At least Daniel Bryan had the good sense not to work Crown Jewel. Because that's how we get this match a few days early. With the backlash facing WWE following the Saudi Arabian assassination of a Washington Post journalist and its decision to not do the moral thing by changing venues, John Cena and Daniel Bryan decided to bolt the show.
Now, WWE could have ran an angle that would have left Daniel Bryan injured. Instead, WWE decided to do something different: move up the match a few days to national TV. Here's how it happened:
WWE SmackDown Live
10/30/18
AJ Styles comes out to a loud ovation and chant from the Atlanta, GA crowd. He asks Daniel Bryan to come out, which he does. AJ says that he apologizes. Bryan says he knows it was a mistake. He doesn't have any hard feelings towards AJ. AJ just stands in his way of being WWE Champion. And he's going to beat him for the title.
AJ tells Bryan that he meant to say that he apologized for not being truthful to Daniel. He MEANT to hit Daniel Bryan last week. Bryan says basically to just have the match now. Styles agrees. Shane McMahon comes out and makes the match for right now instead of Crown Jewel.
WWE Championship Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
A muted/almost booing response for Bryan during the intro. The fans are solidly behind their fellow Georgian.
The bell rings. Bryan goes to work on the arm early of AJ Styles. Styles and Bryan take a second break before going back at it. Styles dumps Bryan on the apron before another break. A clean break in the corner turns into a shoving match between the two. Bryan works on the left arm of Styles, using his shoulder as a way to bend the arm. Bryan does his backflip out of the corner, but in running, he sets himself up for the Styles dropkick. Seconds later, Styles is on the floor and Bryan hits a suicide dive. BUT he tweaks the knee coming down.
He brings Styles in the ring and continues to work on Styles. Bryan now does the Yes Kicks in the center of the ring to Bryan's arm and chest. AJ stops Bryan and hits the Dragon Screw to Bryan's bad leg. Styles DDTS the leg of Bryan down to the mat and continues to work on the left knee. A knee lock by Styles is turned into an armbar by Bryan... which is turned into a knee spike by Styles. More attacks to the knee of Bryan. AJ drives the knee of Bryan into the top turnbuckle of the corner. Another leglock by Styles, but Bryan uses the free leg to kick the back of Styles's head. Bryan catches Styles during his moonsault DDT spot with knees to the face and a takedown.
More "Yes" kicks to AJ Styles. Bryan gets in the corner and does the "Yes" poses. "Yes!/No!" chants from the crowd. He runs into a dropkick. AJ is on the apron but gets caught springboarding by Bryan. They're on the top turnbuckle. A back suplex by Bryan gets countered into a crossbody by Styles coming down. Wow.
After the commercial break, Bryan locks in the "YES!" Lock. But Styles is way too close to the ropes, getting an easy rope break. Bryan goes to suplex Styles, but Styles SUPLEXES BRYAN DOWN to the floor instead! Ouch! Styles just throws Bryan knee first on top of the announce table. But Bryan throws AJ shoulder first into the steel steps. Both men take damage to their injured body parts in that sequence.
Running dropkicks into the corner by Daniel Bryan to AJ Styles. Bryan goes for a hurricanrana off the corner, but AJ blocks it for a second. But Bryan reverses it into a hurricanrana. AJ is on the apron, but Bryan catches him with more attacks to the arm of Styles. Chest kicks by Bryan. DRAGON SCREW by Styles to the bad leg of Bryan on the middle rope. He's going for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Bryan catches him with a Butterfly Suplex into an armbar! (Damn. This is some really good stuff here.) Bryan turns the move into the "YES!" Lock. But Bryan gets it back into an armbar. Styles keeps trying to get out. STYLES CLASH while in the armbar! CALF CRUSHER! Bryan taps out!
Winner: AJ Styles (Still WWE Champion)
Match Grade: B+. This was a really good TV match and very solid. I still think this could have used another 5-10 minutes more to take it to the next level as it was a pretty quick win with AJ just winning after the Styles Clash/ Calf Crusher combo out of nowhere. Bryan tapping has been called "a punishment" by WWE for him not working Crown Jewel. I highly doubt that as this was likely the finish anyways for that match. But this is another guy that AJ Styles just bulldozed through.
At what point does Styles lose this championship? Does he really have to pass CM Punk's WWE Championship reign before Vince gives a title change an ok? (I'm not asking this out of anger but curiosity. There's been 3 different worthy wrestlers to take this title off of AJ that have all failed.) I don't know where Bryan goes from here either. He's lost to AJ Styles. He could end up going after Nakamura or maybe go back to fighting The Miz again (please, Vince. No.) for a few months.
