WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from January 29, 2014

The first live event since the disastrous Royal Rumble pay-per-view, this week's SmackDown featured two huge blockbuster main events.

First, Rumble winner Roman Reigns battled Big Show in a bout that should end their rivalry. The second-generation star overcame a tremendous effort by the giant and blasted him with two hard Superman Punches before putting him away with the spear.

Later in the broadcast, Daniel Bryan and Kane brought their feud to an end in a rare Casket match. In what was a highly dramatic bout, the bearded Superstar vanquished the Corporate Demon and can now move on to bigger and better things.

Elsewhere on the show, Goldust and brother Stardust began showing hints of dissension between them following a loss to The Ascension, Paige was named No. 1 contender to Nikki Bella's Divas Championship, Bray Wyatt promised the WWE Universe that it would not like what it saw from him next and Seth Rollins was forced to scurry away from the ring in the face of a threat from Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan.

In what was another action-packed episode of SmackDown, which continued to prove that WWE is much better at telling stories in the two-hour format than the three-hour marathons it asks fans to sit through every Monday night. And the road to Fast Lane and WrestleMania raged on.

Which Superstars received the greatest bump from their appearances on the show and which are decidedly worse off prior to Thursday's broadcast?

Winner: Roman Reigns

Reigns bounced back from an ugly Royal Rumble event with a strong match against Big Show in which he managed to turn a mixed reaction mostly in his favor by the end of the bout.

More importantly, it was apparent that Reigns was working incredibly hard, putting in the effort against a guy who has not had a legitimate good match in nearly a year. The finished product was a competitive match that far exceeded the expectations of this writer.

It is imperative that Reigns continue to show hard work and dedication to his craft on the road to WrestleMania. No other Superstar on the roster will face the scrutiny that he will be under, and the easiest way to change the incredible backlash he was confronted with Sunday night at the Royal Rumble is to continue to perform at a high level.

Losers: The Ascension

Over the last two weeks, Konnor and Viktor have been beaten up by and struggled to defeat the likes of the New World Order, the APA, the New Age Outlaws and Goldust and Stardust.

Nine of the 10 Superstars who have waged war with The Ascension, and had considerable success, were over the age of 40. That's right—the most dominant tag team in the history of NXT, a duo who rolled over some of the most talented young duos in sports-entertainment, struggled against a bunch of guys well past their athletic primes.

Thursday night, they would have lost were it not for Stardust tagging himself in. By the end of the bout, the audience watched a team supposedly dominant, wearing ridiculous makeup and shoulder pads to the ring, barely squeak by opponents who have not been involved in a meaningful storyline in months.

It is yet another example of WWE Creative failing miserably to carry over the momentum a talent had built in NXT.

Paige, Emma, The Ascension and Adam Rose have been failed by those in charge of guiding their on-screen personas, some more so than others. To the point that it appears as though Vince McMahon is going out of his way to weaken the talent coming up from developmental.

Any reason for doing so would be strictly speculation, but one look at the booking for The Ascension, a team that should have been a can't-miss, slam dunk act, indicates the writers have done nothing but tarnish them.

Winner: Paige

The former Divas champion stepped out of the spotlight following her feud with AJ Lee, working primarily in tag team matches and on Main Event while the Bella Twins feuded with WWE's resident Black Widow. When Nikki Bella captured the Divas Championship and AJ stepped away from the ring, an opportunity for the Brit to step back into title contention presented itself.

Instead of running a Paige vs. Bella feud, which would feature the stereotypical Diva vs. Anti-Diva story, they incorporated Natalya into the ordeal and ran a tag team rivalry that culminated in a one-sided squash at the Royal Rumble.

Now, despite the loss in which she hardly got into the match, Paige is the No. 1 contender to Nikki's championship.

Getting to that point may not have been pretty, but WWE Creative has hardly been pretty over the last three months. The fact is that Paige is the future of the Divas division, and the best way to present her as such is to keep her in the title mix, not unlike the way AJ is handled when she appears.

Things got off on the right foot Thursday. Now, it will be up to WWE Creative to maintain the push without letting it descend into mediocrity, like the majority of its storytelling has of late.