6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (June 12)

3. A Match Befitting The 'Workhorse Belt'

Though Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles worked a slower pace than some might've been expecting for roughly 80% of their Intercontinental Title match, it worked out. Bryan focused his attacks on AJ's shoulder and elbow after AJ had already targeted his. Then, switching things up, Styles went after Daniel's leg.

Both these guys fit the classic IC mould, and they produced big time here across four or five segments. On that note, it's worth pointing out that AJ and Bryan smartly worked around the commercial breaks so that fans didn't miss anything (those 'here's what you missed during the break' calls from Michael Cole are tedious and annoying), and that helped their story.

This was better than their work back at the 2019 Royal Rumble. That, whilst hardly awful, was a little too meandering and failed to pick up the pace like this SmackDown sizzler did. If WWE were looking for a bout that'd complement the workhorse history of the title, then they got it.