Still, this was a damn good TV match. So thank you Daniel Bryan for saying "NO!" so we could say "YES!" to this match.
_ _ _ _ _
That does it for this special edition of UnWrest. Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
Now, WWE could have ran an angle that would have left Daniel Bryan injured. Instead, WWE decided to do something different: move up the match a few days to national TV. Here's how it happened:
WWE SmackDown Live
10/30/18
AJ Styles comes out to a loud ovation and chant from the Atlanta, GA crowd. He asks Daniel Bryan to come out, which he does. AJ says that he apologizes. Bryan says he knows it was a mistake. He doesn't have any hard feelings towards AJ. AJ just stands in his way of being WWE Champion. And he's going to beat him for the title.
AJ tells Bryan that he meant to say that he apologized for not being truthful to Daniel. He MEANT to hit Daniel Bryan last week. Bryan says basically to just have the match now. Styles agrees. Shane McMahon comes out and makes the match for right now instead of Crown Jewel.
WWE Championship Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
A muted/almost booing response for Bryan during the intro. The fans are solidly behind their fellow Georgian.
The bell rings. Bryan goes to work on the arm early of AJ Styles. Styles and Bryan take a second break before going back at it. Styles dumps Bryan on the apron before another break. A clean break in the corner turns into a shoving match between the two. Bryan works on the left arm of Styles, using his shoulder as a way to bend the arm. Bryan does his backflip out of the corner, but in running, he sets himself up for the Styles dropkick. Seconds later, Styles is on the floor and Bryan hits a suicide dive. BUT he tweaks the knee coming down.
He brings Styles in the ring and continues to work on Styles. Bryan now does the Yes Kicks in the center of the ring to Bryan's arm and chest. AJ stops Bryan and hits the Dragon Screw to Bryan's bad leg. Styles DDTS the leg of Bryan down to the mat and continues to work on the left knee. A knee lock by Styles is turned into an armbar by Bryan... which is turned into a knee spike by Styles. More attacks to the knee of Bryan. AJ drives the knee of Bryan into the top turnbuckle of the corner. Another leglock by Styles, but Bryan uses the free leg to kick the back of Styles's head. Bryan catches Styles during his moonsault DDT spot with knees to the face and a takedown.
More "Yes" kicks to AJ Styles. Bryan gets in the corner and does the "Yes" poses. "Yes!/No!" chants from the crowd. He runs into a dropkick. AJ is on the apron but gets caught springboarding by Bryan. They're on the top turnbuckle. A back suplex by Bryan gets countered into a crossbody by Styles coming down. Wow.
After the commercial break, Bryan locks in the "YES!" Lock. But Styles is way too close to the ropes, getting an easy rope break. Bryan goes to suplex Styles, but Styles SUPLEXES BRYAN DOWN to the floor instead! Ouch! Styles just throws Bryan knee first on top of the announce table. But Bryan throws AJ shoulder first into the steel steps. Both men take damage to their injured body parts in that sequence.
Running dropkicks into the corner by Daniel Bryan to AJ Styles. Bryan goes for a hurricanrana off the corner, but AJ blocks it for a second. But Bryan reverses it into a hurricanrana. AJ is on the apron, but Bryan catches him with more attacks to the arm of Styles. Chest kicks by Bryan. DRAGON SCREW by Styles to the bad leg of Bryan on the middle rope. He's going for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Bryan catches him with a Butterfly Suplex into an armbar! (Damn. This is some really good stuff here.) Bryan turns the move into the "YES!" Lock. But Bryan gets it back into an armbar. Styles keeps trying to get out. STYLES CLASH while in the armbar! CALF CRUSHER! Bryan taps out!
Winner: AJ Styles (Still WWE Champion)
Match Grade: B+. This was a really good TV match and very solid. I still think this could have used another 5-10 minutes more to take it to the next level as it was a pretty quick win with AJ just winning after the Styles Clash/ Calf Crusher combo out of nowhere. Bryan tapping has been called "a punishment" by WWE for him not working Crown Jewel. I highly doubt that as this was likely the finish anyways for that match. But this is another guy that AJ Styles just bulldozed through.
At what point does Styles lose this championship? Does he really have to pass CM Punk's WWE Championship reign before Vince gives a title change an ok? (I'm not asking this out of anger but curiosity. There's been 3 different worthy wrestlers to take this title off of AJ that have all failed.) I don't know where Bryan goes from here either. He's lost to AJ Styles. He could end up going after Nakamura or maybe go back to fighting The Miz again (please, Vince. No.) for a few months.
Still, this was a damn good TV match. So thank you Daniel Bryan for saying "NO!" so we could say "YES!" to this match.
_ _ _ _ _
That does it for this special edition of UnWrest. Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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