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.
Losers: Asuka, Carmella, and James Ellsworth
I feel like I say this every week, but it needs to be said again. Carmella's reign stinks, this feud stinks, and the entire SmackDown women's division stinks because of it.
This segment was terrible. The match was sloppy and heatless. The entire women's division brawled with one another like idiots, and we now learned that James Ellsworth would be locked in a shark cage above the ring. Aren't you thrilled for Extreme Rules?!
This division is a disaster.
Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas
The sole highlight of last night's show was the long-awaited for Almas vs. Sin Cara match. The two delivered. As far as proper introductions go, this was close to perfect.
Sin Cara looked better than he has in a long, long time by taking Almas to the limit. Almas, in turn showed the main roster audience what he can do. His athleticism impressed a lot of people and Zelina Vega played the perfect heel manager in his corner.
His victory came abruptly, but overall, this was an excellent showing.
Let's hope we don't have to wait two months for the next one.
Losers: SAnitY
The 10-man tag team main event was pretty pointless. Eric Young took the pin. By usual booking, that means SAnitY will win against their opponents on Sunday.
Still, this pin gutted the last of any magic SAnitY might have had following their debut. They're just like anyone else on the roster now, and a win on Sunday won't change things.
They say they wanted to bring chaos to SmackDown, but so far, it hasn't mattered in the big moments. It's hard to get invested in them right now. Hopefully, the feud with the New Day will have more legs and mean something, but I shouldn't get my hopes up about anything about this company in 2018.