Which superstars looked the best on last night's RAW (December 18)

Much like the week prior, last night's WWE RAW was far more confusing than helpful, with a torrent of bad booking. Yet, somehow, many superstars did indeed have a good night, but more than a few had a bad one.

Let's hope the wheel spinning is over come January because this is getting painful to watch.

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Gained momentum: Brock Lesnar

Hardly pretending that this is anything more than a holding pattern, Brock Lesnar returned to RAW last night and easily got the better of Kane and Braun Strowman, who we learned would be taking him on in a triple threat match.

This announcement wasn't particularly exciting. The build is likely to have us feeling like we just want to get it over with rather than anything else.

Lost momentum: Braun Strowman

Braun didn't look monstrous last night.

Remember when Braun Strowman manhandled Brock Lesnar during the build to No Mercy? That almost seems a lifetime ago. Last night he was taken out of the ring pretty easily. Again, there's hardly even a pretence that this is anything more than a holding pattern for Brock on his way to dutifully job to Roman Reigns in New Orleans.

Braun Strowman, still the most over guy on RAW, is in limbo right now. Hopefully, he can look as good in this match as he did at SummerSlam and seamlessly transition into whatever his WrestleMania feud will be.

Gained momentum: Jason Jordan

After screwing him up so marvellously by saddling him with a DOA story, we must give credit where it's due and say WWE has done a magnificent job with Jason Jordan since Survivor Series.

A heel turn is inevitable, but the brilliance is that WWE is actually being patient for once. In the transition, they're making him as annoying as possible to get him massive heat before the turn even happens. It's smart booking.

Jason Jordan may just wind up doing something bigger than participating in the Andre the Giant Battle Memorial come April 8th.

Lost momentum: Finn Balor

Finn Balor is in tatters. Wrongly convinced that he wasn't "over" enough to face Brock Lesnar, Vince's campaign of downgrading him has actually made correct that erroneous assessment. The crowd just died during his match where he looked like a geek against the lowly Miztourage. He was actually set to lose and required help from a certain friend to get the win.

Gained momentum: Hideo Itami

The long wait is over. Hideo Itami has arrived on RAW and 205 Live. Making the save, he and Finn Balor then proceeded to dispatch the Miztourage. One must imagine that Itami will be the one to dethrone Enzo Amore as Cruiserweight Champion sometime between now and WrestleMania.

Lost momentum: Absolution and the RAW Women's Division

Last night was historic in that it announced the first-ever women's Royal Rumble.

Unfortunately, the announcement was so sloppy that it actively harmed the division it was supposed to help.

Absolution and the RAW Women's Division were in the midst of a major brawl, only for the sea to part as soon as Stephanie McMahon comes out because everything must revolve around McMahon shenanigans, of course.

Then, when the announcement was made, all hostilities instantly evaporated, even though Absolution had more or less viciously attacked every woman in that ring over the past month. They couldn't even be bothered to create some kind of separation between Absolution and their opponents before the announcement was made.

It was atrocious booking.

The match could potentially give the women's division exactly what it needs - proper booking and proper stories, but this wasn't the best start by any means. It's because of gooey crap like this that so little people take the women's division seriously.

Gained momentum: Cedric Alexander

As expected, Cedric Alexander dispatched Drew Gulak and became the new #1 contender to Enzo Amore's championship. Though it's unlikely he wins, Cedric Alexander will get a spotlight for a while, with his match potentially taking place at the Royal Rumble.

Gained momentum: Drew Gulak

You couldn't not laugh.

Though he lost, Drew Gulak continues to be one of the most entertaining acts on RAW. His prominence will continue after his hilarious segment getting in the way of Enzo and Nia Jax.

A face turn now looks to be in the cards for Drew Gulak. It won't happen overnight, but it probably will during WrestleMania season. Hopefully, the gimmick will remain as golden as it's been.

Gained momentum: Samoa Joe and The Bar

Keeping in form, Samoa Joe and The Bar looked very strong against Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins this week, with Ambrose seemingly being written off for a while.

The Bar suddenly looks like they'll now keep their tag team championship heading into WrestleMania season. Meanwhile, Samoa Joe looks like his feud with Roman Reigns will drag on, and as the Royal Rumble approaches and WrestleMania comes closer, it seems that he's the strongest possibility for Roman to drop his Intercontinental Championship to.

It would be the right decision. Samoa Joe would be an excellent choice to carry RAW's mid-card title into WrestleMania.

Gained momentum: Matt Hardy

We still haven't seen anything more from Matt Hardy than these promos, and the angle is losing its momentum rapidly (as of this writing, it's only at about 200,000 views on YouTube, down significantly from last week, which was down significantly from the week before).

That said, at least it wasn't another dueling ramble with Bray Wyatt, and in that sense, it was an improvement.

Just do something else with him next week, WWE.

Gained momentum: The Revival

Last night saw the long-awaited return of The Revival, and though the crowd wasn't very into it, it still represents a massive upside for the severely depleted RAW tag team division.

Almost by default, they're in the strongest position to challenge The Bar for the RAW tag team titles at the Royal Rumble, especially if Dean Ambrose is legitimately injured.