The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (December 4)

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Last night's episode of SmackDown was a subdued and somber affair, as it was done in tribute to the late Pat Patterson, a cornerstone of WWE for decades. Nevertheless, some important things occurred last night in the build to the final major event of 2020, TLC, which is two weeks away from tomorrow. Who got the most and least out of this special episode of SmackDown?

SmackDown Loser: Bayley

The old "defeat by distraction" trope is tired. If Bayley is to be kept as formidable an opponent as possible for Bianca Belair in the coming weeks, she should have beaten Natalya last night. Alas, SmackDown saw the upstart Bianca Belair distracting its former women's champion, causing her to be caught in a Sharpshooter and ultimately, tapping out.

Sure, the loss wasn't entirely legitimate, but the company shouldn't need to feel like this is the thing it needs to do to keep these competitors on something of a level playing field heading into TLC. Bianca Belair should feel like the underdog in her feud with the longest-reigning SmackDown Women's Champion. It would make her victory that much bigger, while, if she were to lose, it would make defeat more tolerable.

Winner: Carmella

Carmella has next to no chance of beating Sasha Banks at TLC, but we can give credit to her character evolution here. She feels like a different kind of heel than during her ill-received title run in the spring and summer of 2018. Whereas then Carmella was annoying and felt like she was lacking in credibility, this one feels a lot more formidable.

She should thus serve as a good warmup for Sasha Banks as she inevitably heads into WrestleMania season as the SmackDown Women's Champion. As for Carmella, this character should have more legs in the future.