4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 8)

by Jamie Kennedy

1. The Sneaky Dream Match

Shinsuke Nakamura Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

Daniel Bryan and Shinsuke Nakamura could probably wrestle all night and nobody would get bored. Their portion of SmackDown's Gauntlet headliner was the best thing about it, and it was genuinely nice to see Nakamura return to old form. He looked better here than he has for years.

Shin is probably done in WWE as a force, but he can be useful in situations like this when called upon, and he clearly enjoys jousting with Bryan. Together, they put on a clinic that makes one hope they'll be handed a full-blown singles feud before Naka leaves the company or Bryan retires for a second time.

Live in hope, people.

It was also smart to put Naka over and keep Bryan the hell away from that Adam Pearce finish; that could've dropped eerily close to 2014 Rumble territory, only with Pearce bizarrely playing the role of Batista. Few would've forgiven WWE had they booked Pearce to pin Bryan at the end, even accidentally.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 2020 Moments WWE Must NEVER Do Again and 10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 1999!

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Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.