Matt Riddle Shines Despite Loss, Strowman vs. Wyatt Build, WWE SmackDown Fallout

WWE created a big-match feel for Friday's episode of SmackDown, selling the significance of the Matt Riddle-AJ Styles main event for the Intercontinental Championship and, in the process, putting the emphasis on The Original Bro to go out and build his star.

He did, shining even as he lost to Styles in disappointing fashion.

Riddle's performance and the legitimacy he continued to build among main-roster fans was the biggest takeaway of Friday's broadcast—but not the only one.

As WWE geared up for The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on Sunday night, it wrote the latest chapter in the rivalry between Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt to great success.

Dive deeper into those topics, as well as the issues facing the blue brand's women's division and Cesaro's big night, with this recap of the Fox network presentation.

Even in Loss to AJ Styles, Matt Riddle Shines

Matt Riddle may not have left Friday's SmackDown with the Intercontinental Championship, but his loss to AJ Styles provided hims with something invaluable: credibility.

We already knew Riddle had an MMA background and was a hell of a fighter from his days in NXT, but those unfamiliar with his work in the black and yellow brand were awakened to the type of physicality and tenacity he brings in the ring Friday night.

Riddle controlled a large portion of the match, nearly defeating Styles on more than one occasion. In the closing moments, he even had Styles trapped in the Bromission. The Phenomenal One, the alert veteran, shifted his weight and scored the pinfall victory.

Styles did not win dominantly, instead relying on veteran instinct to narrowly escape with a title that Riddle appeared on his way to winning.

The Original Bro looked every bit Styles' equal, and that will go a long way in him establishing himself as one of the premier talents on Friday nights. A post-match beating at the hands of King Corbin in a rivalry that will likely see its fair share of television time does not hurt his prospects, either.

Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt Hype Represents Best Booking of Feud

Friday's broadcast featured the best booking of the Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt feud to date.

Wyatt cut a haunting promo from the site of the Wyatt Swamp Fight that will take place Sunday on The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, while Strowman responded with a dominant and somewhat surprising squash of former tag team champion John Morrison.

Strowman, in particular, looked like a force of nature awakened by Wyatt's words. He cut an impassioned (if sped-up) promo about not allowing The Fiend to return because it would be the physical manifestation of every mistake he ever made with Wyatt.

The vice-like submission that he broke out while downing Morrison, one utilized during his time as The Black Sheep of The Wyatt Family, was a nice throwback and another sign of the depths Wyatt's mind games are taking the Universal Champion to.

No one knows what Sunday's match will look like, but Friday's show set the table for it perfectly.

There's Still Work to Be Done in the SmackDown Women's Division

Despite the recent excellence of Bayley and Sasha Banks, there is clearly work to do with the SmackDown women's division, as evidenced by the match between Lacey Evans and Naomi.

First, Evans is suddenly a heel again after spending the first six months of the year as a babyface. There was no storyline reason, no slow burn or change in attitude. She went from being pissed off over a karaoke loss to being a full-blown heel again.

It is that lack of attention to detail that makes the WWE product so infuriating at times.

Then there is Naomi, a former SmackDown women's champion, who has not won a meaningful match of any kind in months. Here she allowed her hair to be tied in the ring ropes and then turned around into the Woman's Right.

She looked like a fool rather than the decorated veteran she is. The questionable use of the dynamic and charismatic performer, as well as fan frustration over said booking, caused #NaomiDeservesBetter to trend overnight on Twitter.

Naomi is as gifted an in-ring performer as there is in WWE, and while she has never been a traditional worker, her style has won over fans and helped her develop into one of the more popular female performers on the roster.

Extinguishing her heat to put over Evans' new heel persona, which had not so much as been hinted at for more than a week, is another case of the poor and problematic booking that has plagued the WWE product over this summer.

Cesaro Finally Wins a Match

Cesaro won a singles match?

Cesaro won a singles match!

It has been so long since Cesaro won a singles match of any significance that, for those who appreciate his work between the ropes, it is more than enough reason to celebrate.

The Swiss Superman benefited from tag team partner Shinsuke Nakamura's interference, sure, but he still put down Big E with the Neutralizer to earn his team the right to name the stipulation for Sunday's SmackDown Tag Team Championship match against The New Day.

Cesaro is so incredibly talented that is almost disheartening that a seemingly forgettable win on a throwaway episode of SmackDown would be so monumental, but given his booking over the past two years or so, every win he picks up is worthy of attention.

If only because he remains arguably the most misused and underrated performer in the company. 

And in this writer's opinion, he's the pound-for-pound best wrestler on the planet.