4 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (March 7)

1. Closing On A High Note

SmackDown usually serves-up at least one red hot match every week, and it was Randy Orton and AJ Styles' time to shine last night. With a shot at Bray Wyatt's WWE Championship on the line, two of the company's most accomplished in-ring competitors produced a clash that was every bit as slick, professional, and exciting as you'd imagine.

Orton and Styles clearly work well together, and they held the crowd's attention for the duration of the 18 minutes. Where appropriate, they knew exactly when to speed things up with a draping DDT or suplex onto the barricade, and when to slow it down with a chinlock. They built to a fantastic finish that saw Styles fake-out on an attempted springboard RKO counter, but after missing a springboard 450 splash, Styles was downed by Orton's finisher anyway.

The duo never broke into a PPV-esque level of urgency, but they didn't need to. This was the first time they've ever faced, and though they closed SmackDown on a high note, Orton and Styles left plenty in the tank for any future matches they may have. Styles hit neither the Phenomenal Forearm nor the Styles Clash, keeping the moves protected for their next battle, and Orton benefits immensely from pinning Styles cleanly.

Orton's match with Wyatt is finally official, and Styles will likely fight Shane McMahon instead. It took a while to get to this point, but SmackDown's biggest WrestleMania matches are finally taking shape, and this week's show did a good job of pushing key stories ahead of the big event.