The biggest winners and losers of last night's Raw (September 9)

Raw returned home last night with a live broadcast from Madison Square Garden. Appropriately, Stone Cold Steve Austin was in attendance. But beyond the stars of yesteryear and the homage to the past, WWE had a pay per view to build, one which is now only a little less than two weeks away. How well did it do and who got the most and least out of the show? Let's take a look.

Losers: Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman

It's always been obvious that Braun Strowman's challenge to the Universal Championship was a filler one, especially with Bray Wyatt already on the horizon for Hell in a Cell as The Fiend. This segment didn't do much to rectify that situation. It's only a minor defeat for them, obviously, but can you honestly say that this made you more excited to see the title match between them next Sunday? I'd venture not.

The OC get the bad end of this as well, as they fell into the trope of looking like babies against a returning legend, but the next segment somewhat made up for it.

Winners: Cedric Alexander and the Viking Raiders

After the brawl with Austin, Cedric Alexander rushed to the ring to try to take advantage on the downed AJ Styles. What followed was a match as good as you would expect for TV and between these two talented stars. Alexander won by disqualification, but this means that the story will continue and he'll get a shot at the United States Championship. It's good to see the former Cruiserweight Champion get these kinds of chances.

Meanwhile, the Viking Raiders actually did more than beat up hapless jobbers, as they rushed to Alexander's defense when the OC ganged up on him.

This is the kind of way that you build rivalries that cover multiple stories and stars. Expect the tag titles to get involved in this soon.