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Opinion: The biggest winners and losers of Stomping Grounds

And NEW
And NEW

Stomping Grounds was certainly an event with its hiccups, as the two main event matches were huge disappointments, but that's better than the entire card flopping, which it looked set to do. I suppose given that it was a show with such low expectations, Stomping Grounds could only overperform, and to its credit, it did - in the first half, at least. Once we got to the SmackDown Women's Championship match, things slowed down dramatically.

Two titles changed hands and it looked like a couple of pushes came to an end. Who got the most and least out of last night's show?


Winner: Drew Gulak

It was surprising to see Tony Nese's reign cut short so soon. I imagined that Drew Gulak's big moment would come at SummerSlam, but either way, this was probably the right call. Drew Gulak is the most formidable character that 205 Live has following the departures of Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, and Buddy Murphy. Carrying the show all the way through the darkness of the Enzo Amore era, this coronation was long overdue for the underappreciated Gulak.

Gulak getting the pin on Akira Tozawa suggests that the feud will continue, but that's how a smart multi-man match is booked.


Loser: Lacey Evans

This should be the verdict - Lacey Evans is not ready for a main event spot. Her match with Becky Lynch was plodding and pedestrian, with a few embarrassing mistimed cues. The crowd finally had it and began chanting "you can't wrestle" at Lacey Evans.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Lacey Evans was called up from NXT at least a year too early. That was finally laid bare last night.

Thankfully, we got the right result with Becky Lynch again tapping her opponent out. Though there was another confrontation later that night, this will hopefully be the end of Evans' push for now.

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