WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from March 24

Just days after earning his first trip back to the WrestleMania main card since 2012, Zack Ryder built upon his monumental week by laying out intercontinental champion Kevin Owens on SmackDown and establishing himself as the biggest winner from the broadcast.

The fans responded favorably, pumping their fists and chanting "Woo, woo, woo!" as Ryder stood tallest of all combatants in the ladder match set to take place on April 3 in Arlington, Texas.

No matter how many times WWE management tried to keep Ryder down, the Long Island native weathered the storm and now finds himself just days away from a WrestleMania moment that will effectively erase the heartache that accompanied his last dance on the grandest stage in sports entertainment.

But Ryder was not the only Superstar to emerge victorious from the March 24 episode of the USA Network program.

A Superstar gearing up for his second consecutive main event at The Showcase of the Immortals was also a big winner Thursday night, while one of the top contenders to the Divas Championship took a stand and refused to be ignored just days before the Divas Revolution takes center stage at WrestleMania.

The biggest loser? A resident Lunatic Fringe whose Thursday was wasted on a cameo rather than a meaty role.

Winner: Roman Reigns

WWE's resident Big Dog rolled into SmackDown looking for a fight and got one in the form of the loudmouthed, overbearing Bubba Ray Dudley, whose badmouthing of the Samoan dynasty only further enraged an already angry Reigns.

The former two-time WWE world heavyweight champion unloaded on Bubba, pounding his head repeatedly into the announce table. In the process, the match was called off, ending in a double count-out. But Reigns did not care. He wiped out both Dudleys in impressive fashion, leaving the future Hall of Famers lying in a heap.

Since returning from nose surgery, Reigns has been the silent-killer type that fans have long suggested he should be. He has been verbally intimidating, making his point quickly without rambling and descending into jokes. It has been effective, except for the fact that it has come far too late in the storytelling process, and so legions of fans are still booing the man the company hopes is its next franchise star.

Continuing down this road may help, and it certainly returns a much-needed edge to the character. It will be a trial by fire, for sure. Still, there is certainly a difference, and a good one at that, between the Reigns we see now and the one that bored the WWE Universe to tears a month ago.

Loser: Dean Ambrose

The Lunatic Fringe was not nearly as successful Thursday night as his former Shield brother. Instead of being in the spotlight, he was left to make a cameo of sorts late in the broadcast, as he rushed the ring to take out both The Wyatt Family and Brock Lesnar only to eat an F-5 for his troubles.

It was questionable use of Ambrose, who has become the face of SmackDown of late, the biggest star on the show. Why WWE Creative opted to leave him in the background, hitting the ring and suffering a finisher in just two minutes of airtime, is a question for which there may be no acceptable answer.

After weeks of building him so strongly and fans accepting him in ways they never did Reigns, it was disappointing to see him fall into the background again, even if it was for just one night.

Inconsistency has been the theme of Ambrose's flirtation with the top of the card, so it really should be of no surprise. 

Winner: Becky Lynch

With two strong personalities like Sasha Banks and Charlotte opposing her, Becky Lynch has seemingly taken somewhat of a back seat at times during the lead-in to WrestleMania 32 and the Triple Threat match for the Divas Championship.

That is why her use Thursday night was perfect, leading to her status as a "winner."

No longer willing to sit back and watch as The Boss and the champion receive all of the praise and attention, she got up from the announce position to deliver an Exploder suplex to Banks and another to Charlotte, and she left without posing or pandering to the crowd.

The Lass Kicker was fed up with feeling like an afterthought. She took matters into her own hands, and both Banks and Charlotte found out quickly and painfully how much of a threat Lynch is to their championship aspirations.

It was solid booking to go along with a storyline that has been spot-on to this point.