WWE TLC 2017 Results: Kurt Angle, Finn Balor and Biggest Winners and Losers

The 2017 Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view is in the rearview mirror and a handful of Superstars made their mark on Sunday's show, for better or worse.

Finn Balor and Kurt Angle were among the night's biggest winners, with their performances and the meaning those will have on their futures integral to those statuses.

Cruiserweights Kalisto, Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander, Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher were done a great disservice, with the booking surrounding them creating more questions and greater apathy than good.

On a night when the action was hot and heavy, wild and chaotic, those Superstars stood out as the most buzzworthy of the bunch. Here is why.

Winner: Finn Balor

The Demon crawled his way into Minneapolis' Target Center for a showdown with AJ Styles that was announced just this past Friday.

With a red-hot audience eating up everything the celebrated Superstars and former Bullet Club members did, the match exceeded lofty expectations and stole the show.

For Balor, the incredible match came at a time when he desperately needed one.

Through little fault of his own, Balor has been one of the more disappointing Superstars of 2017. After returning from injury the night after WrestleMania 33, most expected him to jump right into the main event scene and challenge for the Universal Championship.

Not only has that not happened, he has yet to receive his rematch for the title he never lost.

Instead, he has wallowed in midcard mediocrity, oftentimes lost in the shuffle as WWE Creative seemingly refuses to come up with anything remotely interesting for him to do.

The third straight pay-per-view meeting between him and Bray Wyatt would not have been nearly as beneficial as his match with Styles ultimately was. Sunday night, Balor proved he was more than a capable in-ring star with a cool face paint gimmick.

It is important WWE Creative build momentum based off Balor's performance.

He needed a spark. Thanks to a strong performance on his part, and a crowd clearly eager to root for him, he got it. Now, WWE Creative must bring the program between him and Wyatt to an end in a manner that helps propel Balor forward, rather than bogging him down in the monotony he's experienced to this point in his comeback.

Loser: Kalisto

Two weeks ago, Kalisto won the Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Enzo Amore.

Just six days after being so despised by the heel cruiserweights that they abandoned their hatred for Amore and attacked him, Kalisto fell for the old rake of the eyes and lost his title.

He looked stupid, especially after watching so many other cruiserweights lose matches to Amore in a similar fashion.

Still wholly underdeveloped as a character, and with no noticeably likable traits, there is no reason to feel bad about his fate Sunday.

Arguably the biggest loser of the night, Kalisto can now execute his rematch, but does anyone really care?

Winner: Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle's in-ring return may have been rushed due to an illness-plagued locker room, but the Olympic gold medalist reminded fans why he is one of the best, most engaging and exciting performers of all time.

The Hall of Famer was taken out of the match following a powerslam through a table from Braun Strowman, but all that spot did was set up a Superman-like comeback.

Late in the match, with the numbers against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, Angle exploded back into the match, wiping Cesaro out with an Angle Slam through a table, taking Sheamus down and joining his tag team partners for what Michael Cole called "an Olympic Shield Bomb."

His performance highlighted what was otherwise a messy, garbage brawl that oftentimes had too much going on and not enough substance to fuel its legacy past the end bell.

Angle may not be a fixture in the ring for WWE going forward, but his efforts Sunday night helped the company in a bind, and for that, he should be commended.

Losers: Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander, Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher

Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann battled Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher in a tag team match that was fun and energetic throughout. It was, in many ways, one of the better of the night.

It is for that reason that all four Superstars are losers coming out of the proceedings.

After such strong performances, they should be excited about their prospects. Instead, they will likely slink back into obscurity, as fixtures of 205 Live and the occasional forgettable Raw match.

That is the problem with the cruiserweight division: not enough development or follow-up of strong performances. 

Swann and Alexander stun the audience with their athleticism, but they can never build momentum because they will not be properly spotlighted for fans to see or care about them. It is disheartening for those Superstars and a major indictment on a writing team unconcerned with finding a role for them on the show.