The biggest winners and losers from last night's SmackDown (May23)

As has been the norm since the WWE Superstar Shakeup, SmackDown easily beat Raw in quality this week. Things were sensible, most stories logically progressed, and we got a number of good matches on the show. Even the bad parts were minimized. It definitely feels like something's changed backstage with the blue brand, because it's been night and day compared to before WrestleMania.

Anyway, who came away with wind in their sails last night?

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Winner: Lana

Hilariously, Lana was one of the most over people on last night's show, largely thanks to the excellent work of a certain Aiden English. It was a genuinely entertaining segment that kept the ring encounter between Lana and Billie Kay, two of the poorer workers in the division, to an absolute minimum.

Lana has no chance of winning the briefcase, but her pairing with Aiden English will at least make her more entertaining. And is it just me or did the Rusev Day act suddenly turn face last night? If so, it's late but far better than never.

Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas

Almas sure did shut those "let's go jobber" chants up quick! All it took was one perfectly-placed spinning elbow and it was immediately apparent that the crowd, who might not be entirely familiar with the former NXT Champion, was impressed.

Squash matches have always worked wonders in slowly introducing new talent to an unfamiliar audience. I look forward to seeing what Almas does to next week's victim.

Losers: The Usos

Sure, it would have been redundant for The Usos to win this match given that we've just seen them in a feud with the Bludgeon Brothers, but this match, good as it was, still felt like a dismissal, given that we hadn't seen the two in weeks. It's a bit of a letdown to see one of 2017's best acts, which often carried SmackDown during its doldrums, to be virtually ignored this year.

We'll just have to see what awaits them as SummerSlam gets closer. It's highly unlikely that Gallows and Anderson take the titles from the Bludgeon Brothers.

Loser: Jeff Hardy

It wasn't shocking to see Jeff Hardy lose this match. Rather, it was the way he lost that was a big surprise. The United States Champion was dominated for most of the encounter and tapped cleanly in the middle of the ring.

Is this a devastating loss? Certainly not, as it came against Daniel Bryan, and Jeff Hardy is a made man. Still, the United States Champion will need some rebuilding over the next few weeks en route to a title defense at Money in the Bank. How will this happen, and with it still being too early for Andrade "Cien" Almas, who will it be against?

In the meantime, expect shenanigans from a certain Big Cass in Daniel Bryan's match next week with Samoa Joe. I'm still looking forward to it, though!