WWE Money in the Bank 2017: Biggest Winners and Losers from SmackDown Event

The 2017 Money in the Bank pay-per-view is in the history books and the SmackDown Live brand now has two villainous, underhanded Superstars in possession of guaranteed championship opportunities.

Carmella and Baron Corbin survived hellish ladder matches to etch their names in the history books.

Only one was able to secure "winner" status, though, the night in St. Louis a monumental one that garnered tremendous heat and has the victor in a position to emerge as the wild card of a crop of talented performers.

Joining The Princess of Staten Island on the positive side of things were Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura, both of whom shone in a phenomenal main event.

Not so lucky were Breezango and Lana.

While Lana was unprepared for the championship match she participated in, Breeze and Fandango were faced with the unenviable task of filling time and, in the process, killed some of the heat that accompanied them into the event.

Relive the key events from Sunday's WWE Network broadcast and dive deeper into the reasoning for those Superstars' statuses with this recap of the June 18 extravaganza.

Winners: Carmella and James Ellsworth

There was an incredible amount of controversy swirling around the finish of the women's Money in the Bank ladder match that kicked off Sunday's pay-per-view—and understandably so.

James Ellsworth retrieved the briefcase and tossed it to the mat, where Carmella was waiting to catch it. The finish, though creative, incited enormous backlash from fans who took exception to a supposedly historic women's match ending with a male Superstar actually retrieving the briefcase for the win.

There is a strong argument against that specific finish to be made, of course. Touting a women's revolution and delivering a finish that sees a man climbing the ladder and grabbing the briefcase for his female accomplice is contradictory at best.

When one takes a step back and looks at what happened, though, the indignity of Ellsworth being a man and essentially winning the match for Carmella is dampened a bit.

WWE may not have actually been making a statement to the audience, telling them one of its female talents needed a man to win the match for her. Rather, it seems WWE simply booked an old school, effective wrestling angle that has worked millions of times before.

A heel manager interfered on behalf of his charge, working for her and under her orders, and retrieved the briefcase for her. Manager cheats, heel wins. Wash, rinse, repeat. It is a booking strategy that has worked to generate heat millions of times before and will work millions of times after.

In 2010, Ted DiBiase competed for the Money in the Bank briefcase. At one point, the male Superstars involved in the match were down and out around the ringside area, leaving manager Maryse to climb the ladder to try to steal the briefcase for him.

Had that been the actual finish in 2010, Sunday's scenario would have been the exact same but with roles reversed.

Despite Twitter and other social media outlets erupting with complaints ranging from "poor booking" to gender-based bias, the situation may have been simpler than that: Carmella had her sneaky manager cheat for her. Wrestling 101.

It worked, generating tremendous heat for Carmella and Ellsworth when all was said and done and should create some emotional angles in the weeks and months to come.

Loser: Lana

Lana worked hard Sunday night but it became clear almost from the opening bell that The Ravishing Russian did not belong in the ring with an experienced wrestler like Naomi.

She looked apprehensive at times and her in-ring work was relatively basic. Her strikes were fine but she clearly had little beyond that and her sit-out spinebuster.

The result was a match that failed to live up to the expectations fans have for female sports entertainment in 2017.

The effort was certainly there, but Lana's inexperience was exposed.

The potential for a solid in-ring performer is there, but until she competes on a regular basis, against the best wrestlers WWE has to offer, she will not grow as a performer. That much was on display in Lana's first high-profile pay-per-view match.

Winner: Sami Zayn

Is there another Superstar who stood out quite as vividly through the heart of Sunday's main event than Sami Zayn?

The Underdog from the Underground unleashed a violent side of himself in the match that saw him obliterate Kevin Owens with a suplex on the ring apron and destroy Dolph Ziggler with a sunset flip powerbomb off the top of a ladder.

There was a sense of urgency in Zayn. He wanted desperately to win the briefcase and the guaranteed WWE Championship opportunity that comes with it. He wanted to prove his doubters wrong and cash his ticket to the big time.

You could see it in his eyes. You could feel it in the way he valiantly climbed the rungs of the ladder, his destiny within reach.

When he was disposed of, left to watch from the arena floor as Baron Corbin retrieved the briefcase, you felt for him.

Zayn is a throwback to the days of wrestling when a performer could make you feel a certain way about him. When he or she could take the audience on an emotional roller coaster rather than simply do moves to pop the crowd.

His talent was on display in some truly frightening spots and inspiring moments Sunday night. And one day, WWE Creative will have no choice but to finally get behind him and give him the push he has earned through magical performances both in NXT and on the main roster.

Losers: Breezango

Breezango's Fashion Files and Sunday's Fashion Vice are always good watches, and the two fighters have finally found themselves as characters. Their work over the last two months has drawn rave reviews, but Sunday night, Tyler Breeze and Fandango were put in a tough position.

It was an ice-cold match, with little in the way of build, against an Ascension team that may be at the absolute bottom of the totem pole in WWE.

The fans in St. Louis recognized it for what it was: a time-filler.

Neither team looked particularly great because the audience could not have possibly cared less about what they were doing. That is a recipe for failure, regardless of who picks up the win.

On a night when WWE Creative could have gone to great lengths to preserve the popularity of the blossoming Breezango act, it disappointed massively, taking the laziest way out imaginable.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

The presentation of Shinsuke Nakamura ahead of Sunday's pay-per-view had been suspect, to say the least. It was as if WWE Creative did not understand or appreciate the mystique of The King of Strong Style.

Any miscalculations the SmackDown writing staff made in the weeks ahead of Money in the Bank were erased with the superb booking behind Nakamura's breakthrough night.

The Artist overcame a vicious pre-match assault by Baron Corbin to return to the ring and unload on The Lone Wolf. From there, he squared off with AJ Styles in a preview of a big-money match just waiting for WWE management to book.

He would ultimately fall, both literally and figuratively, as Corbin emerged victoriously—but not before rediscovering everything that makes the international sensation the mega star he is.

Now, it will be up to the writing team to recapture it on a more consistent basis rather than trying to force him into a role he is both uncomfortable with and ineffective in.