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

The March 21 episode of SmackDown Live continued the brand's steady build to WrestleMania, shining a spotlight on the feuds that will dominate the discussion come April 2.

John Cena and Nikki Bella were all over the USA Network broadcast, both in real and satirical form. The happy couple sent a message to The Miz and Maryse ahead of their upcoming Mixed Tag Team match, while the heels sent their own mocking message to the Total Bellas stars.

AJ Styles was overjoyed by his attack on Shane McMahon from the previous week's show, but he would not be quite as thrilled, or boastful, by the time Tuesday's show wrapped up.

Then there were The Usos, who tasted championship gold once more after defeating American Alpha to win the tag team titles.

All of those stars made this week's recap of the biggest winners and losers from the March 21 episode of SmackDown Live.

Biggest Winners: The Usos

Jimmy and Jey Uso faced great scrutiny a year ago at this time.

They were stale, bland and boring...three of the worst traits any sports entertainer can be accused of. They needed to switch things up in the worst way imaginable.

Thankfully, the brand extension in July 2016 offered them that opportunity. The twin brothers became heels and adopted a more ruthless in-ring style than fans had ever seen out of them. They gleefully injured opponents' knees and set up a long-running feud with American Alpha.

Tuesday night, some 10 months after undergoing the transformation, they regained tag team gold to a thunderous ovation, beating their rivals in grand fashion.

It was strange watching The Usos knelt down over the body of Jason Jordan, smiles on their faces as the official handed them their prizes and fans erupting for their victory. After all, it was not all that long ago that they faced the wrath of a WWE Universe who wanted nothing to do with them.

There they were, in midst of their first heel run since 2010, earning the adulation of fans for their hard work and dedication to being something more than the mediocre act they were previously. 

That they have shown as much personality as they have on WWE Network's Talking Smack does not hurt. They have become more relatable in their seemingly weekly appearances on the show and in their interactions with general manager Daniel Bryan. They have fun despite being ruthless competitors between the ropes.

The brothers may be heels, and their reigns are not at all guaranteed to last long—perhaps not even past WrestleMania—but their effort is being recognized by fans and rewarded accordingly. 

Biggest Losers: John Cena and Nikki Bella

Together, John Cena and Nikki Bella are insufferable.

They are wholly unlikable, the equivalent to that high school couple that rubs its relationship in the faces of every other kid in the cafeteria at lunchtime. They make kissy faces during study hall, dress similarly and mimic each other.

It is too much and annoys anyone forced to witness it.

Since their relationship has become a recognized part of WWE programming, they have become even more unlikable than they were previously. The boos that greet Cena now are more like groans, almost as if WWE fans recognize he is too good for his current position; that he is far above romantic soap opera-like storyline.

The boos greeting Bella are organic, the result of Miz and Maryse essentially exposing her character flaws on a weekly basis.

That she was allowed to womanhandle Tyler Breeze, one of the most underrated and underappreciated stars on the WWE roster, will only net her more disdain from that same portion of the audience that has rejected Cena for the last decade.

The fans in attendance for Tuesday's SmackDown Live would have been more open to Fandango beating Cena and were more entertained by Breeze's rendition of "Breezey Bella" than they were of the real thing. That is problematic and could create major backlash come WrestleMania.

For two performers positioned as babyfaces, Cena and Bella represent the kind of high-profile, obnoxious couple wrestling audiences despise.

Biggest Winners: The Miz and Maryse

"You've broken rule number 8 of the John Cena House Rules," The Miz, adorned in John Cena gear, told wife Maryse, who was made up to look like Nikki Bella.

The heel couple's mockery of Cena and Bella continued Tuesday night in two separate "lost" episodes of Total Bellas.

The vignettes were humorous, to say the least.

Miz was robotic as he pretended to be his WrestleMania opponent. Maryse captured the disingenuous persona and undeniable self-centeredness of Bella. In many ways, their comedic take on the Cena-Bella relationship was more scathing and cutting than any of the verbal insults they have hurled during previous episodes of SmackDown.

The villains have carried the majority of the hype for April 2's Mixed Tag Team match.

They have laid the foundation and intensified the heat surrounding the bout each and every week, while Cena and Bella have been off mimicking finishing maneuvers and giving each other forced hugs.

Their work has been superb, and they deserve considerable credit for the increased anticipation surrounding the WrestleMania bout.

Their contributions to Tuesday's broadcast are further evidence of that.

Biggest Losers: The SmackDown Live Women's Division

A messy cluster with a sudden and inexplicable lack of story and character.

That is the most accurate way to describe the SmackDown women's division. While it remains a major part of the blue brand, the division has descended into mediocrity as if Naomi's unfortunate forfeiture of the SmackDown Women's Championship threw all plans into disarray.

Rather than building off the momentum previously established by the performers, the division has become home to directionless stories and rivalries. Mickie James is suddenly a babyface, Becky Lynch seems lost, Natalya has no discernible character and Alexa Bliss is the heel around which the chaos revolves.

Only Carmella has a recognizable character that fans can point to and understand. She is a manipulative vixen using the gullible James Ellsworth to her advantage.

She has not thrived, though, because she has been sacrificed to put over the other females who WWE Creative has suddenly forgot how to write characters for.

It is only fitting, then, that the lone segment to feature the women's title featured a massive, messy, convoluted brawl between the aforementioned women that ended with Bliss standing tall.

Who knows what SmackDown's writing staff has in store for its female talent come April 2 but, hopefully, it is light years better than the product it has churned out on the road to The Showcase of the Immortals.

Biggest Winner: AJ Styles

The Phenomenal One bookended Tuesday's show, appearing in the opening interview segment and making his presence felt in the show-closing angle.

In both instances, he did everything in his power to create interest and excitement for his WrestleMania showdown with Shane McMahon.

To his credit, he succeeded.

AJ Styles appeared to be having way too much fun as he stood in the center of the ring, taking full credit and basking in the spotlight after brutally assaulting McMahon one week earlier. There was a noticeable smile on his face as he relived punching his boss in the face and a sense of urgency in his voice as he tried to explain to fans why he is overjoyed to be facing the prodigal son on wrestling's biggest stage.

If verbally putting over the significance of the match was not enough, he sold McMahon's punches later in the night then endured a dragon suplex onto the wooden cover to the announce table. From there, he was sprawled out on said table and suffered one of McMahon's trademark top-rope elbow drops through it.

Yes, McMahon was the star of the segment, but Styles was the unselfish all-time great putting in the work to sell his offense, sell the match, and the result was yet another outstanding performance by WWE's Most Valuable Player.