WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from August 23

AJ Styles continued his phenomenal tear through the SmackDown Live roster Tuesday night, defeating Dolph Ziggler in a stellar main event and cashing his ticket to Backlash, where he will challenge Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship.

Speaking of championships, two new ones were debuted this week as Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon introduced the wrestling world to women's and tag team titles for the brand's Superstars to wage war over.

American Alpha and The Usos advanced in the tournament to crown the first titleholders, while Becky Lynch established dominance on the women's side.

Nikki Bella debuted on the blue brand, and Bray Wyatt had ominous words for Randy Orton in a post-SummerSlam confrontation.

Find out how each result affects the future, how each segment graded out and whether SmackDown was able to continue building momentum for itself as fall approaches.

Two New Championships Unveiled

The new SmackDown Women's and Tag Team Championships were revealed Tuesday night.

With Superstars of both genders filling the squared circle, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan revealed the new titles some of the brightest young competitors will battle for.

Bryan introduced the new women's title, and McMahon revealed the gold will be up for grabs in a Six-Pack Challenge match on September 11 at Backlash.

The tag titles, conversely, will be on the line in a tournament that will begin Tuesday night and culminate at Backlash.

Heath Slater interrupted to a huge ovation and recalled the difficulties he has faced in recent weeks. He iterated his desire to hold championship gold before Bryan gave him his wish: Slater can enter the tag tournament with a partner, but if he does not win the entire thing, he cannot have a contract.

AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler fought to ringside, and the male Superstars pulled them apart.

Grade

A+

Analysis

This accomplished everything it needed to in one small, compact segment.

We now know there is a women's title, a tag title, how the Superstars will compete for them and that Styles and Ziggler have unresolved issues.

The segment featured the maximization of minutes, which is ideal for a show with only 120 of them to work with.

Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss

Becky Lynch was clearly the fan favorite during Tuesday's match, fueled by SmackDown Live fans chanting her name.

That did not stop Bliss from taking over control, working the head and neck with the ferocity that has become a trademark of her in-ring game.

The Lass Kicker fired up, fought back and scored the victory with the Disarmer.

Result

Becky Lynch defeated Alexa Bliss.

Grade

C

Analysis

The match itself was nondescript, but it did put the women's division at the forefront—a wise decision given the announcement of the Women's Championship just minutes early.

The crowd was molten-hot for Lynch, who scored the convincing win and is one of two favorites to reign atop the division following Backlash.

The Usos vs. The Ascension

The Ascension pushed The Usos more than anyone likely expected Tuesday, but even then, it was not enough to catapult Konnor and Viktor past Jimmy and Jey.

Jey blasted Konnor with a suicide dive to the outside, allowing the former champions to isolate Viktor and Jimmy to deliver the top rope splash for the win.

Result

The Usos defeated The Ascension.

Grade

C-

Analysis

More so than any other team on the roster, The Ascension has been beaten down and lost so much credibility over the last 12 months that it is impossible for fans to buy it as a legitimate threat to anyone, let alone former tag champions and standard-bearers like The Usos.

This was a foregone conclusion, and the fans knew it—a dangerous recipe for an exciting few minutes of televised wrestling.

AJ Styles Addresses the WWE Universe

AJ Styles wasted little time, bragging to the WWE Universe about his victory over John Cena as soon as he hit the ring Tuesday night. He took devilish glee in antagonizing fans distraught over Cena's loss, reveling in his defeating the franchise star.

Ziggler returned, flanked by referees desperate to keep the Superstars apart.

Bryan appeared and admitted he believed Styles deserved to be the No. 1 contender to Dean Ambrose's WWE Championship. He booked a match between the competitors for the night's main event, with the stipulation that if Styles wins, he is the top challenger.

If Ziggler wins, it is a Triple Threat match.

Grade

B

Analysis

Arrogant and obnoxious, Styles is the best. He speaks with such conviction that even the most ludicrous of statements come across as believable. He was outstanding on the mic here and only intensified the heat he has as the lead villain on SmackDown.

Bryan's decision came across as natural and fair rather than forced, which was the case on Raw Monday night.

Most importantly, it set up a hellish main event for the show.

