WWE Raw Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from January 15

The January 15 episode of Raw had the unenviable task of setting the stage for two major shows coming up within two weeks of each other: Raw 25 and the 2018 Royal Rumble, and while that may have been a daunting task for WWE Creative, it produced several strong segments and featured notable winners and losers.

Braun Strowman was treated and received as a legitimate star throughout a violent and destructive warpath. Sonya Deville scored the biggest win of her young career, and Nia Jax was presented as the monstrous force of the Raw women's division she should have been for the last year.

Not quite as lucky were Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel of The Miztourage following a loss to Roman Reigns in a Handicap match, nor was Sasha Banks, who lost a one-sided match to a relative newcomer.

Delve deeper into the broadcast and those Superstars' individual nights with this recap of Monday's show.

Winner: Braun Strowman

The Monster Among Men did not take kindly to being fired by Raw general manager Kurt Angle and took out his frustrations on anyone and anything in his path Monday night.

The entire first hour of the show was devoted to his story, including his destruction of the GM's office and his demolition of Curt Hawkins, not to mention his apparent love of chocolate cake.

The warpath culminated with him tipping over a tractor-trailer and throwing Michael Cole off the Raw stage and onto a heaping pile of security guards.

Not only did he deliver the WWE Universe from the hell of another episode voiced by Cole, he was presented as a vengeful badass whose popularity grew seemingly with every dismantling of a human being or inanimate object. 

Strowman was presented as a star, a defiant mammoth who opted not to spit in the face of authority but, rather, smash it. It worked and helped remind fans of the captivating monster straight out of a 1980s slasher flick he can be at his best

Now, if only he could win one of those pay-per-view main events.

Loser: The Handicap Match

The Handicap match is dead.

Once designed to put a babyface at a disadvantage, it is no longer a credible means to tell that story thanks to WWE Creative's insistence on booking the hero to go over.

So often, the good guys conquer the opposition, overcome the odds and emerge victoriously that there is no more disadvantage to speak of. They power through the bad guys and leave as predicted, their arms raised in victory.

Why bother with the match type at this point?

It no longer tells an effective story, it hardly generates any excitement and the result is a foregone conclusion of sorts, as witnessed Monday night in Roman Reigns' win over Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel.

No, The Miz's cronies do not have the most credibility, but two of them, former champions at different levels, should still be able to beat one Reigns. No matter how great he is.

That never seems to be the case, rendering the Handicap match an enormous waste of time at this point.

Winner: Sonya Deville

Credit: WWE.com

In recent weeks, commentators have spent the majority of Absolution's matches putting over Mandy Rose, with management clearly seeing her as the potential breakout star of the faction. Monday night, though, Sonya Deville staked her claim to that title, beating Sasha Banks clean in the center of the ring as WWE Creative shifts its focus in the wake of uncertainty surrounding Paige's in-ring future.

Deville is a former MMA fighter and a damn fine striker. Monday, she caught The Boss with a nasty kick to the midsection and scored the clean pinfall victory.

On the surface, it looks like another misstep by a creative team that has never understood or captured the essence of Banks' character. Beyond that, though, it is an instance of the company attempting to create a star in Deville by having her go over a babyface with the most credibility on the Raw roster not-named Asuka.

It was an effective move and one that should help Deville continue to evolve, grow and develop into a legitimate threat on Monday nights.

Loser: Sasha Banks

As strong a booking decision as it was to use Banks to put over Deville Monday night, lending the Jersey native some credibility in the process, it did a great disservice to The Boss so close to so many significant events.

Tuesday night, she teams with Finn Balor to battle Shinsuke Nakamura and Natalya in the first round of the Mixed Match Challenge.

In just under two weeks, he will be one of the favorites to win the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match.

Sacrificing her in that scenario rather than building her up for her match Tuesday night, or for the Rumble, is a mistake when you have a six-time champion in Mickie James who could have done the same thing for Deville with a little emphasis from the announce team.

Winner: Main Event Execution

The main event of Raw was not only a rematch of the SummerSlam 2016 war between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, it also featured several stories intertwined within that helped make it an entertaining and engrossing bit of television.

There was the tension between the familiar opponents. There was the presence of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson at ringside and the potential for interference on their part. There was Jason Jordan—who interestingly had the match set up by his father in the first place but then proved instrumental in its outcome—not to mention the arrival of The Bar and its influence on the closing moments of the bout.

Not only did Rollins and Jordan interact with their Royal Rumble opponents, Gallows and Anderson came to blows with Sheamus and Cesaro, perhaps setting up a rivalry between them for the post-Rumble landscape.

Most interesting was the commentary team calling attention to a roll-up performed by Balor in which the referee counted three, creating a valid grip Balor may have with the outcome of the bout.

WWE Creative did a superb job of putting the pieces together to create one energetic and entertaining show-closer while simultaneously creating intrigue around the fallout involving all seven competitors on next week's historic Raw 25.

Loser: Elias

It is nice to see WWE Creative cares enough about Elias to shoehorn him into the show when he seemingly does not fit anywhere else on the lineup, but The Drifter is too talented and too over to be relegated to playing songs as an introduction to The Miz.

The character has stood toe-to-toe with John Cena and nearly defeated the franchise on Christmas night. He has battled Finn Balor, Roman Reigns and Jason Jordan, all the while gaining more momentum and heat for himself in the process.

The sinister songster is a valuable piece of the Raw puzzle, especially considering how lacking the brand is in legitimate and credible main event villains. Is he ready to headline pay-per-views? No, but he is a Superstar gradually developing and evolving every week.

Let him do more than strum a guitar, such as engaging in a lengthy and meaningful rivalry, and he will continue repaying the faith of management and the attention of the audience.

Winner: Nia Jax

Monday night, fans caught a glimpse of Nia Jax at her best.

An immovable object whose physical superiority overwhelms her opponents, she pummeled Asuka and powered out of everything the undefeated Empress of Tomorrow threw at her. She was strong and confident as she sought to do what no other woman has ever done: defeat Asuka.

Unfortunately, a well-timed kick by the former NXT women's champion dealt Jax an injury to her knee that forced a referee stoppage.

It was in that finish that Jax's growth as a performer was on display.

She sold the knee injury to perfection, limping out of the ring with the assistance of the referees. She was clearly the superior competitor but was felled by an injury she could not recover from. The post-match vignette backstage, in which she weighed her budding romance with Enzo Amore against her friendship with Alexa Bliss, further demonstrated how strong a performer she has become.

The fan response to her only further supports the idea that she is as hot a commodity as she has ever been in her NXT or main-roster runs.