10 Craziest Things That Ever Happened After WWE SmackDown Went Off The Air
6. Bryan Runs The Ropes
Bryan Danielson, or Daniel Bryan for those WWE purists out there, was plagued by injuries during his time in The Big Dub, relinquishing multiple titles due to being hurt and even "retiring" from in-ring competition on the 8 February 2016 episode of Raw.
That's what made this moment after the Boxing Day edition of SmackDown Live in 2017 so remarkable.
Anyone crazy enough to drag themselves out to a wrestling show the day after Christmas was duly rewarded with a dark match six-man tag between AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Randy Orton vs Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Jinder Mahal.
Bryan, who was SmackDown General Manager at the time, was also involved in the match as a special guest referee. As the action ramped up in the match, Bryan must have gotten over-excited, but he started randomly running the ropes.
Then, much to the crowd's delight, Zayn started running the opposite set of rope, setting in motion a "criss-cross" spot before Orton hit Zayn with an RKO to set up the win for his tema.
It might not seem like much on paper, but seeing Bryan do anything remotely wrestling related was utterly joyous and gave fans hope for his eventual return to the ring.