Carmella vs. Nikki Bella

Nikki Bella made her grand return to SmackDown Tuesday night and prior to her match with Carmella, was to join Renee Young for a promo.

Unwilling to wait for the Total Divas star to spew verbiage, Carmella attacked her from behind, targeting Bella's previously injured neck.

Putting an exclamation point on the attack, Carmella used Bella's own Bella Buster against her.

Grade

C+

Analysis

It may not have been pretty, and it came from out of nowhere, but the heel turn may have worked wonders for Carmella.

She was struggling to get over with audiences without Enzo Amore and Big Cass to play off, and feuding with Nikki Bella will get her heat by proxy, so it was a gamble worth taking.

It is interesting that Bella is being positioned as a babyface given the fact the division has a strong babyface in Becky Lynch already established. A potential feud between them would be interesting but WWE Creative cannot expect to turn every other woman in the division heel just to enhance the popularity of its reality television star.

Randy Orton Promo

Randy Orton returned to SmackDown Live for the first time since his brutal assault Sunday at the hands of Brock Lesnar and had his promo interrupted by Bray Wyatt.

The Reaper of Souls addressed The Viper from ringside, seated in his trademark rocking chair.

Wyatt said the injuries Orton incurred were a reminder of his mortality, while Wyatt is a god. He warned his prospective rival that he will find out in time what that truly means.

The lights darkened, and when they rose, Wyatt had disappeared.

Grade

C-

Analysis

This was the same vague promo Wyatt has been cutting for years. Until he actually is allowed to win one of the feuds he gets himself into with talk of gods and mortals, the words will fall on deaf ears.

Orton's contribution here was minimal. Basically, it served as proof Lesnar did not, in fact, elbow him into oblivion Sunday night.

It will take a lot more to get fans to invest in Orton vs. Wyatt than what was presented here Tuesday night.

American Alpha vs. Breezango

Credit: WWE.com

The tag team action continued Tuesday night as American Alpha battled a much more game Breezango than they expected.

Chad Gable was isolated for the majority of the match but a hot tag to Jason Jordan late led to an action-packed conclusion.

Tyler Breeze and Fandango were mightily impressive, as good as they have been to date. They scored several near-falls off of superkicks but in the end, Jordan and Gable scored the victory off of Grand Amplitude.

Result

American Alpha defeated Breezango

Grade

B+

Analysis

This was the best tag team match on SmackDown Live to date. The talent involved was far above average and cut a frenetic pace that kept fans guessing. Sure, American Alpha was the heavy favorite from the outset but the timing of high spots and placement of near-falls had helped catapult it past the standard fare we have seen to this point.

The chants of "USA" in the direction of Gable and Breeze were a bit disheartening because it suggests management has not done enough to get American Alpha's characters over with audiences. They are not the prototypical all-American boys that inevitably are paired with foreign villains.

They are hybrid athletes who can toss opponents around and tap them out if necessary. Get that part of their act over and all will be golden with the duo.

Dolph Ziggler vs. AJ Styles

Credit: WWE.com

WWE champion Dean Ambrose took his seat at the announce table as Dolph Ziggler and AJ Styles prepared for battle in the night's main event.

Styles was, pardon the pun, phenomenal as he channeled his momentum from Sunday's victory into another big win.

Though Ziggler countered Styles' dominance with spurts of offense, coming close at one point to knocking him off and cashing his ticket to Backlash, it was The Phenomenal One's Styles Clash to The Showoff that earned him a one-on-one opportunity against Ambrose at the first SmackDown-exclusive event.

Styles and Ambrose stared each other down to end the show, the new No. 1 contender backing down first.

Result

AJ Styles defeated Dolph Ziggler.

Grade

A

Analysis

This was a pay-per-view quality match to close out a show that accomplished more in two hours than Raw did in three the night before.

Styles went over strong and is the clear favorite to unseat Ambrose as champion, perhaps as soon as Backlash.

What is next for Ziggler?

The Showoff was once again portrayed as a competitor who cannot win the big one, suggesting he will one day shake that label off. But when and, more importantly, how long can WWE string fans along before they lose whatever faith they have left in the former world champion?