WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from February 21

The Feb. 21 episode of WWE SmackDown Live is in the books, and in its wake is a brand marching toward WrestleMania 33 with steadiness that allows for ongoing stories to unfold at a suitable pace and rivalries to take shape ahead of the most significant event of the year.

Tuesday night, Luke Harper and AJ Styles came one step closer to earning a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, but only one man could claim "winner" status.

A new women's champion was crowned after Naomi had to tearfully relinquish the title due to injury. Would it be Alexa Bliss or Becky Lynch—two previous champions—who left the arena with gold around her waist?

Then there was the rivalry between Nikki Bella and Natalya that came to a head in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Interference by a fellow female Superstar not only helped one of the women to victory, but it also set up another high-profile feud that will shape the blue brand's side of the WrestleMania card.

On a night when top contenders were to be crowned, feuds wrapped up in grand fashion and a new champion was determined, these are the biggest winners and losers from the Feb. 21 episode of SmackDown Live.

Winner: Alexa Bliss

Strutting to the ring and blowing off the emotional moment that fans had just witnessed, where Naomi tearfully handed over the SmackDown Women's Championship after suffering a knee injury that would require significant time away, Bliss re-established herself as the best heel in wrestling and talked her way into a match with Becky Lynch for the vacant title.

She beat Lynch, using the ring apron as a well-timed distraction and then catching her with a throat thrust and roll-up while holding the tights to regain the title.

Now a two-time women's champion, Bliss stands atop the SmackDown Live mountain with seemingly no obvious contender. That she was the most obvious candidate to win the title after Naomi relinquished it is a testament to the work she has put in over the last eight months and the strength of her on-screen persona.

As WrestleMania 33 approaches, Bliss is poised to defend her title in a high-profile match for the blue brand. Whether that is against someone like the suddenly surging Natalya or in a Triple Threat match against Lynch and Mickie James remains to be seen.

One thing is for certain: Bliss is easily one of the biggest breakout stars to come out of this incarnation of the brand extension.

Loser: Breezango

For all that SmackDown Live does correctly, its tag team division remains in shambles.

Breezango consists of two wildly talented, underrated professional wrestlers in Fandango and Tyler Breeze. They could easily steal the show working with Chad Gable and Jason Jordan. Instead, though, they were trotted to the ring Tuesday night and summarily dissected and jobbed out in mere minutes.

Not once did they ever feel like credible threats to knock off the tag champions.

Therein lies the problem.

There is no such thing as depth in the blue brand's tag division. There is American Alpha, The Usos and everyone else. That is hardly the recipe for a quality division and, worst of all, makes Gable and Jordan look like the best of a mediocre bunch.

If anything, it creates questions about their credibility as champions. After all, a champion is only as good as their competition.

Fandango debuted at WrestleMania four years ago, defeating Chris Jericho. Tyler Breeze wowed audiences in NXT with show-stealing performances against Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, Sami Zayn and Neville.

Now, both are comically bad fashion police, left to wallow in mediocrity in a division desperately in need of another team to help legitimize it. It is a shame that their talents have been so disregarded by management.

Winner: Luke Harper

Luke Harper is one step closer to headlining WrestleMania after Tuesday's SmackDown Live.

One of the final two Superstars involved in the match, Harper waged war with former WWE champion AJ Styles. Throwing elbows at the face of The Phenomenal One, he was hellbent on cashing his ticket to WrestleMania and a date with former mentor Bray Wyatt.

For minutes, Harper and Styles wowed the crowd, keeping them invested in the dramatic near-eliminations they teased. Then, when both men crashed to the arena floor and a no-contest was deemed by general manager Daniel Bryan, fans chanted "Luke," suggesting they are ready to get behind the big man.

A date with Styles booked for next week's show, with the spot at WrestleMania up for grabs, Tuesday represented another step toward main event glory for one of the most underrated stars WWE has to offer. Now, he heads into what could be a career-defining match with Styles next week, haunted by the maniacal laugh of Wyatt that closed out Tuesday's broadcast. 

His journey will be complete with a victory, and SmackDown Live will have yet another breakout star on its hands.

Loser: Becky Lynch

Poor Becky Lynch.

On Talking Smack, she admitted that she always seems to fall for Alexa Bliss' underhanded tactics en route to another disappointing loss. That she is aware of it suggests that WWE Creative needs to switch up the manner in which she is losing these matches to Bliss because, at some point, fans are going to ask how she can be so naive as to let it continue to happen.

It is the old story of the oblivious good guy who keeps falling for the same old tricks. At some point, fans become disillusioned and stop caring about this competitor who is too stupid to see what is coming and adjust their game to prevent it.

Factor in a weak post-match exchange of forearms with Mickie James, and you have a rough night for Lynch, who should be treated as the face of the SmackDown women's division rather than a clueless good girl who is always coming out the loser.

Winners: Nikki Bella and Natalya

Nikki Bella and Natalya wrestled a great match Tuesday night.

No, seriously.

You might be tempted to lean on the old internet crutch and claim, "Bella can't work," or suggest that the lack of psychology hurt it, but all of those implications are nonsensical garbage from those fans who are oblivious to what Bella and Natalya were actually trying to accomplish.

No one expected a technical masterpiece. After weeks of brawling around arenas, if anyone expected Natalya to break out 12 variations of a suplex or Bella to soften her opponent's head and neck up for the STF, they are sadly out of touch with the purpose of the contest.

It was a wild, chaotic fight between two women with intense dislike for each other. Wristlocks and nerve holds were replaced with kendo sticks, tables and broken glass as they channeled 1990s WWE hardcore style to wrap up their story.

They sacrificed psychology for spectacle and, in this case, delivered a beautifully mapped-out match that culminated with Maryse, accidentally assaulted by Bella for the second time in as many matches, making her presence felt courtesy of an assault with a steel pipe to the popular reality star.

Natalya won, and Bella suddenly breaks off into her next feud, her rivalry with The Queen of Harts sufficiently concluded. It was, in many ways, the strongest segment of the night and the most memorable match of Bella's career.

Winner: Naomi

Yes, Naomi may have had to hand over the SmackDown Women's Championship to Daniel Bryan too early—her knee not allowing her to do what her heart wanted—but she will come back from the disabled list much better for it.

The fans in attendance for Tuesday's show were behind Naomi, chanting "You deserve it!" and causing her to break down and cry. From there, they booed her relinquishment of the title, having seen the same thing play out before when Bryan had to do the same thing following an ill-timed injury.

Yet at no point did it feel like Naomi's one big chance to prove herself had come and gone.

Instead, it felt like a performer hitting her peak in popularity enduring one more setback that will make her that much more loved by fans when she finally comes back to reclaim what she never rightfully lost.

Hers will be a redemption story that fans will be eager to follow, and as a result, the events of Tuesday night should be less demoralizing and, instead, be viewed as a huge opportunity for her to be the star that commentator David Otunga and analyst Booker T have said she would be for years.