12 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 5)

6. Neat & Tidy

While Jeff Hardy and Daniel Bryan probably have a better singles match in them, last night's clash served its storyline well. That's how TV wrestling should work. Yes, four-star bangers are great, but WWE's most important job is getting the story from A to B, and if that means the wrestlers preserving their bodies and not emptying the tank, so be it.

We got 12 minutes of Bryan vs. Hardy, and it was developing into something great by the end. Slower earlier stages eventually gave way to progressively bigger moments. This peaked when Bryan rolled away from an attempted Swanton and rammed Jeff into the turnbuckles. Another top rope opportunity emerged soon after, but Rowan thwarted this one, pulling Hardy off of his new master and throwing him into the steps for the disqualification.

Conclusions like this make Bryan a better. He looks like a major hypocrite in having Rowan save him from defeat, and that the big man's actions robbed the fans of a bout that looked like it was catching fire towards the end works those who priority match quality above all else. The right thing to do, and nobody emerged from it looking bad.