7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (March 12)

4. Mutual Respect Becomes Mutual Tension

Edge Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

It wouldn't be SmackDown without a strong face-to-face opening promo.

This time, WWE decided against kicking off with some Roman Reigns ranting. Instead, Edge came out to fire back at both his WrestleMania opponent and Daniel Bryan. Then, Bryan emerged to help sow the seeds for a match between he and Edge later this year that'll f*cking tear the house down if fans are back in.

Admittedly, Edge put his points across a little better than Bryan here - the Fastlane challenger fudged some of his material by saying that it didn't matter how many or how few matches Edge had wrestled. That was literally the entire crux of his promo last week. D'oh!

Pesky nuances aside though, this was incredible stuff. Both guys nailed the idea that they're great friends but wouldn't hesitate to beat the snot out of one another if the Universal Title was on the line. That mutual tension needs to simmer away and become SmackDown's focus this summer.

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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.