7 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 23)
2. History Repeating
As lazy as the booking was, the actual bout between The Usos and the makeshift AJ Styles/Daniel Bryan combination delivered. How could it not? It was two of the absolute best wrestlers in the world going against an all-time great tag team, and although they were only given eight minutes to shine, this group of guys is good enough to make an unideal situation work.
Though perhaps a shade below last week's encounter, the rematch offered more of the same: fast, fluid action, a smart layout, an a logical "cohesive tandem vs. all-stars struggling for chemistry" story. Again, WWE delivered the right finish. Styles and Bryan suffered a communication breakdown ahead of their big Crown Jewel bout, with the WWE Champion nailing his challenger with an Pele Kick, allowing Jimmy and Jey to finish them off and score another big victory. We've seen it before, but the repetition is a lot less harmful than the alternative.
A quick follow-up saw Bryan and Styles banter back and forth backstage, with interviewer Dasha Fuentes inadvertently stirring the pot. Daniel accused AJ of lying via a Pinocchio joke. It was an endearing moment of weirdness that Bryan tried to turn into an ironic Too Sweet, prompting Styles to stomp off into the distance.