WWE Raw Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from December 7

The closing segment of any episode of Raw prior to a pay-per-view broadcast is of the utmost importance. It is the last opportunity WWE Creative has to make an impression on the audience and convince it to purchase that Sunday's show or a subscription to the WWE Network.

Somewhere along the line, the company lost focus on that fact, booking WWE world heavyweight champion Sheamus and Roman Reigns to carry an extended promo segment at the end of the December 7 episode.

Neither man is particularly great when it comes to mic work, typically needing to play off someone else in order to be most effective.

WWE Creative put the stars of this Sunday's TLC event in position to be exposed, and the result was a cringe-worthy promo that did more to shine a spotlight on what the main event competitors lack rather than their strengths heading into Boston for their championship encounter.

The brawl that ensued was strong and showed great fire from both Sheamus and Reigns, but it was essentially negated by what preceded it.

Reigns spouting off a line about tater tots was fine once, but the incessant use of the snack time favorite over the course of the rest of the promo was ridiculous and childish. It also insulted fans, who took to Twitter to express their frustration with it:

WWE Creative's incompetence in building Sunday's main event and utilizing Sheamus and Reigns in a manner that was beneficial to them led to the writing staff and performers sharing "biggest loser" status for a show that really needed to hammer home the importance of the Tables, Ladders & Chairs main event.

They were hardly the only unfortunate ones to end up on the negative end of the spectrum, though. Conversely, there were Superstars and Divas who also ended up on the positive end.

Who were they and why did they end up in one spot as opposed to the other?

Let's take a look.

Winner: Kevin Owens

The intercontinental champion returned to television on Monday night and wasted little time reminding fans with short memories why he is one of the best professional wrestlers in the company with a stellar performance in a victory over Dolph Ziggler.

Owens was taken to the limit and did a fantastic job of selling the exhaustion he was suffering from, especially at the end of the bout when he caught The Showoff with a desperation Pop-Up Powerbomb to secure the win.

The post-match confrontation with Dean Ambrose that saw Owens receive a Coke to the face was childish and exactly the type of nonsensical booking one would expect from WWE Creative at this point, but it was not enough to unravel all that had been done via the very solid wrestling match that preceded it.

Losers: Paige and Charlotte

The Divas Championship will be on the line on Sunday night when Charlotte defends it against Paige. Unfortunately for them, booking has been so inconsistent that fans are left without a clear idea of whom to cheer.

Charlotte is an unlikable babyface who hides behind daddy and the Flair name, while Paige is a vindictive villainess whose attitude actually makes her appealing to the audience.

With such inconsistency in regards to character development and the booking of their story, the two Divas were sent to the ring for an episode of "Miz TV" that did more to further muddy the waters than bring things into focus.

Add the fact that Becky Lynch has ongoing issues with Charlotte, teasing a heel turn for the second-generation Diva, and you have a title picture that makes little sense.

Paige and Charlotte were done no favors by Monday's booking and will sadly enter Boston for a match that should mean more than it actually does—and be much hotter than it is.

Winners: The Fans

Take The New Day, sprinkle in Team B.A.D. and some awesome light-up unicorn horns, and you have a brief reminder that wrestling can still be incredibly fun when less scripted and glossed over.

Loser: Dolph Ziggler

Sure, The Showoff was part of one of the night's best matches, working a very solid intercontinental title match against Kevin Owens.

By the time the referee's hand slapped the mat for the third time, though, it became clear as day that no amount of extended television time or going-nowhere feud with Tyler Breeze can make up for the fact that Ziggler has once again taken a tumble down the card, relegated to a C-level program and losing more than he wins.

He lost Monday's match to Owens cleanly, once again reminding fans of the hierarchy in the company while essentially killing any heat that Ziggler and Breeze may have had left for their rivalry.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

The relationship between Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter has come to an end, and it could not have come at a better time for the United States champion.

A member of The League of Nations, Del Rio never had the chemistry with Colter to make the Mex-America gimmick work, nor did he have any real passion for the story. It was clear that he was sleepwalking his way through the story and had no real interest in anything he was doing.

That the pairing never really made sense given their prior history together did not help matters.

With that shackle off him, Del Rio can move on to better things—even if this writer has very little faith that he will change his character or alter his personality to be more intriguing in any way whatsoever.