5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (Oct 18)

5. Winner: Baron Corbin

Baron Corbin is a near ever-present on SmackDown, but his contributions thus far have done little to capture the imagination. His recent feud with Jack Swagger is no different, but while they put on an absolute clunker of a match on SmackDown a few weeks ago, their No Mercy slugfest was a step up. Last night saw them conclude their trilogy seemingly once and for all, and it was barely a contest.

Corbin smashed Swagger in under two minutes, and while Swagger gained an early advantage, he was soon thrown into the barricade and destroyed with the End of Days. It was no more than a glorified squash match, but that’s all it needed to be: nobody wants to see another long, drawn-out Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin match, and the winner needed to look strong.

The outcome will ultimately prove beneficial for both men. Swagger is in dire need of a reboot, and WWE can use this latest loss as a catalyst to do so. Corbin, meanwhile, needs to be paired-up with faster, more dynamic opponents than Swagger. Jack is a fine wrestler in his own right, but Corbin is still green, and requires elite tier opponents to help mask his glaring weaknesses. Set him up with a substantial program against an exciting opponent, and Corbin will improve.