The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (December 11)

True to form, SmackDown delivered a better than good show last night. The finishing touches to the TLC pay per view were put in place and some rivalries were built for beyond that show. With Daniel Bryan vs. Mustafa Ali and Asuka vs. Charlotte being advertised, there was no way that this was going to be a bad show, but it delivered beyond expectations.

That this is all taking place in December, which is a month where WWE is infamous for phoning things in, is especially commendable. TLC has the potential to be one of the best shows of the year.

But who got the most and least out of last night's show?

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Winners: Daniel Bryan and 205 Live

The first half hour of the show was excellent. Daniel Bryan's heel turn has made him the most interesting character he's been since the peak of the "Yes Movement" in 2013 and early 2014. There isn't anything particularly innovative in "the New Daniel Bryan," but he's performing the role so well that it's masking the usual tropes WWE uses for heel characters. The environmentalist, anti-consumer touch is a nice one, because Daniel Bryan fits the stereotype.

205 Live was another big winner in this contest. Mustafa Ali represented his brand exceedingly well, and if this is a sign that the Cruiserweight division is finally going to be allowed to interact with the rest of the roster, then sign me up. Ali delivered his typical excellence. There was no way he was going to win this match, but his fight was valiant and he probably got a lot more attention than he's used to getting. After the way he's delivered all year long, he certainly deserves a bigger spotlight.

AJ Styles only had a cameo appearance on tonight's episode. Daniel Bryan and he will have tough competition in the women's triple threat match, but they might just be able to steal the show.

Loser: The Miz

After an enjoyable, but ultimately meaningless rap battle between the tag teams going to war on Sunday, The Miz came out with the World Cup trophy and wanted Shane McMahon to be his tag team partner again. Shane easily defeated a duo of jobbers in a reversal of what happened to Miz a few weeks ago.

Afterwards, there was some backstage turmoil. Miz and Shane had a big falling out. Paige tore up an invoice. It just wasn't that good.

Of all the angles on SmackDown at the moment, this is by far the weakest. Let's just hope that Miz has some bigger things in store for him come WrestleMania season than being embroiled with Shane McMahon. We all remember what happened last year when Shane McMahon was hogging up too much screen time. The less said about the Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn angle, the better.

Winner: The SmackDown women's division

Asuka and Charlotte delivered as we expected them to. That wasn't a surprise. Neither woman could put away the other. In many respects, it mirrored Charlotte's match with Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series.

This was smart. Charlotte using the kendo stick on Asuka to get disqualified not only avoided a needless defeat for one of the two heading into TLC, but it put the Empress over huge. Charlotte got frustrated. Asuka had seemingly done her homework and looked more vicious here than she has since WrestleMania. She lashed out at Becky, too, who lashed back at both of her competitors.

Asuka came back with the kendo stick and smacked them both silly, to a huge ovation as the show went off the air.

Asuka "standing tall" may suggest she won't win on Sunday, but let's not forget that Becky "stood tall" before Evolution and still won.

The trope isn't as telling as it used to be.

This is anyone's game. We're going to be in for a treat.