12 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 12)

3. Burning Down The House

Slotting the fantastic AJ Styles/Randy Orton segment in at number three almost feels harsh, because it was bloody wonderful.

This is how you get fans hooked on a storyline. After a few weeks of brief backstage interactions then Fastlane's Elias-assisted ambush angle, Orton and Styles finally brought the big guns last night, leaning on their respective pasts with an incendiary back-and-forth that has lit a fire under their WrestleMania 35 clash.

Orton started by disputing the claim that SmackDown was AJ's house. He pointed out that he'd been there since 2002, when "AJ was working bingo halls for $10," while he was winning World Titles. Dixie Carter got an unexpected name-drop in "the house that Orton built," prompting Styles to emerge from the back. He stated that Randy had followed his career closely for "someone that hates the indies," said 'The Viper' never would have made it in his world, and mocked him for a finisher that is a "rip-off Diamond Cutter."

Orton had the best line, though: "as long as you want to rent a room out in my house, I'm the landlord... and rent's due you son of a b*tch."

Tremendous stuff all-round. Both men got super heated, and it makes sense for WWE to lean on the entitled company man vs. indie wrestling grafter angle. The rest of this feud is going to rule.