5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (30 Jan - Results & Review)

1. AJ & Gunther Say A Whole Load Of Nothing

Cancel the match right this instant.

Only kidding. AJ Styles vs. Gunther with the former's career on the line and the latter's career killing reputation at stake should be gripping melodrama in Riyadh. It'll be a highlight of the Royal Rumble undercard, and it'll really be something if AJ does get put out to pasture and spend the last remaining days of his in-ring career fighting Leon Slater on TNA programming.

Sadly, Styles vs. Gunther at the Rumble really didn’t need this face to face promo segment. One can't emphasis the word "really" there enough. Italics don't do it justice. The segment didn’t add any last minute gloss, and neither man is even supposed to be on SmackDown anyway. They're Raw stars. Yeah, we know, the brand split means nothing to WWE, but what was the point of this?

Gunther skulked away without things getting physical. It was merely another time killing exercise you simply do not need to see on an episode of blue brand fare that creative couldn't be bothered with for roughly half the runtime. It's like they suddenly panicked and thought AJ's possible retirement match required a little more seasoning, then the writer in charge took a bump to the head and scribbled precisely sod all down on a napkin before handing it to Styles and Gunther backstage.

'Say some words then get out of there'. The napkin in question might as well have said that. What a puzzling time sink on a show that genuinely didn't need another one of those. Pushing cardboard cutouts together before one fell over would've been just as constructive.