as next Monday.
Winners: The Usos
Hey, look, yet another champion gets pinned before a title match at Fastlane. Could WWE possibly come up with something more original even if they tried? The Usos were in no danger of losing on Sunday, but there definitely could have been a better way to build the match than this.
If WWE is wondering why it's losing its audience and possibly its Superstars as well, they need look no further than in the build to Fastlane, which has managed to make almost everyone on the roster look bad. "Roadblock" would be a far more apt description of this pay per view.