The biggest winners and losers of last night's RAW (November 25)

With Survivor Series now over, RAW was finally back to building its own stories, and credit to the Red brand, a lot happened last night. This is the time of year when WrestleMania plans start to take shape. Not much happened at Survivor Series to suggest RAW's plans, but major developments took place last night which suggest the wheels are starting to get set in motion.

Who got the most and least out of last night's show? Let's take a look.

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Loser: Rusev

Rusev had a hot segment, but that can't mask the fact that this angle is still really bad. Most of us would prefer to see it ended sooner rather than later. Hopefully, that will come at TLC. This couldn't possibly have enough legs to last until WrestleMania, could it?

If it can, it might guarantee Rusev a place on the card there, which would count as a win for him by his standards, but that isn't obvious yet, and the stench of this angle is still overpowering, leaving no choice but to give it a down for now.

I don't think anyone wants to see it last to WrestleMania.

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Winners: Authors of Pain

The Authors of Pain made their return to RAW last night, squashing Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder in short order. They wouldn't be finished there, either. A big night was waiting for them.

If they're getting squash matches and doing what they did later in the evening (more on that later), there are big plans for them, at least for now. After such a disappointing run since being called up to the main roster in April 2018, last night was arguably their biggest night to date, well above and beyond their token tag team title reign that everyone in the company gets.

Winners: Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy

Matt Hardy made a surprise return last night, but he was quickly defeated by Buddy Murphy, who was disappointingly left off the Survivor Series card.

Another man who disappointingly didn't make that card, Aleister Black, was nearby, and the two soon got into a brawl.

Sign me up.

Let them go at TLC and you should have a ready-made match of the year candidate.

What it says about their future prospects is still up in the air, but both of these guys deserve a WrestleMania match of some kind at the very least. Here's hoping that the next few months go well for them.

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Winner: Rey Mysterio

It didn't take long for Rey Mysterio to bounce back from his defeat by Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. First, he won a fatal four-way #1 contender match and then defeated AJ Styles to become the new United States Champion, albeit with Randy Orton's help.

Will this eventually lead to a program between those two?

As for AJ Styles, let's hope that this marks the end of the OC as a faction, which has proven useless, and that there are bigger plans in store for him. If so, it would be a win for him, too.

Loser: Asuka

Yes, Asuka finally got her long-overdue pinfall victory over Charlotte, albeit not cleanly.

Still, we have to consider the longer-term implications of this.

With Asuka and Kairi Sane likely taking on Charlotte and Becky at TLC for the women's tag team titles, do you honestly believe that Charlotte won't get her revenge and win the match that actually matters?

That would, for the third time, pull the plug from Asuka when she's getting hot, reduce the tag team titles to props for Charlotte and Becky, and likely set up a WrestleMania program between them that no one wants to see.

Hopefully, Asuka and Kairi emerge intact from this program with their titles, but I'm not betting on it.

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Winner: Erick Rowan

Erick Rowan squashed a local jobber last night in short order, and if he's getting matches like this, it's obviously to warm him up for something.

What that something is, is still open to debate. Nevertheless, it's bigger than what he's been doing since his fallout with Daniel Bryan on SmackDown.

He'll lose the program at the end because of course, he will, but he'll be given a more prominent spotlight until then.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Well, it finally happened. It's been overdue for months, but it's nice to see WWE getting out of their own way for once. Seth Rollins turned heel last night. First, he berated the RAW roster for its performance at Survivor Series, asserting an authority he didn't have, and then he teamed up with the Authors of Pain to lay out Kevin Owens.

This is the jolt in the arm his character has needed.

It's amazing when you think about it compared to his position last year. Through a combination of bad booking and his own behavior, Seth Rollins did himself in. His downfall is a story all on its own, and it's nice to see WWE not fighting against the tide this time.

Hjs WrestleMania plans are still unknown, but he's the biggest story on RAW right now, and feels refreshed. That's a win by any measure.