5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (Aug 2)

4. Winner: Brock Lesnar

The Beast took a big hit on Raw after falling to Randy Orton’s RKO seconds after Paul Heyman had promised it would never happen. As if the post-UFC 200 USADA hits weren’t bad enough, Lesnar now found himself working from behind in a feud many assumed he’d win convincingly, but he responded in predictable fashion last night.

His attack on Orton saw The Viper gain a DQ victory on the night, but that’s not important. What matters is that Lesnar regained his lost ground in his ongoing battle against his fellow future Hall-of-Famer, and while WWE’s booking record states that Orton will find a way to recover his momentum, Lesnar unquestionably won last night.

It appears that Lesnar is going to emerge from his drug test controversy unscathed. His part-time WWE contract prevents him from being tested and punished under WWE’s Wellness Policy, and despite Orton’s “enhancement” barb at Battleground, it looks like the company are going to sweep Lesnar’s failings under the rug.

Though it seems like WWE are burying their heads in the sand, this is the best possible direction. Lesnar is the company’s most marketable superstar and one of their must-see attractions; they need to preserve his aura at all costs, and if they’d thrown him in the doghouse, they’d be burying one of their biggest SummerSlam matches. The morals might be questionable, but Lesnar came-out of SD looking very much like the Beast of old.