WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from November 26

There was not much for wrestling fans to be thankful for following a subpar Survivor Series pay-per-view and an even more lackluster episode of Monday Night Raw, yet there was still a sense of joy surrounding Thursday's episode of SmackDown.

Holiday editions of WWE programming are always great fun, and with a main event pitting Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze against each other for the right to be the No. 1 contender to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, the likelihood that fans would get some great wrestling out of the show was enticing.

While there were segments that tried to be too festive and too funny, which failed as a result, there was more good than bad on this week's SyFy network presentation and, as usual, a crop of winners and losers who emerged from it.

Who were they, and why did they end up on either side of the proverbial fence?

Let's take a look.

Winner: Roman Reigns 

The WWE's top babyface only appeared in the night's opening promo, but it was the way the company booked him in that segment that earned Roman Reigns winner's status.

Rather than exposing his weakness for cutting promos, WWE hid it, scripting him the minimal amount of verbiage and allowing him to be the silent ass-kicker he should have been from the start.

He was on point, did not venture away from the topic and, most importantly, did not stumble over his words.

It was a strong effort from someone the WWE needs to carefully book over the next few weeks and months. Otherwise, the criticisms will grow louder, meaner and nastier than before.

Loser: Alberto Del Rio 

The United States champion has been on a downward spiral since cleanly beating John Cena in the center of the ring at Hell in a Cell—a glorified midcard act that is not working—at all.

Alberto Del Rio has no chemistry whatsoever with Zeb Colter, is somehow less over than peers such as Stardust and The Ascension and has done absolutely nothing to change up his character or in-ring work to separate it from what fans witnessed the last time he worked under Vince McMahon.

Thursday night's match with Jack Swagger did nothing to suggest that the impending pay-per-view battle between the two of them will somehow be any better or worse than the last time we saw them wage war on each other, leaving many to wonder what the point of revisiting that program could possibly be.

Winner: The Gobbledy Gooker 

Never before has such a historically awful gimmick such as The Gobbledy Gooker earned as much television time as it did Thursday night.

Seriously, guys such as Zack Ryder and Bo Dallas would gnaw off their left arms to get just a little of the spotlight that the ridiculously bad Vince McMahon idea got on this week's SmackDown, even if it existed only to further the feud among The New Day, The Usos and The Lucha Dragons.

Whether it was Xavier Woods underneath the costume or Jey Uso, the Gooker was an integral part of Thursday's show, ensuring that McMahon and WWE Creative will never allow the spirit of the character to rest in peace.

Winner: Dean Ambrose 

The Lunatic Fringe defeated Tyler Breeze and Dolph Ziggler Thursday night to become the new No. 1 contender to the Intercontinental Championship, pinning Prince Pretty to earn the win.

In the process, he set in motion a feud that will culminate on December 13 at TLC, when he battles Kevin Owens in the latest chapter of their burgeoning feud.

The two Superstars wrestled arguably the best match of the night at Survivor Series. With less strict time constraints and a more solid story behind them, Ambrose and Owens could very well steal the show one more time.

And in the process, Ambrose will strengthen his star even more, all the while watching management pass him by in favor of someone else.