9 Match Star Ratings For WWE Stomping Grounds

5. Daniel Bryan & Rowan Vs. Heavy Machinery - SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match

Kofi Ziggler Stars
WWE.com

An unworkable dynamic that Daniel Bryan made work, because Daniel Bryan is a genius.

The Washington crowd refused to accept home state hero Bryan as the heel in very inconvenient timing for Heavy Machinery's pay-per-view debut. It didn't help Otis initially. His schtick, silly by design, looked even sillier when received with zero of the sentiment that carries it. Still, he showed instincts here; when he swatted Bryan back to the mat, in a neat tribute to WrestleMania X8's own warped dynamic, he hulked out before plastering a smug grin on his face.

Bryan outsmarted the meatheads to pave the way for his own herculean goon to shift the momentum in a superb bit of build. Rowan mowed down Tucker in a quality big lad spot before Otis, unfazed, intensified the heat with what resonated in this bizarre context as piss-take flexing that raised a toxic yet intoxicating atmosphere. Bryan rallied back with a flurry of strikes before eating a massive powerbomb in a great spot, one that almost instantly repackaged Otis from weirdly endearing oaf to agile brick sh*thouse.

That oaf resurfaced in a second, weird hulk-up spot, which Bryan, being a genius, reacted to as if it was a moment of true power and not (just) some daft sh*te Otis does to pop a crowd in a house show opener.

A stature-enhancing loss and yet more confirmation of Bryan's polymath brilliance, if only he booked this sh*t.

Star Rating: ***1/2

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!