WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from May 7

With Payback rapidly approaching, WWE rolled into Ottawa for SmackDown, a show headlined by a contract signing for the upcoming WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton.

Rollins continued to demonstrate the qualities that have helped make him the premier heel in professional wrestling today. His cowardice prevented him from entering the same ring as his three challengers, not to mention Director of Operations Kane, while his opportunistic side allowed him to stand tall to close out the show, with his opponents laid out around him.

His mic work was strong, and the crowd's impassioned jeers to close out the show demonstrated just how intolerable a heel he has become over the last year.

On a night when the company opted to focus on midcard acts lost in the shuffle, adding new layers to two in particular, it was the consistent main event star Rollins who stood head and shoulders above the rest as the biggest winner of the night.

Who joined him and which Superstars and Divas found themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum?

Winner: Erick Rowan

Seven months ago, it appeared as though Erick Rowan was in line for a huge push as an unlikely babyface in the war with The Authority. Then came an awful match against Big Show at TLC in December 2014, and any chance he had of establishing himself vanished.

After spending months wallowing away in the midcard without direction, Rowan appeared Thursday night, attacking Fandango following the ballroom dancer's loss to Luke Harper and apparently planting the seeds for a reunion between the former Wyatt Family members.

Considering how far Rowan had fallen over the last few months, teaming with Harper and returning to the tag team division is the best option for the mask-wearing heavyweight.

Loser: Emma

Whereas Emma has undergone a character transformation on NXT, she continues to be an afterthought on the main roster. Thursday night, she was squashed by No. 1 contender to the Divas title, Naomi, and then beat down by the victor and her associate, Tamina.

Worse yet was the fact that no one came to her aid after the bout. Instead, she was forced to take her beating while commentator Jerry Lawler made it clear that the Aussie clearly was not on the level of other Divas.

It was further proof of just how lost Emma is on the main roster and how behind the times Vince McMahon and WWE Creative are when it comes to crafting characters for their female performers.

For now, any chance Emma has of enjoying success rests solely on her work in NXT.

Winners: Los Matadores

Fernando and Diego have been inconsequential since the moment they debuted on WWE programming. The gimmick, straight out of the early 1990s, was a massive failure despite spirited performances from the men behind the masks. The only element of the act to get over was El Torito, and that had more to do with his ability to fly around the ring despite his size than anything WWE Creative dreamed up in one of its meetings.

After two frustrating years, Los Matadores appear to be en route to a character makeover or, at the very least, a heel turn following their loss to the Lucha Dragons Thursday night.

Frustrated, Diego shoved El Torito to the ground, drawing boos from the Canadian fans.

While it could easily be a one-and-done moment that the writing staff ultimately forgets about days from now, it appeared as though the contest was set up specifically to get to that moment. That suggests that there are bigger and better things coming for the team that has been left for dead more than once over the last year.

What those things are remain to be seen, but at least the quality performers will have something interesting to do.

Winners: The New Day

Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston continued their rapid rise this week, scoring a huge six-man tag team victory over Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Ryback.

Not only is the obnoxiously positive act getting over as heels, but the performers are beginning to jell as a team, working together to deliver quality matches over the last three weeks. With the tag team titles in their possession and wins over high-profile babyfaces such as the aforementioned Ryback, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns, the three men are as hot now as they have ever been and may ever be.

Whether they can maintain the momentum remains the biggest question.