WWE Raw Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from January 29

A showdown between Asuka and Sasha Banks stole the January 29 episode of WWE Raw thanks to the intensity and drive of The Boss and The Empress of Tomorrow.

Those two women represent the night's biggest winners, but they are not alone.

Joining them is another NXT export who had a strong performance in a championship clash.

Not so lucky? A former universal champion inexplicably utilized to put over a Superstar with one of the greatest win-loss records in WWE history and an acclaimed tag team struggling on the main roster.

Winners: Sasha Banks and Asuka

Just 24 hours after a historic women's Royal Rumble, during which she demonstrated some heel tendencies, Sasha Banks interrupted Asuka's opening promo and irreverently challenged The Empress of Tomorrow to a match later in the show.

It was a furious and intense battle between two driven professionals determined to prove their greatness.

The Boss took a tremendous risk at one point, soaring through the ropes in a failed suicide dive attempt and falling on her head and neck on the arena floor.

She would recover and give Asuka her toughest main-roster test to date. In the end, though, she had no choice but to tap out to the same Asuka Lock that has felled so many competitors before her.

Asuka and Banks wrestled the match like two women whose hard work the night before was overshadowed by the debut of a mainstream sports icon and had something to prove. It worked, providing Raw with the night's best match and setting the stage for many more wars between the two in the future.

Losers: The Revival

The Revival may well be the best tag team in the world, but WWE Creative's use of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder since their return a month or so ago has been questionable.

They spent Raw 25 being beaten by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in two minutes. They ate finishing moves from the legendary members of D-Generation X but made up for it Sunday during the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show by getting their win back against the Good Brothers.

Monday night, they beat Heath Slater and Rhyno; then Dash Wilder cut a subpar promo. It got their point across but in a rather clunky manner.

During their time in NXT, The Revival was a throwback team that beat people up and reaffirmed its status as the elite tag team in professional wrestling.

Thus far in their main-roster run, injuries and WWE Creative's seeming inability to recognize what made the duo so dynamic and effective in NXT has hurt them.

It's detrimental to their potential spot atop the Raw tag team division to take them out of their comfort zone, especially when they are desperately trying to build momentum. Booking them in segments and matches that serve no purpose is not the answer.

Winner: Apollo Crews

Apollo Crews made the jump to the main roster from NXT well before he was ready. As a result, he has struggled to establish himself. He has all of the athleticism in the world and is a quality in-ring performer, but his lack of natural charisma and the absence of a character has hurt his connection with audiences.

Though he is unlikely to suddenly receive a sustained push, his performance in a title match against the tag team champions, Sheamus and Cesaro, showcased some of what helped make him such a promising young star once upon a time.

The good news?

Crews is still young at 30 and possesses all of those tools, as he showed during Monday's title bout.

Though he and Titus O'Neil were unsuccessful in their attempt to dethrone Sheamus and Cesaro, Crews was phenomenal and showed flashes of a star still poised for big things if he can be salvaged creatively.

Loser: Finn Balor

Finn Balor lasted nearly one hour in the Royal Rumble and had been building momentum for himself as the leader of Balor Club in the weeks preceding Monday's Raw. So naturally he was sacrificed to give young whippersnapper John Cena some credibility heading into Elimination Chamber.

Or something like that.

Why WWE Creative decided Balor needed to be used to put Cena over in Monday's main event is a mystery, but it was in line with the way they have used the Irishman since his return the night after WrestleMania 33.

Every time it looks like Balor is getting somewhere and building back toward the Universal Championship he never rightfully lost in August 2016, he is cut down by a writing team that seems unsure of how to effectively script his rise.

His disappointing loss to Cena was another setback that leaves some to wonder what of substance he will be doing come Elimination Chamber.

If anything.