WWE SmackDown: 10 Things You Might Have Missed (Dec 13)
SmackDown's live crowd seemed to favour an unlikely star during the main event...
For much of this week's SmackDown Live, WWE geared things towards hyping the December 27 episode of the show. Of course, that's the final SmackDown of 2016, and already it seems to be the most important one in recent memory for the creative team.
Whilst this doesn't bode too well for next week's broadcast, at least the latest edition of SmackDown had some serious strong points. No less than two big elimination matches pinned down the show, one a Battle Royal to determine new contenders for the SmackDown Tag-Team Titles and the other a Fatal-4-Way to establish a new WWE Title challenger.
Both were enjoyable, although both also featured some things that would have been easy to gloss over. For example, the announcers appeared to miss one elimination from the tag-team affair entirely, unfortunate given the man tossed over the top rope.
That's what is focused on here, those little nuances that often escape attention. This week, SmackDown had some bizarre information on offer, the announcement of a big return and some truly interesting crowd reactions.
Let's look at some things you may just have glossed over...
10. Daniel Bryan's Epic Reaction To James Ellsworth's Sneezing
James Ellsworth was supposed to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Title on this week's SmackDown. Unable to do so due to illness, the unlikely WWE star was shown sneezing away during a backstage skit also involving Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. What happened next was borderline hilarious.
The segment would have been regarded as complete throwaway had Bryan not reacted so brilliantly to Ellsworth's flu-like symptoms. Encouraged to go home and recover by both the SmackDown Commissioner and General Manager, the no-chinned wonder then directed a messy sneeze towards management. That's when the GM wore an expression of utter disgust.
Vince McMahon would have been proud of this reaction from Daniel Bryan, it was totally over the top. Happening even before the regular opening of SmackDown, the promo segment was only notable for Bryan's overacting.
Even when James Ellsworth fled the scene, Bryan continued with his antics and Shane couldn't stop himself from flashing a wry smile over his General Manager's facial expressions. Surely, someone will make a gif out of this.