WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from December 20

The Dec. 20 episode of WWE SmackDown Live felt like a setup for a much bigger, more important show, but that did not affect its overall quality.

No, the show still presented intriguing stories and featured the crowning of yet another new No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship, all the while sporting its fair share of quality in-ring performances.

From The Miz and Apollo Crews' incredibly fun Intercontinental Championship match to a high-stakes war between Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin, the show got right what Raw failed at.

But which Superstars benefited from strong booking, and which ones saw their stocks fall—the recipients of either questionable writing or disappointing in-ring production?

Superstar	Winner or Loser	Why?
Luke Harper	Loser	One week after a strong performance in a main event, Harper is back to jobbing in nonsensical fashion, as he lost to Dean Ambrose Tuesday night.
Apollo Crews	Winner	For the first time since arriving on SmackDown Live, he looked like a legitimate star, as he nearly dethroned The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship.
Renee Young	Winner	The underrated backstage interviewer finds herself in the middle of the Ambrose-Miz feud and potentially a meatier on-air role.

Biggest Winner: Baron Corbin

Revolver magazine's Most Metal Athlete is now a No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship following a night in which he confronted AJ Styles, battled Ziggler in the main event and was awarded a title opportunity by general manager Daniel Bryan after an unsatisfying double count-out.

It has been a whirlwind year for Corbin, who made his main-roster debut at WrestleMania 32, eliminating Kane to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. From there, he battled the likes of Ziggler, Crews and Kalisto in midcard rivalries that showcased his strengths, including deceptive agility and speed.

His greatest weapon, though, has always been his star-like presence. Corbin believes he is an elite performer and carries himself as one, making it easier for fans to buy into him in that role.

On a show brimming with credible heels, Corbin is the most intriguing. Fans know what they can expect from Styles, The Wyatt Family and The Miz, but Corbin is full of untapped potential—a raw main event star in waiting.

Programming him against The Phenomenal One and The Showoff in a high-profile WWE Championship match is exactly how to relay the message to fans that they should be paying attention to The Lone Wolf in the weeks and months to come.

Biggest Loser: James Ellsworth

With that, the great James Ellsworth experiment died not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Ellsworth inexplicably became one of the breakout stars of the second half of 2016—an awkward-looking jobber who rose to stardom as the lovable-loser sidekick of Dean Ambrose. He was quirky, fun and innocent enough.

That is, until he began dominating television time.

WWE Creative never fully understood that Ellsworth was a novelty act—a guy whose mug popped the crowd on occasion but, when overexposed, would generate apathy and, in some cases, backlash.

By the time he became an integral part of the main event storyline featuring Ambrose and Styles, it became apparent Ellsworth had overstayed his welcome. WWE Creative, finally recognizing it when it was too late, booked his official exit from the high-profile spot on Tuesday night.

Ellsworth was comically beaten down and dispatched by Styles in just over one minute. His story, which had been built for months, was blown off with little fanfare. Later in the night, he was shoved into the undercard, where he belongs, courtesy of a backstage vignette with Carmella.