The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (January 22)

Last night's SmackDown was rudimentary for a go-home show.

The equation didn't change a whole lot for many of the superstars on the blue brand in terms of their chances at the pay per view, but the show did make all of its bouts feel like the Royal Rumble on Sunday has higher stakes. As far as building fan investment goes, last night's episode succeeded.

Who got the most and least out of last night's SmackDown before the Royal Rumble?

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Winners: Becky Lynch and Asuka

In contrast to last week's segment, there were no whining diatribes or awkward long promos on the part of the champion. A few words were exchanged, Charlotte Flair poked her nose in business which doesn't concern her as usual, and the two contestants brawled all around the ringside area. Both looked much better here.

Charlotte's entrance into this scuffle adds a wrinkle to things, because it's hard for either Becky or Asuka to lose cleanly at the moment. Asuka needs to find a way to retain her title, while Becky needs to keep her momentum toward Ronda Rousey going.

Might she find Charlotte Flair a convenient entrance into the bigger picture going into MetLife Stadium? Perhaps by saying the company is keeping her down? One feels like Becky needs to do something other than talk about how hot of an act she is.

That's already getting old and repetitive. Something bigger needs to happen, and soon, if she's going to maintain that heat, which WWE looks like it's investing a lot of resources in.

We might be in for a repeat of the Daniel Bryan saga from 2014. What if Becky Lynch is not in the Royal Rumble match everyone wants to see her in/win?

Winner: Mandy Rose

Mandy Rose might be continuing with her push, so that's good for her. She defeated Naomi, albeit with help. Unfortunately, the match was sloppy, and proved once again that she isn't ready for the main event spotlight.

She'll have a more prominent place going forward into the Elimination Chamber pay per view, with the women's tag team titles on the line inside the chamber match itself. That should cover up some of her glaring weaknesses.

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Losers: The Bar

The Bar destroyed The Miz and Shane McMahon last night, signaling to the world that the odds were firmly stacked against their opponents on Sunday.

If that doesn't tell you that the champions are going to be losing their titles, nothing will.

WWE rarely has a pay per view where there isn't at least one title change, and this is going to be the one. It's just unfortunate the titles will need to be involved in this story.

Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas

I still refuse to call him Andrade! Enough with these unnecessary name changes!

Either way, this was another excellent match between these two. Andrade took the first fall, and Mysterio took the second one, as should have been expected in one order or the other.

The match didn't get to an ending though, Samoa Joe made sure of that.

So this preserved Andrade "Cien" Almas' win from last week, and kept him off the frustrating 50/50 road to nowhere, while building everyone involved in the contest up and hyping the Royal Rumble match itself.

Job well done.

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Loser: Mustafa Ali

I almost forgot about this, and that's not a good thing.

Just a few weeks ago, Mustafa Ali pinned the WWE Champion, and then defeated Almas the following week, but all of that momentum was dissipated over the past few weeks. His loss to Samoa Joe last night felt relatively meaningless.

Maybe Ali will have a breakout Royal Rumble performance, but it seems like his push has stalled for the moment.