5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 6)
In which Roode and Rusev outshine the main eventers.
The good ship SmackDown continued along on her course to WrestleMania 34 last night, delivering a show devoid of surprises and major developments, but full of fun action.
Built around a Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens main event, it spotlighted the brand's ongoing power struggle. Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan butted heads for what felt like the hundredth time, and once again, AJ Styles was the man in the middle. 'The Phenomenal One' would make a mark in the headlining bout, too. Designed to deliver AJ's next contender, it succeeded in doing so, but not in the way Styles would've imagined.
Elsewhere, we got the debut of Daniel Bryan's SmackDown Top 10 list, a United States Title fight between Bobby Roode and Rusev, and the continuation of Charlotte Flair's rivalry with The Riott Squad. Randy Orton made an impactful cameo too, and although top stars like Becky Lynch were absent, the show's two hours were as watchable as ever.
Fastlane is still more than a month away. It's hard to see this as anything other than a brief diversion on the Road to WrestleMania, but the build's already underway, and aside from the stagnant main event program, the initial signs are promising.
Let's dive into it...