The biggest winners and losers from last night's SmackDown (June 19)

Last night's SmackDown was very much a tale of two hours. The first hour dragged with poorly constructed women's segments. It slowly picked up with a big debut, and then the second went into hyperspace, with one of the most memorable WWE matches this year so far. The crowd picked up with the show, being rather tepid in the first hour but came alive in the second hour with the gauntlet match.

Like Raw, it looks like the blue brand is heading out of its post-WrestleMania lull and slowly building to SummerSlam, with many fans being sent home happy with a good kind of swerve, rather than a poorly constructed one as we've come to expect. Extreme Rules is already showing some promise on the blue brand's side, and only one match has been officially announced.

Who walked away winners on SmackDown last night, with four weeks to go until Extreme Rules?

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Winner/Loser: Carmella and Asuka

This one is admittedly hard for me to judge. On the one hand, she came out to no reaction as usual, nor was the crowd terribly into her promo except in a few small chunks, but that was neither loud nor sustained. In comparison to Alexa Bliss the night before, she proved once again that she's, at best, the poor man's version, and is in no way a championship caliber act.

On the other hand, James Ellsworth delivered a bit more pop, and his interaction with Asuka was the highlight of the segment. Unfortunately, Asuka looked like an idiot again, losing focus on Carmella after attacking Ellsworth. This got some boos, but not long lasting ones. Carmella certainly needs Ellsworth and Asuka to play off on.

Though this segment was better than the usual kinds of Carmella segments, she once again proved that her reign is the weakest part of SmackDown, because compared to the rest of the night, this was the hiccup. Hopefully, she drops the title at Extreme Rules and we can move on to Asuka and Charlotte at SummerSlam.

Winners: SAnitY

This was actually smartly-done.

SAnitY's callsign is chaos, and that's what we got. Instead of the match with The Usos that we were expecting, we just got SAnitY rampaging through the ring and unleashing that chaos on the former tag team champions. As a result, there's a lot more room to go within the feud.

It's unfortunate that The Usos have to be victims, given how great they were last year and leading into WrestleMania, but this was well-done. It would have been even better if it was against the New Day, though.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

After what could have been a devastating loss at Money in the Bank, the company made it clear that it isn't sending Nakamura into obscurity, as he's transitioning nicely into a feud with Jeff Hardy.

We'll have to see where it all goes, but a match at Extreme Rules is coming. Both men made that clear last night. Perhaps WWE wants to test him with a mid-card title before ever considering putting a top title on him again, or maybe Jeff Hardy will win this feud and move on to SummerSlam against Andrade "Cien" Almas, which I have been predicting for a while now.

Either way, SmackDown's mid-card got much more interesting last night.

Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers

The tag team champions had quite a night. First, they successfully defended their titles in a rematch from Money in the Bank. The match was very good, bringing a crowd which had been tepid at best alive.

The champions looked more vulnerable than usual at the hands of Gallows and Anderson, but their winning streak continued. They are undefeated in tag team competition since their re-debut in November.

Their night wouldn't end there, however. They had a staredown with Daniel Bryan which would prove decisive in the coming gauntlet match.

Winners: The four losers in the gauntlet match

The gauntlet match was masterful booking. Each man in it looked strong and key players were protected in defeat. Samoa Joe lost to a count out. It's obvious that they're saving him for a bigger match down the line.

Daniel Bryan was the iron man and lost only because of the Bludgeon Brothers' interference...with the Miz taking advantage, further hinting at their coming feud. The only question now is whether the first match will take place at Extreme Rules or SummerSlam.

Winner: Rusev

Happy Rusev Day!

In an outcome which shocked everyone, Rusev tapped the Miz out clear in the middle of the ring, winning the gauntlet match and earning himself a shot at the WWE title at Extreme Rules. It was one of the biggest victories of his career. Rusev worked mostly as a babyface in the match as well, which is interesting.

Obviously, Rusev won't win the championship and this is just a filler feud until SummerSlam, which will likely feature AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. However, this might signify that the company is finally turning the corner on Rusev and is willing to see how he does in the main event spot. It's a great opportunity for Rusev to prove himself. Let's see how he does!