The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (October 30)

Last night's SmackDown was a tale of two shows. It started with 40 minutes of brilliance (counting commercial time) with AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan, but then got into the Crown Jewel build and largely fell flat, with the exception of the efforts of Becky Lynch and the reappearance of Shinsuke Nakamura. The main event of last night's show to promote the unexciting World Cup tournament should not have been the main event, to put it lightly.

It's fairly obvious that the Crown Jewel fiasco has become an embarrassment for the company, who seem just as keen to get it over with as the rest of us are. Things should pick up next week, when the build to Survivor Series can really begin to take off.

Let's take a look at the last main roster show of October and see who emerged from it better or worse off.

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Winner: AJ Styles

This was fantastic. Had it taken place on pay per view as originally anticipated and not been interrupted by commercials, it could have developed into a true match of the year candidate. It was certainly one of the best matches of Styles' reign, and it taking place on a SmackDown nearly a year after he won the title on a Tuesday night was a nice touch.

AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan, as expected, tore the house down. It was a great, psychologically thrilling contest of technical wrestling. The chess match saw both men looking for weaknesses in the other. Daniel Bryan made a mistake with his suicide dive, landing on his knee. That was what Styles needed. He wore Bryan's leg down until he eventually got him in the Calf Crusher and forced him to submit.

Daniel Bryan loses nothing after a match like that (his story is far from over), and it was the kind of win that Styles needed, given that many of his title defenses have ended in screwy, unsatisfying finishes.

Loser: Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe's emergence after the title match last night may have dispelled rumours of an injury, but after the initial shock wore off, you knew the only reason why he appeared. Daniel Bryan understandably refused to work the Crown Jewel event on Friday, forcing the title match to take place last night. Samoa Joe is going to be his substitute and lose another WWE Championship match in Saudi Arabia.

The match on Friday should be good, but Samoa Joe, who should have won the WWE title in the summer for the work he was doing, has been reduced to the role of alternate. He won't be around in a prominent role like this for long. He's going to take a step back after Crown Jewel. Samoa Joe seems to have settled into his spot, with a ceiling he probably won't be able to break, despite his talent.

Winners: The Bar and Big Show

Unfortunately, the predictable holiday food-themed segment that is only crafted for an audience of one returned on last night's Halloween Eve episode. The attempted humor, as expected, fell flat and everyone looked like fools, but the big takeaway was that the New Day won this match with Big E defeating Cesaro. That means that they probably won't win the SmackDown tag team titles back at Crown Jewel on Friday.

It's the right decision. The New Day's act is wearing thin and I have little interest in seeing them as champions for the foreseeable future. The Big Show's presence is the biggest question mark in all of this. Has The Bar become a stable or is this just for the time being?

With Survivor Series on the way, what role, if any, The Big Show plays from here on out will be an important consideration going forward.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

This match was fun, though not much important as far as long-term storytelling goes. Nevertheless, it was a needed reappearance from Shinsuke Nakamura, who has been shockingly absent despite his being the United States Champion. He feels like one of the least important singles stars on the show despite the title around his waist.

That needed to change, given that we now have confirmation that Survivor Series will, indeed, be about Raw vs. SmackDown again. It was certainly necessary for the blue brand's mid-card champion to get some of his heat back on the way into the last major pay per view of the year. A tantalizing, first-time ever match with Seth Rollins, the Intercontinental Champion, is likely to take place at that event, so Shinsuke Nakamura will need to get built up on the way into it. This was a fine enough way to start that build.

Winner: Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch remains the hottest star on SmackDown, if not the entire company. Her appearance on last night's episode was eagerly anticipated after the match of the year candidate she had at Evolution. She didn't disappoint. Her promo was only a few minutes long, but it did exactly what it needed to do.

Becky Lynch warned Ronda Rousey that she wasn't there to "cosplay as a hero" or be some kind of celebrity. She's just there to beat people. She used her opponent's own language against her, told Ronda Rousey that she was going to rip her arm off, dropped the mic, and left.

This battle between two armbar specialists is going to be eagerly anticipated and might just be the first women's match to ever main event a big four pay per view. We'll have to see where the build goes in the coming weeks, but this is going to be good.