The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (December 18)

The new champ seemingly got a seal of approval.
The new champ seemingly got a seal of approval.

Winner: Mustafa Ali

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This was a great way to close the show. After announcing that Mustafa Ali was officially a part of the SmackDown roster, him and AJ Styles teamed up against Daniel Bryan and another performer that has been underappreciated, Andrade "Cien" Almas.

A top AEW star just called one of his colleagues 'spoiled' and 'narcissistic' HERE.

It wasn't surprising that those four guys put on a great match. There's no way they wouldn't.

What was surprising was the way it ended. Mustafa Ali hit his spectacular 054 on Bryan and got the pin.

It was a great move. It puts Ali on the map immediately and protects Almas as well. Daniel Bryan can more than afford to take the loss.

One of WWE's biggest impediments over the year has been only booking a few guys to get decisive wins and rubs, while no one else gets anything meaningful. Look at how Almas was used on SmackDown this year - he always had good matches, but never won a big one over a top name.

If this is changing, that is a huge good sign for the company.

Ali certainly deserves it. He has been one of 2018's top performers and it's nice to see him get some shine.

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Edited by Riju Dasgupta
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