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

2. A Wonderful Reversal

AJ Styles Daniel Bryan Styles Clash
WWE.com

Also, what a reversal near the end.

AJ reversed Bryan’s running knee strike into a Styles Clash without breaking sweat, and that earned the pair quite the reaction. It’s a slight pity that an actual live crowd didn’t get to react to that one, but hey ho. The NXT gathering inside the Performance Center provided a nice audible gasp when Styles grabbed Bryan mid-air.

Seconds later, Bryan was staring at the lights when AJ blasted him with his Phenomenal Forearm for a heel win. That made sense, because Styles smelled blood following his reversal and wanted to capitalise, and it was nice to see a clean finish without some sort of Drew Gulak run in.

It cannot be overstated just how well these dudes worked together. They need another few matches (possibly one with an 'Iron Man' stipulation at Extreme Rules?) once Backlash is out the road. This was sensational pro wrestling, and one of the best WWE TV matches of the year so far.

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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.