5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown (Nov 1)

4 Loser: Curt Hawkins

Oh, Curt. What the hell happened?

After weeks of teasing fans with his imminent in-ring debut only to pull the rug away time after time, Hawkins “wrestled” his first WWE match since 2014. The parentheses are absolutely necessary in this case, because it wasn’t much of a match at all: Dolph Ziggler blasted Hawkins with a Superkick as soon as the bell rung, and Curt’s big comeback lasted just five seconds.

Hawkins made a bold move in answering the champ’s Intercontinental Title open challenge, but he couldn’t make Ziggler “face the facts” as promised. Instead, Curt could barely put down his pimp cane and waistcoat before being knocked out of his boots, and his self-hyped re-debut couldn't have gone any worse.

Last night gives a good indication of what Hawkins’ WWE future looks like. Heath Slater’s ascent to champion status has left a gaping hole in WWE’s enhancement talent scene, and Curt is perfect for the role. His gimmick is dumb enough to make it work, and Hawkins’ is a capable enough performer to have fans yearning to see him get booted in the face on a weekly basis. As far as title shots go, though, let’s never do that again.

Back in the bin you go, Hawkins.