WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from April 7

The first post-WrestleMania episode of WWE SmackDown continued where Raw left off: AJ Styles firmly established himself as the top contender to Roman Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Fresh faces from NXT are making major strides on the main roster, Natalya has set herself up for a championship encounter with Charlotte and Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were at each other's throats.

For Zack Ryder, though, another championship loss to The Miz, aided by Maryse, ended his week on a sour note and earned him "biggest loser" status for Thursday's broadcast.

Long Island Iced Z may have had his WrestleMania moment Sunday night, winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match, but he quickly lost the title just 24 hours later and saw his underdog story turn into a nightmare he had lived once before.

Credit: WWE.com

Now, on the heels of a second-straight defeat courtesy of the Hollywood A-Lister, Ryder finds himself in a familiar position. No matter how over he gets or how much support he has from fans, he cannot seem to permanently breakout of the undercard.

Of course, the feud could very well be WWE Creative's way of building to a more sensible championship victory for Ryder, but unfortunately, it feels more like an excuse to put heat on Miz and Maryse more than anything.

Joining him on the loser's side of things is a brand new tag team whose arrival to the main roster was not nearly as successful as that of their peers. Contrarily, two female Superstars ignited a rivalry that has them earning "winner" status and a dynamic, athletic newcomer followed up Monday's debut with another strong performance in Houston.

Winners: Becky Lynch and Emma

In the wake of a heartbreaking loss at WrestleMania and the building of Natalya into Charlotte's next opponent, Becky Lynch looked poised to be lost in the shuffle. Thursday night, though, a confrontation with Emma may have given WWE fans a taste of a rivalry to come that could very well be the secondary program that the women's division deserves.

The promo work from both The Lass Kicker and the Attitudinal Aussie was strong. Lynch landed a money line by promising to give Emma a bruised and battered eye, like the one Lynch suffered at WrestleMania, if Emma kept running her mouth.

Both are superbly talented women. WWE Creative clearly has a plan to showcase them despite neither being women's champion. That makes them SmackDown winners with their skills forcing management to shine the spotlight on them.

Credit: WWE.com

Losers: The Vaudevillains

Aiden English and Simon Gotch made their WWE debuts Thursday night, defeating United States champion Kalisto (another loser) and Sin Cara—familiar foes from their time in NXT. 

There was nothing inherently wrong with The Vaudevillains' performance Thursday. Instead, it was the presentation of the gimmick. Other than a single video package Monday night, there was nothing to properly introduce the characters to the audience.

The act was always going to be a difficult one to sell to the masses. It was niche and worked on the smaller stage in NXT. Much like Adam Rose, though, The Vaudevillains may be a bit too gimmicky to thrive on Raw and SmackDown.

The lack of reaction for the team—at least that is how it came across on television—does not bode well for them. Considering the quality of their in-ring performances, one certainly hopes that turns around in the coming weeks.

Credit: WWE.com

Winner: Apollo Crews

One thing WWE Creative has done well so far is to put over the raw athleticism of Apollo Crews. They have not exposed him with any in-ring or backstage promos, instead allowing his ring work to speak for itself. It did something similar with Adrian Neville, and there is a lot of the Brit in Crews with some incredible power added on top.

His decisive victory over Curtis Axel may not mean much in the long run, but the dominance he demonstrated—not to mention the unmatched agility and speed—helped get him over with an audience that was lukewarm upon his entrance.

Crews will bring the goods between the ropes. For him to remain a consistent winner, he will need to expand his character and show confidence on the mic. Otherwise, his path in WWE will be similar to Neville's for more than one reason...and that is not necessarily a good thing.