WWE NXT Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from December 4, 2014

Finn Balor and Hideo Itami may have a major encounter with The Ascension coming up at NXT Takeover: R Evolution on December 11, but Thursday night, they had to get past the tandem of Tyson Kidd and Tyler Breeze if they wanted to roll into the brand's live special with any kind of momentum.

It would not be easy for the team of international stars, as they were tested by two men who had formerly shared No. 1 contender status.

In the end, though, the tenacious strikes and jaw-dropping double stomp executed by Balor ended Breeze's night on a sour note and kept the newcomers rolling into their much-anticipated bout.

Speaking of anticipated bouts, Sami Zayn stood toe-to-toe with NXT champion Adrian Neville on Thursday night and showed a side of himself no one had seen before. He was intense and serious, proving that nice, happy Sami is gone and that a more focused and driven competitor than ever before is in his place.

His slap of Neville put an exclamation on the show-closing segment and left fans more excited for the title bout of Takeover than they already were.

Thursday's show was the last opportunity for NXT to convince fans to tune in for its next live special. In many ways, it succeeded.

Who stood out as winners and losers on the penultimate stop on the road to Takeover?

Let's take a look.

Winner: Sami Zayn

No one made an impact on Thursday night's broadcast the way Zayn did.

For so long, fans had seen Zayn as the happy-go-lucky babyface who competed in high-profile matches, delivered outstanding performances and, more often than not, lost.

Thursday night, he put aside the nice-guy persona and demonstrated great desperation in his quest to defeat Neville and reign over NXT as its champion. He slapped the current titleholder, finally showing the meanness and so-called killer instinct Neville doubted he had.

Zayn badly needed to showcase that edginess and attitude to convince his doubters he could be an effective champion.

Now, with no questions surrounding his ability to lead the brand, expect to see the Montreal native rise to the occasion at Takeover and end 2014 with gold around his waist.

Credit: WWE.com

Losers: Steve Cutler and Elias Sampson

Who in his right mind would voluntarily sign up to wrestle Baron Corbin or Bull Dempsey given their destructive natures and the pain and punishment they inflict on those stupid enough to stand across the ring from them?

That Sampson had already felt the brunt of Corbin yet willingly squared off with Dempsey demonstrated the idiocy of the young star.

Cutler's night ended after only 13 seconds, courtesy of Corbin's End of Days finisher.

Corbin and Dempsey may be on a crash course, but Cutler and Sampson played crash test dummies Thursday night.

Credit: WWE.com

Winner: Sasha Banks

The Boss of NXT has long been one of the most underrated stars in all of WWE, so to see her finally getting her opportunity to shine via a women's title feud with Charlotte is quite rewarding, at least for this fan.

Thursday night, she not only added further torment of Bayley to her long list of heelish actions, but she also caught Charlotte with a Backstabber and stood tall over the fallen champion, the title she so desperately covets in her hands.

WWE's 50-50 style of booking would seem to mean that the final moments of the Divas segment indicate Charlotte is retaining, but that may not be the case.

After all, if Charlotte were to successfully retain against Banks, where does that leave her and the entire division? Charlotte would have beaten everyone there is to beat. Repeatedly.

Banks would freshen things up a bit, at least until the brand had time to manufacture some fresh new faces for its champion to compete against.

Either way, the Massachusetts native has worked extremely hard and has developed into a fine wrestler before our eyes. She deserves to have gold around her waist.

Winner: Kevin Owens

The former Ring of Honor world heavyweight champion makes his debut at Takeover, but the video packages hyping his arrival have been nothing less than phenomenal.

This week, Owens detailed all of the stars he worked closely with on the indy circuit and how WWE always called them first. Now, at Takeover, he has the opportunity to show the company why that was such a terrible mistake.

There were doubts about how well WWE and, in particular, Triple H, would use Owens. After all, he is not exactly what the company would consider an aesthetically pleasing performer. But his heart, his desire and his connection with every audience he performed in front of made him one of the hottest free agents in all of wrestling.

If the reaction to the hype videos is any indication, expect to see that adulation from fans translate onto WWE programming.