4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (April 25)
Ups...
4. A Protected Defeat
As far as the actual work goes, AJ STyles vs. Baron Corbin wasn't anything special. AJ is obviously great, and Corbin is fast improving, but they don't seem to be able to take things to the next level when working together, and their singles bouts haven't excellent beyond "perfectly acceptable" thus far. Fortunately, this match produced a number of story points that exceeded the action's quality, and left it as a net positive.
The quick Sunset Flip finish protects 'The Lone Wolf,' and gave the impression Styles had scored a lucky victory. Keeping Corbin strong is vital if WWE are to deliver on their apparent plan to make him SmackDown's alpha heel, and while there's little shame in losing to one of the best wrestlers in the world in the first place, doing so in such a manner isn't even a blot on Baron's copybook.
Secondly, the post-match antics helped provide story development for both men. Kevin Owens watched the match from the commentary booth, and predictably beat AJ down afterwards. This led to Sami Zayn making the save, so along with the AJ vs. KO United States Title feud, it looks like we're now getting Zayn vs. Corbin as well. As a result, the combined segment was entirely successful in accomplishing what it set out to do.