The biggest winners and losers of last night's RAW (October 7)

After a disastrous Hell in a Cell pay per view ending, WWE was looking to move on from the controversy and kick into high gear for the upcoming draft this Friday. Neither Seth Rollins nor Bray Wyatt appeared on this show, but some other notable developments did occur. A lot of names and faces we haven't seen in a while made an appearance, seemingly to remind everyone they exist.

Did that move the needle though? Who got the most and least out of last night's show?

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Winner: Braun Strowman

At least Braun Strowman isn't doing random things like he usually does. He's involved in a high profile angle, which is more than we can usually say about him, as the highest-profile he usually has is as a filler challenger for the Universal title.

The angle with Tyson Fury was not a one-time thing, it seems. How long it lasts is still anyone's guess, and we usually know how these celebrity angles end - WWE can't help itself in making its own talent lose in a desperate bid for mainstream acceptance - but for now, Braun Strowman is in a better spot than he was before.

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Loser: Rusev

Sure, Rusev is at least on TV now, but this story is so bad that one wonders if he was better off absent from the airwaves. Yet again, Rusev's real-life marriage is being used to humiliate him, and it's hard to think that he'll be getting a bigger push in the aftermath of this. It has "do you remember me?" written all over it.

Rusev did lay waste to Randy Orton and Baron Corbin last night, but the former doesn't feel like a big deal these days (even during his title challenges in the summer), and the latter never did.

What's the upside?

Loser: The RAW tag team division

If WWE is to have a priority in the draft, the company ought to consider unifying the tag team titles, because there clearly aren't enough teams to spread out over two shows (or even three, when you consider the state of NXT's tag team division).

The Viking Raiders played the part of protagonists gaining a victory on the randomly paired heel champions in a non-title match last night. It's a scenario that we've seen play out countless times.

The Viking Raiders look like they're on their way to winning the titles, but so long after they debuted and after so many meaningless squash matches, do people really care? The angle is certainly unexciting.

It's times like these where we're reminded that WWE's problems run very deep, beyond the push or burial of certain popular stars. Jettisoning formulaic booking should be a top priority for them.

Losers: The OC

Yes, the OC picked up a win last night, but it was over the lowly Lucha House Party in a random six-man tag team match. In the summer, it looked like AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson were going to be the dominant force in RAW midcard. Now the faction feels like so much of an afterthought that you can only look back at the first AEW Dynamite last week and feel like Jericho's random faction made more of an impact in one segment than the OC has over its entire run.

As it stands, AJ Styles feels like he's being held back, rather than his partners being elevated.

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Winners: Asuka and Kairi Sane

It looks like the heel turn for Asuka and Sane was for real, as they took issue with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch and utilized underhanded tactics to beat them. That's a big elevation compared to what they were doing before, and as funny as it is to see Sane as anything other than a lovable babyface, the heel team is working so far.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross looked for a little revenge from the night before, and suddenly, the beleaguered women's tag team division looks like it has some new life. Whether Asuka and Sane have a singles run sometime down the road is a doubtful possibility, though.