The biggest winners and losers of last night's RAW (May 4)

Last night's RAW was the go-home show to Money in the Bank, believe it or not. Truthfully, ever since the pandemic hit, WWE feels like it's in a strange state of suspended animation, going on in form but not in its essence, with its fan base being absent from TV.

Nevertheless, the show has gone on, and we're only six days away from the first post-WrestleMania pay per view, Money in the Bank.

As far as go-home shows go, this one fell flat for a little while, but there was an exciting Last Chance Gauntlet Match and some interesting developments toward the bottom of the card. Who got the most and least out of last night's RAW? Let's take a look.

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Winner: AJ Styles

AJ Styles returned to RAW to participate in a "Last Chance Gauntlet Match," the winner of which would go to the Money in the Bank pay per view in the eponymous ladder match.

Many people involved in it had good showings, but as soon as AJ Styles showed up as the last entrant, a feeling of inevitability came to the match. AJ Styles, of course, won, punching his ticket to the show, in what's sure to be a good addition to the match itself.

AJ Styles is in a state of limbo right now, as his former OC partners with whom he'd teamed in the past year, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, sadly got released due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

How AJ Styles transitions and what direction his character will take on RAW should become clearer starting this Sunday. He probably won't win the Money in the Bank briefcase, but the match should be an interesting reveal about where we can expect him to go next.

Perhaps we'll see his next rivalry emerge from the ladder match on Sunday.

Losers: Ricochet and Cedric Alexander

It's impossible to overstate how much Ricochet and Cedric Alexander have fallen in the last six months or so. At this time two years ago, Cedric Alexander was the Cruiserweight Champion and "soul of 205 Live," while Ricochet was the hottest up and comer in NXT. Now, they're losing to the likes of Shane Thorne and Brendan Vink. Sure, they're in the "big leagues" now, but it still feels like a demotion all the same - a big one.

Those stories about Vince McMahon souring on them for some reason must have been true. They could be an exciting tag team, but even in that overlooked (on the main roster) division, they're losing to people who feel like no-names.

Perhaps it's shocking that these two weren't on the names cut from the roster a couple of weeks ago, given how little Vince McMahon seems to think of them. Is there any way for them to come back from this?

The prospect of a comeback seems far off for these two after last night.

Winner: Liv Morgan

Slowly but surely, Liv Morgan finds herself a bigger spotlight, interrupting Charlotte Flair's promo and then having a match with her. There was no way she was going to win the latter, but Morgan made a contest of it all the same - it never felt like she would really win, but she put up a scrappy underdog fight throughout the pain and the taunts and insults from Flair.

She's not in the Ladder Match on Sunday, but there's still room for her to grow. The RAW women's division feels, even more than WWE itself, in a state of suspended animation right now, with no RAW Women's Title match on Sunday.

Is Liv Morgan likely to be a Champion anytime soon? No, but a title shot of some sort down the line which acts as a test for her could be on the horizon later this year if the higher-ups keep putting her in spotlights like this.

She's made the most of the opportunities given to her so far. We'll just have to see where it goes.