The biggest winners and losers from last night's SmackDown (May 8)

Last night's SmackDown was one of high highs and low lows, with a fantastic start and end and a sagging middle. Thankfully, the blue brand did its best to pick up the pieces from an awful Backlash pay-per-view and set its sights on Money in the Bank. The qualifying matches made the show feel important, which is much more than can be said for most shows these days.

Who came out of the episode with wind in their sails?

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Winner: The Miz

The Miz has quietly become one of the best workers on the roster. He proved it again last night in a fantastic match with Jeff Hardy.

The two veterans went back and forth, with Miz seemingly outmatched but finding ways to make up for his disadvantages. One notable spot saw the A-lister flash his veteran instincts by rolling away from a potential Swanton Bomb after being hit by the Twist of Fate.

After several dramatic near-falls, Hardy connected with his finisher, but Miz managed to cleverly reverse it and walk away with the win and a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match.

We know Miz is on a collision course with Daniel Bryan and this was a way to keep him hot.

Winner: Charlotte Flair

After a terribly-booked loss to Carmella at Backlash, Charlotte got her momentum back by qualifying for the Money in the Bank ladder match. It was the right call, as Charlotte's hard-hitting, high-flying style would add more to the match than Peyton Royce, who showed her limitations in this badly-worked encounter.

The right woman won, which is really all that matters.

Losers: The New Day and The Bar

The 50/50 wheel is in full force, as Cesaro got a win over Xavier Woods to avenge his teammate's loss last week. This rivalry feels like nothing but silly filler with no stakes since the SmackDown tag team champions only showed up in an awfully-scripted promo last night.

SmackDown's tag team division has top-notch talent. It's now time for the booking to catch up. Hopefully, it will in the coming weeks.

Loser: Becky Lynch

Fans who overuse the term "buried" should look at this match, because this is what a real burial looks like.

The SmackDown Women's Championship picture is a mess following Backlash. It seemed likely that Asuka would be Carmella's next challenger, but after declaring her intentions to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, we can't be sure. Perhaps Becky, then, would finally get another title shot? She didn't announce her intentions, after all.

Well, it would be hard to justify a title shot for her now, after an embarrassing loss to possibly the worst talent in the women's division, Mandy Rose, who proved once again that she was called up from NXT far too early last night in a slow, sloppily worked affair.

Becky deserves better.

Winner: Rusev

It must be a dream, because Rusev actually won a big match, over no less a talent than Daniel Bryan.

Rusev proved how underrated he is because this match was great. It's nice to see him get a big spot. There were no indications that the Rusev Day act was going to break up, either. Rusev was so over that many in the crowd were chanting for him in a match with Daniel Bryan, of all people.

As for the Yes Man, he lost nothing in this match, since he became more of a sympathetic figure and we learned how banged up he was following Cass' attack, so he has an out to make him not look weak.

Bryan is a made man, so he'll bounce back from this quickly.