12 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 5)
2. Forced Chemistry
A second-hour interview with Kayla Braxton saw Jeff Hardy address Daniel Bryan and the WWE Championship he'd disrespected, promising to make 'The Planet's Champion' shut up in their main event. In came AJ Styles, the brand's supposed top babyface, who posed like a bell-end, adopted a Bryan-like level of sanctimony by bringing up Hardy's "recent history," and provoked Jeff's ire.
Here, WWE tried to force a strained Hardy/Styles relationship apropos of nothing. We get it, they have to make out like the Elimination Chamber participants don't get along, but nothing about this interaction felt natural, especially AJ, who probably shouldn't be interrupting promos and getting preachy with his fellow babyfaces. His appraisal of that Gilette commercial was done with more finesse.