Winner: Rusev
Finally. Rusev won the United States Championship last night.
A year after it should have happened, WWE finally appears to be taking advantage of Rusev's organic popularity. There's reason to be skeptical. We'll need to see where things go from here, but it's a start, at least.
The change is also long overdue for the US title itself. Nakamura's non-existent reign damaged it greatly. The United States title was the least important part of SmackDown's mid card ever since Nakamura won it in July. With the title now in Rusev's hands, the division suddenly appears more open.
The long-suffering Andrade "Cien" Almas, for starters, will have something to do and go after.
Of course, it's also possible that everything could close off yet again, but this was a nice start. If there's someone who could start reviving the fortunes of the US title, it's the still-incredibly popular Rusev.