The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (June 26)

Last night's SmackDown was a weird mixture of things that felt like filler and things which decidedly didn't. When not trying too hard, the blue brand still managed to outpace its red counterpart in putting on a quality show, even with the absence of notable names like AJ Styles, Asuka, Charlotte Flair, and Shinsuke Nakamura.

It doesn't look like the company is out of lazy mode when it comes to building for a major show just yet, but SmackDown's version of filler still manages to be a lot more entertaining than Raw's, whose primary story around a champion that's disappeared and a guy that no one wants to see was terrible months ago, and continues to be every time its trotted out on television.

The blue brand is by no means brilliant or even must-see television, but it's easily the better main roster show at the moment. It's paid off with the Fox deal, so hopefully, this continues.

Who walked out of last night's show with wind in their sails with Extreme Rules being just two weeks from now?

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Winners: The Miz and the Bludgeon Brothers

Thankfully, the tag team champions are no longer nearly invisible, and that's an automatic win for them.

Sure, this promo wasn't anything special. WWE's usual formula was in full force, but Miz always manages to overcome shoddy writing. The segment also did its job in that it further fueled Daniel Bryan's feud with the Bludgeon Brothers while at the same time teasing the audience of the coming feud with Miz and keeping it hot.

That's about all you can ask for in today's heavily scripted and micromanaged environment.

Nothing brilliant, but the promo did its job.

We would see a lot more coming out of this as the night concluded, to say the least.

Winner: Rusev

Yes, this was a meaningless match that ultimately served to build Rusev up only for AJ Styles to inevitably cut him down at Extreme Rules, but it was still an impressive showing nonetheless.

Rusev and Woods are two of the most underrated superstars in the company. Hopefully, this peformance by a newly-pushed Rusev was impressive enough for the higher-ups backstage to give him a more prominent and sustained push in the future.

If it was his first test in a main event role, he passed with flying colors.

Losers: SAnitY

Only a week after their debut, SAnitY took a loss to Jeff Hardy and The Usos following a US title open challenge that resulted in a no contest.

If WWE's purpose is to normalize SAnitY and make them just like everyone else on the roster, they got off to a good start last night. Even though it was nice to see The Usos come out of hibernation, it was the wrong move.

We'll ultimately have to see where this goes, but this isn't the way for "chaos" to descend on SmackDown.

Winner: Becky Lynch

Though I want to say that it looks like Becky is finally in line for a push, we've been down this route before, many times, in fact. As soon as it looks like Becky is on a role, the wind is taken out of her sails. It's very possible that she's only in the spot she is right now because of Charlotte taking some time off to heal injuries.

We'll ultimately have to see where it goes, but Becky looked great last night opposite Sonya, who remains underrated.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Team Hell No is back. And they have a shot at the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. That's a way to make the blue straps relevant!

Sure, Kane won't be back on a long-term basis. Every indication is that this is just wheel-spinning until the build to a SummerSlam match with The Miz begins. Even so, what a way for WWE to spin its wheels!

The reunion was a feel-good moment that sent the fans home happy. WWE has often been in short supply of those these days.