The biggest winners and losers on last night's SmackDown (May 15)

Contrary to the impression I got from the spoilers, SmackDown last night proved to be a good show. Most major storylines were advanced and while there was a questionable booking decision (more on that later), it proved good for the night. The crowd seemed to be hotter last night than it was for Raw as well.

Who came out with the wind in their sails and who lost heat as a result of this show?

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Loser: Big Cass

It looks like those promos from a few weeks ago are already proving to flashes in the pan. Perhaps Big Cass really does have ill will backstage, because, after his terrible performance at Backlash, he came out, cut an equally terrible, whining promo, and then proceeded to get his butt kicked by Daniel Bryan, to the delight of the crowd.

All of Cass' heat has now dissipated. He looks like a geek.

Bryan for his part was very crisp in the ring and on the mic, announcing his championship aspirations. We can hopefully look forward to much better things in his future after Bryan hopefully puts Cass out to pasture.

Winner: The New Day

After a hard-fought tag team match, the New Day emerged victorious, thus getting to select one of their members to enter the Money in the Bank ladder match. Unless the team breaks up and that big singles push for Big E happens as rumored, it feels like a wasted spot, but no one can complain about the match that preceded it.

Hopefully, that means the end of this 50/50 feud and both teams can get involved in bigger angles.

Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas

Andrade "Cien" Almas finally made his highly-anticipated main roster debut, defeating a local jobber in an academic fashion. Almas' charisma was palpable in the match, and Zelina Vega showed a certain other heel on SmackDown's roster (more on that to come) how to cut a promo.

The duo only look headed for good places. If WWE doesn't botch this, Almas can easily become the main event Latin star that they've been seeking for such a long time.

Losers: The Bludgeon Brothers

Hey, do you remember that the Bludgeon Brothers are the SmackDown Tag Team Champions? Maybe. Maybe not. They've barely done anything since WrestleMania and these promos have been awfully scripted.

It very much feels like WWE is spinning its wheels until SAnitY arrives, but can't it be possible to put the champions in some kind of match before then, so we can remember they exist?

Loser: Carmella

By far the night's biggest loser, WWE pulled out all the stops for her "Royal Mellabration" segment and...near crickets. The crowd just did not care, even as Carmella mocked their royal family and national customs.

If that's not a bad sign for a heel, surely nothing is. She died a horrible death out there.

Asuka, for her part, didn't need to say a word to be cheered to the high heavens. It's disappointing that she won't be in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but hopefully, this will mean the end of the Carmella experiment so that we can ultimately, at SummerSlam, get the match in the SmackDown women's division we really want to see...Asuka and Charlotte's sequel.

Loser: Mandy Rose

Straight 50/50 booking. Mandy Rose got a sudden pin on Becky Lynch last week, so Becky submits her this week. It was ultimately the right decision, as Mandy Rose would have added nothing to the Money in the Bank ladder match, but this feels very much more like a bigger loss for her than a victory for her opponent. Is Becky likely to win the Money in the Bank or just fill out space in the match, going back to her enhancement role afterward? Unfortunately, the latter is probably true.

Still, for the long term, this might have worked better for Rose, who's in no way ready for a singles push. Her entrance remains cringeworthy.

Winners: AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura

This was their best WWE match so far. It was annoying from a longer-term booking standpoint, as it burns the audience out on the number of matches they've had, and picking the stipulation for a future match wasn't a good reason to have one last night. Furthermore, Nakamura's victory now makes it almost certain that Styles will win in June. WWE's booking patterns are predictable in that way.

Still, it was a great match, and thankfully, didn't see the use of low blows, though there was one clever spot where Shinsuke Nakamura faked having suffered one to set up a decisive move sequence. It was good callback humor while showing that the feud will take on a new direction. Hopefully. That new direction was much-needed.