WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from March 12
What should have been a triumphant night for the returning "World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry turned into a complete and utter catastrophe, as the former heavyweight champion found himself on the receiving end of a Superman Punch and spear from the No. 1 contender to Brock Lesnar and his WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Roman Reigns.
It was a rough way to be reintroduced to the WWE Universe after months of sitting on the sidelines and watching the company gear up for WrestleMania. Now that he is back, it appears as though the Texan will either compete in the afterthought of a match that is the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal or do nothing at all.
Henry was clearly the biggest loser from the March 12 episode of SmackDown, but he was not the only one.
And what about the winners?
Who emerged from the latest show riding a wave of momentum as the company inches closer and closer to March 29's Showcase of the Immortals?
Take a look for yourself.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W2O2Txdf4kw?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Winner: Roman Reigns
From the moment he won the Royal Rumble, cashing his ticket to WrestleMania and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns has listened to the haters, listened to the criticisms and remained fairly calm and composed. He has toed the company line and said all the right things.
As he was verbally dressed down by Mark Henry in front of the Detroit crowd, being told he was not good enough to beat Lesnar and, most importantly, that he did not have the respect of the audience or his fellow competitors, Reigns finally struck out, delivering a spear that sent Henry crashing through the barricade.
By grabbing the microphone and exclaiming that he is tired of hearing what he can't do before promising to beat Lesnar and take the WWE title, he demonstrated his first bit of defiance—the first hint that there is an attitude behind the calmness fans had been exposed to as of late.
That little bit of attitude is exactly what Reigns needs to let out to play more often. It is the element that could very well be the difference between a career spent receiving mixed reactions, the likes of which that have been greeting John Cena for the last decade, or acceptance as the top babyface in the industry.
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Winners: Los Matadores
Fernando and Diego have come from out of nowhere to not only win matches of late but to put themselves squarely in contention for the WWE Tag Team Championships, currently held by the team they partnered with Thursday night, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro.
For a tandem widely regarded as an enhancement team, they have exploded onto the scene in the build to WrestleMania and suddenly find themselves in contention for a high-profile title bout at the biggest show of the year.
Two consecutive wins have helped put them in the forefront of fans' minds, somewhere they have not been since the horrific feud between El Torito and Hornswoggle over the summer.
They are unlikely to actually leave any title match with gold around their waists, but for two guys fans may have forgotten were even employed, their renaissance has been impressive.
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Losers: The Bella Twins
There are two different types of heat a pro wrestler can get from the audience. The first is the good, "you are heels and we do not like you" type of heat that the industry has been built on. Then, there is the type of heat no performer ever wants to be on the receiving end of: the "shut up and go away because you are annoying" heat.
Brie and Nikki Bella are bordering dangerously close on the latter, as they continue to make fun of the appearances of Paige and AJ Lee, put themselves over and do a generally awful job of putting over the fact that they are wrestlers preparing for a wrestling match at WrestleMania.
Worse yet is the fact they are completely apathetic to the action in the ring when filling in on commentary. Byron Saxton has repeatedly attempted to get them to pay attention to the matches in the past but is frequently ignored.
At a time when Divas are fighting for the same respect as their male counterparts and fans are taking to social media to convince WWE to give Divas a chance, the Bellas seem perfectly content to set women's wrestling back another decade or so by completely ignoring the sports part of sports-entertainment in favor of putting over themselves and the "Bella brand" they so frequently reference on Total Divas.
WWE SmackDown Results: Biggest Winners, Losers and Moments from March 12
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