WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from March 17

Every week on Bleacher Report, I take an in-depth look at WWE SmackDown to recap the results, offer analysis and grade the matches, segments and anything else that takes place on the show, as well as make a few predictions for future events.

With WrestleMania 32 fast approaching, from this point forward, all of WWE's effort will be put into building the feuds that will occupy the card on April 3.

The only singles title not set to be defended is the Intercontinental Championship, but with the way things are going, it looks like we might see a multi-person match for the belt.

This week's SmackDown was light on wrestling, featuring just four matches, but it allowed each bout to have enough time to tell a proper story.

Let's take a look at everything that happened during Thursday's show.

Opening Segment

Roman Reigns kicked things off with a promo talking about what he did to Triple H on Raw. It's always hard to tell with SmackDown, but it sounded like he was being cheered more than he was being booed. It kind of seemed like he was surprised by the positive reaction.

As expected, he vowed to defeat Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. It was a short promo, but it drove the point home.

Reigns is a decent talker, but he is better in small doses such as this segment. As long as he doesn't try to be funny, he'll be fine. 

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights

• Does Reigns' nose look smaller as a result of his surgery to anyone else?
• Triple H required six staples to close the wound he suffered on Raw. What's with these guys and injuring each other?
• It's rare you see a promo where someone doesn't come down to interrupt.

The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

These two have traded wins over the past few weeks, so this was kind of a rubber match to break the tie.

Dolph Ziggler and The Miz are talented in different ways, but they work well together, so this ended up being an entertaining bout.

They started with some technical chain wrestling and counters. The crowd was pretty quiet until they picked up the pace and started using some strikes.

Ziggler picked up the win with a superkick. This feud probably isn't over, but for now, Ziggler has the upper hand.

Grade: B

Notes and Highlights

• Both of these guys are from Ohio, but it didn't sound like their hometown crowd cared. They got the same reactions they get every week.
• Ziggler is the closest thing to a rock star in WWE. He should start a stable and call it The Band.
• The Miz is starting to show some of that fire he used to become WWE champion again.
• Mauro Ranallo's commentary made this match feel more important than it was.

Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Goldust

Goldust took on Bubba Ray Dudley in the most random matchup of the night. Bubba obviously had D-Von by his side, so he had the advantage from the get-go.

It was a short bout that saw Bubba pick up the win after dominating Goldust almost the entire time. The painted weirdo got in some offense, but it wasn't enough to keep Bubba from beating him with a boot to the face.

The Dudley Boyz attacked Goldust after the match was over, but R-Truth came out to make the save. He wasn't getting the job done, so The Usos ran down and cleared the ring.

While this segment addressed two different storylines, it was relatively boring and predictable.

Grade: C

Notes and Highlights

• Stardust isn't doing anything. Why is WWE not putting him back with his brother, either as a team or as foes?
• The Ascension, The Usos, Goldust and Stardust all use face paint. Has there ever been a time when more Superstars painted themselves up for matches?
• Winning with a boot to the face was a surprise. It's not even one of Bubba's signature moves.

Diva Drama

Charlotte and Ric Flair brought Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to the ring to hype the upcoming Divas Championship match at WrestleMania.

It was a little surprising to hear Charlotte credit Banks and Lynch for all they have done to help her after the way she has acted in recent weeks.

She eventually showed her true colors by apologizing to her father for ever thinking Banks and Lynch were worthy of the name Horsewomen.

Banks and Lynch got into an argument, but they focused their energy on taking out the champion and sending her out of the ring.

While this was a decent segment to sell their feud, it wasn't as good as we know it could've been given the people involved.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• No matter how many times he accompanies Charlotte to the ring, Flair always looks like he is beaming with pride.
• Charlotte's only real weakness is her mic skills. Other than that, she is a great performer.
• All it takes to piss off Banks is accusing her of wearing dollar-store jewelry.

Kofi Kingston vs. King Barrett

The New Day came out with some bags of garbage to represent The League of Nations. Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E accepted The League's challenge for a showdown at WrestleMania, but first, Kingston had to take on King Barrett in singles action.

All things considered, this was a decent match. Both men hit all their big signature moves, with Kingston looking especially energetic throughout the contest.

It didn't take long for their teammates to get into a fight outside the ring. The League of Nations outnumbered The New Day, but Kingston was still able to pick up the win.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights

• Is WWE turning The New Day babyface? They are going into their match at WrestleMania as underdogs, and it's hard to boo an underdog.
• Big E cracks me up. He doesn't always hit a home run, but when he does, he hits it out of the park.
• Kingston's one-man unicorn stampede was kind of funny because he actually went in and out of the ring like he would if he were doing it with a partner.

Dean Ambrose

Throughout the night, Dean Ambrose was shown visiting different places around town while talking about his upcoming match with Brock Lesnar.

He eventually made his way back to the arena during a promo from The Social Outcasts, and he single-handedly took out all four men with a kendo stick.

Ambrose is a rare breed of performer who can make everything he does entertaining, and seeing him take the fight to four guys helped sell his crazy image.

He has to do most of the work during the buildup to his big WrestleMania match with Lesnar, and he is more than capable of doing that.

Grade: B

Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles

AJ Styles and Kevin Owens met in the main event, making this one of the first times they have faced each other in a WWE ring.

These guys have earned a reputation for being great performers, so expectations for this one were high. Thankfully, they lived up to the hype.

A few years ago, it seemed impossible we would see these two locking up in a WWE ring. It's a testament to WWE for changing its attitude about established indy stars and giving them the push they deserve.

Both men used a variety of unique moves throughout the match. Styles was poised to pick up the win until Chris Jericho came out to cause a distraction. Owens took advantage and hit the Popup Powerbomb to get the victory.

Grade: A-

Notes and Highlights

• WWE has finally worked out how to time Styles' pyro with his entrance.
• Styles gives Ziggler a run for his money for the best dropkick in WWE.
• Ranallo sure likes using five-dollar words. His word-of-the-day calendar had deleterious on Thursday.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

This week's SmackDown had some enjoyable moments, but it's hard to get excited about a two-hour show with only four matches.

Styles and Owens outshone everyone with their main event performance, but Ziggler and The Miz did their best to make the opening bout worth watching.

We got a little storyline progression and found out about some new matches for WrestleMania 32, so at least the show delivered in that respect.

Since WrestleMania is right around the corner, all of this week's predictions will be about the big event. 

Predictions

• Kevin Owens will defend the IC title at WrestleMania against Ziggler, The Miz and Sami Zayn, with one other person possibly joining the mix.
• Jericho and Styles' bout will have some kind of special stipulation when they meet at WrestleMania.
• Superstars will start declaring their intentions to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the next edition of Raw.
• At least one NXT star will appear in the Andre Battle Royal.
• The New Day vs. League of Nations will end up on the WrestleMania pre-show.

What did you think of this week's SmackDown?

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter: @BR_Doctor.