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

The final SmackDown Live of 2017 wrapped up with AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens in a match that rekindled the rivalry between the Superstars.

More importantly, it propelled their stories forward, setting up a main event program that has many layers and could help the blue brand become the most creatively acclaimed in the company.

Owens defeated Styles following botched interference from commissioner Shane McMahon, whose issues with Styles are as vivid and memorable as his ongoing problems with Owens and Sami Zayn.

That mangled mess of beautifully written drama capped off a show that also saw Rusev and Aiden English continue their sudden rise in popularity in the night's opening contest.

Not everyone could excel Tuesday night, though. There was one former champion whose use on the show was curious, to say the least, and nearly cost them credibility as a result.

Who was it?

Delve deeper into the December 26 broadcast with this recap of the USA Network presentation.

Winners: Rusev and Aiden English

Rusev and Aiden English continued to be the most surprisingly awesome act in WWE Tuesday night, receiving an enormous reaction from the fans in Chicago and tearing the house down as one-third of the Triple Threat No. 1 Contender's match, also involving The New Day and Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin, that kicked off the show.

The Bulgarian Brute and The Shakespeare of Song fed off the enormous crowd reaction and turned in their finest performance as a team to date as they sought the opportunity to be the next tandem to challenge The Usos for their titles.

They ultimately lost the match but did not eat the fall.

Instead, they were protected, their heat preserved as Chad Gable pinned Big E to win the match.

As impressive as Rusev has been in recent months—thriving with the crowd support and in a less serious role than his previous foreign fanatic shtick—equal credit must be given to English, who has been the mouthpiece for the team and has shown surprisingly solid in-ring chemistry with his tag team partner.

What began as an act featuring two talented Superstars thrown together for the sake of giving them something to do at a time when WWE Creative could not be bothered to write for them, has become a breakout team that has captivated fans with the ridiculousness of it all.

It works and will continue to do so the more Rusev and English deliver performances similar to Tuesday's.

Loser: Naomi

Naomi is a former two-time Smackdown women's champion, yet since the beginning of the Riott Squad storyline, she has been the proverbial sacrificial lamb.

She has repeatedly been beaten down and made to look weak at the hands of the trio, the damsel in distress for Charlotte Flair to come to the aid of.

The use of her on Tuesday's show was somehow worse than it had been to this point, though.

Despite commentator Corey Graves reminding fans Naomi had been in the situation where she had to overcome a numbers disadvantage, she was booked to stupidly fall for the oldest trick in the book by becoming distracted by Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan at ringside.

From there, she fell prey to Ruby Riott's Riott Kick and was pinned just a minute or so into the match.

She was booked like a complete fool at a time when SmackDown Live desperately needs credible babyfaces to counter the overwhelming number of heels on its roster.

That does neither her nor the brand any good and makes the two title reigns she enjoyed earlier in 2017 look like an eternity ago.

Winner: The Main Event Scene

SmackDown has intricately laid out a main event scene that plays to the histories of everyone involved and as a result, it has become one of the best things about WWE television.

Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens began their rivalry when the commissioner was the guest referee for a match between The Prizefighter and AJ Styles. It intensified and with every passing week, McMahon has sought to drive Owens and friend Sami Zayn from the company.

General manager Daniel Bryan has resisted, preventing his fellow Ring of Honor alumni from experiencing the same injustice he did at the hands of the McMahon family. The dissension between them has created drama at the top of the brand.

Tuesday night, Styles was added back to the fold as McMahon's involvement in his match with Owens inadvertently cost the WWE champion a non-title match to KO. The glare directed at McMahon by The Phenomenal One suggests the rekindling of their issues, which date all the way back to last spring and a showdown at WrestleMania.

The manner in which WWE Creative has intricately woven the stories of all involved parties into a year-long odyssey has helped make SmackDown Live the immensely enjoyable show it has become, even if it does not benefit from the star power of Raw.