5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 6)

2. A Winning Formula

Of course Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens was good. These two have been working together for the bulk of their careers, and they've had countless wars with each other. As a result, their chemistry is so strong that they can overcome almost any match layout, no matter how contrived, and could likely wrestle an enjoyable bout if one of them lost a limb, the other went blind, and both were half asleep.

Granted, they've bettered last night's offering several times in the past, but it's hard to ask for more than what we were given . This was a TV bout, after all. The sole purpose was to get to the story's next stage, and while it's easy to be cynical about WWE's overuse of disqualification and no contest finishes, this one made sense.

After a heated back-and-forth number one contender's clash, AJ Styles leapt out of his announcer's chair. Provoked by a smack-talking Zayn, he attacked both, prompting the referee to call for the bell. The ensuing Triple Threat booking isn't ideal, but that's a different matter entirely.

These bouts are here to tell a story. Anything on top of that is a bonus, but fortunately, Sami and Kevin gave us 14 minutes' worth of solid action before the narrative kicked in.