WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from February 25

Thursday's episode of WWE SmackDown kicked off with world heavyweight champion Triple H, who made his way to the squared circle to discuss his upcoming WrestleMania main event against Roman Reigns and, in the process, cemented himself as the biggest winner of the night.

The show only went downhill from there. The Game's promo was so incredibly strong that everything else paled in comparison.

Quoting "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones, Triple H vowed to defeat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, carrying the theme of that song throughout the promo and ending by reminding fans that he is The Game, The Cerebral Assassin and The King of Kings.

He spoke on being The Authority and warned anyone who meets him to bring their sympathy and their niceties and, more importantly, to fall in line. 

It was a money promo that sparked interest in a match and created anticipation that cannot be replicated or manufactured, the product of a Superstar with experience in big-match situations.

The COO of WWE understands how to get the story of any given feud over and demonstrated as much Thursday night. If anything, he gave unbiased fans hope that he can somehow shift the heat from Reigns to himself ahead of the biggest match of the year.

There was one other high-profile Superstar who emerged from this week's broadcast as an undisputed winner, as well as a faction that finally looked like a well-oiled machine for the first time in its existence.

Not everyone was that lucky.

Thursday, February 25, 2016
Chris Jericho, AJ Styles and Mark Henry def. The New Day
R-Truth def. Heath Slater
Natalya def. Becky Lynch by disqualification
Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens def. Big Show via count-out
D-Von Dudley def. Jimmy Uso
The League of Nations defeated Dolph Ziggler, Lucha Dragons and Neville

Credit: WWE.com

Losers: The Usos and The Dudley Boyz

WWE Creative has taken the necessary steps to reinvigorate The Dudley Boyz and generate interest in the future Hall of Famers. Unfortunately, it has failed to follow up on the heel turn by shorting Bubba Ray and D-Von, as well as their rivals The Usos, of television time.

First, Jimmy and Jey defeated The Ascension Monday night in a sprint of a squash. What felt like an anomaly at the time, though, was followed up by Thursday's one-minute "battle" between Jimmy and D-Von that saw the latter win following interference from Bubba Ray.

What should be a dream feud between one of the greatest teams of all time and the most celebrated of the current day has, instead, felt like a throwaway feud that only intensifies when time constraints allow for it.

That the Usos' act has worn thin of late, with no real character growth or interesting stories to speak of, has done the program no favors.

Credit: WWE.com

Winners: The League of Nations

For the first time since forming last November, The League of Nations looked like a legitimate team rather than four guys thrown together for the sake of giving them something to do. 

Its win over Neville, The Lucha Dragons and Dolph Ziggler was as strong as possible. Rusev looked crisp and motivated, Del Rio was his typically solid self and Sheamus scored the win with the Brogue Kick to The Man That Gravity Forgot.

The real star, though, was King Barrett.

After months of sitting on the sidelines, he looked outstanding and took tremendous punishment from Neville in the form of a 450 Splash and The Red Arrow. That Rusev and Del Rio hoisted him onto their shoulders was a nice show of respect for Barrett, whose days with WWE could be coming to an end.

These are the types of wins The League needed late last year. Rather than bumping around for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose right out of the gate, it needed to amass victories in impressive fashion and earn the respect of the audience before moving up to the top of the card.

It may be too late to convince fans to buy into it as a credible main event act, but the faction can easily succeed at the next level down, working interesting and entertaining programs with babyface stars forced to band together to eliminate a common enemy.

It has the potential to be so much more than a group of heels dedicated to putting over any hero who comes along. Thursday night, fans got a taste of how truly dominant The League of Nations can be.

Credit: WWE.com

Winner: AJ Styles

The Phenomenal One was the most over Superstar on this week's SmackDown, receiving a huge pop for his entrance, steady applause for his in-ring work and another raucous reaction for the Calf Crusher that put away The New Day in the night's main event.

One of the few things WWE Creative has done perfectly over the last two months has been the integration of Styles. He has been treated like a star, his accomplishments have been touted by commentators and he has been allowed to win matches in decisive fashion. There have been no screwy roll-ups or distraction-based finishes. He has beaten guys simply because he is the best.

The reaction of the audience has been what it is because of the strength with which Styles has been presented.

That same writing staff should take notes, recognize why something worked and do everything it can to replicate it.

Maybe then the company will have more stars at its disposal if, and when, injury strikes.