WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from March 28

The penultimate stop on the Road to WrestleMania saw the Superstars of SmackDown Live provide the final hype for some of Sunday's highest profile matches.

AJ Styles and Shane McMahon signed the contract for their monumental clash on wrestling's grandest stage.

Randy Orton sent a message loud and clear to Bray Wyatt ahead of their WWE Championship match at The Ultimate Thrill Ride.

John Cena and Nikki Bella laid the verbal smackdown on Miz and Maryse just five nights before their hotly anticipated Mixed Tag Team match.

Which Superstars earned "biggest winner" status for their contributions to Tuesday's broadcast, though? Who elevated their games ahead of the April 2 Showcase of the Immortals?

Who was not as lucky, the recipients of poor booking or deliverers of underwhelming performances at the most inopportune time?

Find out now with this recap of the March 28 episode of SmackDown Live.

Winner: AJ Styles

There was a time in AJ Styles' career when the prospects of him cutting a strong "go home" promo to hype a major pay-per-view match were none too bright. He was a timid talker and an inexperienced verbal salesman who did not understand the fine art of putting over the significance of a high-profile bout.

That has changed over the course of his career.

His ability to do so was on full display Tuesday night as he sat across a table from Shane McMahon, cutting a promo that put over the issues between the two and the story of their match this Sunday night. Styles confidently reminded McMahon that their match at WrestleMania 33 does not carry a special stipulation or gimmick.

It is a one-on-one wrestling match, and between the ropes, The Phenomenal One is untouchable. Love him or hate him, Styles is right: There is no one in WWE better than him when the bell rings. One of the best workers of his generation, he would wrestle circles around his SmackDown Live boss.

Therein lies the story of Sunday's match.

Can McMahon keep up with Styles in a traditional match, without the bells and whistles of a gimmick bout to mask his deficiencies?

Fans will find out Sunday night but, more importantly, will know what to watch for courtesy of Styles' not-so-subtle hint Tuesday. 

Loser: Luke Harper

Luke Harper has been a revelation over the last few months, but Tuesday night he disappointingly felt like an afterthought and the last loose end that needed to be tied up before Sunday's WrestleMania 33.

The former enforcer of The Wyatt Family squared off with WWE champion Bray Wyatt in the main event of the March 28 episode of SmackDown Live. While he again turned in an explosive performance that added to the discussion of his underrated skill set, he was unceremoniously defeated by The Reaper of Souls after a brief moment of mesmerization.

Perhaps that will play a role come Sunday.

Could Wyatt have made a connection with Harper that will lead to the big man re-establishing himself as the champion's right-hand man in time to help him defeat Randy Orton on wrestling's biggest stage?

Whether he does or not is irrelevant. Harper is a highly skilled big man who deserves more of an opportunity to make a splash on the biggest cards, not in throwaway matches designed to set up ridiculous promo segments.

Winner: Naomi

When Naomi handed over the SmackDown Women's Championship, with her knee injury at Elimination Chamber too severe for her to continue, it appeared as though she would miss out on the opportunity to compete in her hometown of Orlando, Florida, at WrestleMania.

Tuesday, she blew all perceptions out of the water when she made her energetic and unexpected return, laying out Alexa Bliss, Natalya and Carmella and announcing her entry into Sunday's SmackDown Women's Championship match.

No longer forced to watch from the sidelines as her blue-brand peers fight over a title that is rightfully hers, Naomi has the opportunity to return to an event she was once bumped for—in her hometown—and win one of the top prizes in women's wrestling.

If that is not the definition of a winner on the Road to WrestleMania, what is?

Losers: American Alpha

American Alpha was once one of the hottest acts in professional wrestling.

Coming off a major push in NXT and a brilliant series of matches against The Revival, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable looked like the first team to come to the main roster prepared to carry tag team wrestling back to prominence in nearly a decade.

When they were drafted to SmackDown Live, it appeared as though they would be the team around whom the entire tag division was built. Unfortunately, emphasis on Heath Slater and Rhyno delayed their push. When they won the tag team titles from Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton, it finally felt like Gable and Jordan were on the right path to glory.

That would prove not to be the case.

American Alpha became lost in the shuffle, with a lack of depth in the division ruining the overall quality of their reign. After a few televised defenses and a series of matches with The Usos, they dropped the gold to Jimmy and Jey.

As fans found out Tuesday night on SmackDown, the team once figured to lead WWE's tag team renaissance now finds itself an afterthought in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, annually the most inconsequential bout on the entire WrestleMania card.

Winner: John Cena

When you need a Superstar to come through big and deliver a promo that will effectively sell a pay-per-view match, call John Cena.

The franchise star of WWE grabbed hold of the SmackDown Live microphone Tuesday night and directed more than a few scathing remarks in the direction of the former intercontinental champion The Miz. In the process, he elevated the importance of Sunday's Mixed Tag Team match and intensified the extremely personal edge of the contest.

Cena brought back some of that bravado fans have not seen out of him since his rivalry with The Rock, when semi-shoot comments became a regular part of his verbal arsenal. Disrespected and disgraced for the last time, he unloaded on Miz and the result was an engaging segment that increased anticipation for Sunday's match.

Given how unappealing the idea of a Mixed Tag Team match pitting John Cena and Nikki Bella against The Miz and Maryse originally was, it is a testament to the work put in by Cena and his peers to craft a match fans legitimately care about this close to WrestleMania.