WWE SmackDown Spoilers: Complete Results and Analysis for March 5

The WWE Intercontinental Championship remains at the center of an intense rivalry between some of the company's most talented stars, and Thursday night on SmackDown, fans can expect the story involving the celebrated secondary title to dominate the program.

On Tuesday night, World Wrestling Entertainment rolled into the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., for this week's SmackDown tapings.

The show would be headlined by a huge tag team match pitting current IC champion Bad News Barrett and Luke Harper against "The Show Off" Dolph Ziggler and the "Lunatic Fringe" Dean Ambrose.

Also in the house was Roman Reigns, who addressed Paul Heyman from Raw and his WrestleMania main event against Brock Lesnar.

After United States champion Rusev viciously assaulted Jack Swagger on last week's broadcast, Swagger attempted to gain a measure of revenge. Meanwhile, AJ Lee made her in-ring return, squaring off with Brie Bella in singles competition.

With the spotlight squarely on the WrestleMania undercard, and the intercontinental title again taking center stage, this week's episode of SmackDown is one to catch if you are sick and tired of the main event matches stealing the spotlight on Monday nights.

Now, you can check out everything that went down at Tuesday's tapings, courtesy of our friends over at Wrestling Inc!

Venue

Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

Broadcast Team

Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and John Bradshaw Layfield

Results

• Ziggler kicked off the show, discussing how much the intercontinental title and the opportunity to regain it mean to him. He called out Daniel Bryan in an attempt to talk him into joining the Ladder match at WrestleMania, but Bad News Barrett interrupted. This brought out Luke Harper and Ambrose, leading to a brawl between all four competitors. Meanwhile, R-Truth slid into the ring and stole the belt.
• Backstage, Truth tried to give the title to Renee Young, but she insisted that he return it to Ambrose.
• Tag team champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro defeated Los Matadores.
• Ryback defeated Kane with the Meat Hook clothesline. After the match, Kane immediately booked Ryback in another match.
• Big Show defeated Ryback when Kane interfered.
• Bray Wyatt cut another Undertaker-centered promo.
• The Bella Twins cut a promo on #GiveDivasAChance and Lee's return.
• Lee defeated Brie Bella with the Black Widow. Paige prevented Nikki Bella from interfering.
• Rusev defeated Swagger with the Accolade. After the match, Curtis Axel vowed to unleash AxelMania all over Rusev and take the United States Championship.
• Ziggler and Ambrose defeated Barrett and Harper when Ziggler pinned Harper. After the match, Barrett laid out both opponents and tried to get his title back from R-Truth. All hell broke lose until Bryan arrived. Truth handed over the title belt, but before Bryan could celebrate with it, Stardust attacked, posing with the title as the show went off the air.

Analysis

It is incredibly refreshing to see the intercontinental title featured in a feud that dominates the airwaves the way it will this Thursday on SmackDown.

Of course, playing hot potato with the championship makes it look like little more than a prop, but on the other hand, to have so many talented individuals—including former heavyweight champions like Ziggler and Bryan—helps lend credibility to what should be an amazing Ladder match at WrestleMania.

Credit: WWE.com

Outside of the host of Superstars vying for the IC title is Curtis Axel, whose delusional AxelMania movement is catching on with fans.

Unfortunately, the pop he enjoyed on Monday night may be going to his head because calling out Rusev and threatening to take the U.S. title is far from the smartest thing to do.

From a booking standpoint, however, it is nice to see WWE Creative striking while the proverbial iron is hot with the third-generation star, who took to Twitter and has managed to get himself over in a way that the writing staff has never been able to.

AJ scoring the win over Brie Bella while Paige kept Nikki at bay seems to lend credence to the idea of a Paige and AJ vs. Bella Twins showdown at WrestleMania, while Swagger demonstrated his insatiable appetite for getting demolished by Rusev.

Overall, WWE did a fine job of putting the spotlight on the feuds that will support the higher-profile matches on the WrestleMania card come March 29.

Odds are that one—or more—will be bumped to the pre-show, but still, the company has ensured that each of the stories will have enough build to warrant a reaction from the diehard crowd that will file into Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for the biggest show of the year.

Whether it can continue effectively building the undercard with the ample amount of time remaining before the extravaganza without burning the audience out on the matches is the big question.