Daniel Bryan had multiple appearances on this week’s Smackdown Live reminding us that Elimination Chamber is approaching fast. He will defend it against five other superstars at the same time which might not be fair to him. But he looked confident to come out of the structure cutting a fired-up promo before the matchup against Jeff Hardy. It was the dream contest that turned out to be the main event of the show.
The match started with the new Daniel Bryan taking control by locking in some complex submission sequences. Hardy managed to evade those locks and connect with his pendant inverted atomic drop followed a lower drop-kick into the face. He sent the champion out of the ring and take suicidal dive keeping him out of the feet.
But Daniel Bryan came back with some YES kicks of his own. Jeff Hardy soon countered those with a Twist of Fate and then the Swanton Bomb. He was on the verge of the victory when Rowan pulled him off the ring to disqualify the match. Daniel Bryan locked in the YES lock after the contest was over when Samoa Joe showed up and locked the Coquina Clutch on Bryan.
Randy Orton hit the scene as well as Mustafa Ali creating an all-out brawl. AJ Styles soon joined the fray to dodge an RKO and hit an overhead kick on Orton. He landed a Phenomenal Forearm on Hardy and targeted Bryan who escaped the scene. This ended this week’s Smackdown on a tensed note to raise the stakes high for Elimination Chamber.
The announcement of WWE Champion competing on Smackdown Live already hyped up the show. His opponent was Jeff Hardy on the show producing a dream match. These two are the most veteran in-ring performers in the WWE that should automatically be a slobberknocker. It was one of the main events of last night.
Seeing a match between these two superstars have always been a dream for the fans. Last year, they wrestled in a match for the first time ever in the WWE or any other promotion around the world. Both of them were babyfaces back then producing a hard-hitting contest. The scenario changed a lot in a year as Daniel Bryan turned heel in Smackdown.
He is the reigning champion on the show for the past couple of months. His strength has also increased with a behemoth like Eric Rowan backing him up. So Daniel Bryan was clearly a favorite heading into this match on Smackdown. He was able to pick up the win gaining momentums for Elimination Chamber. It will be the toughest challenge of his title reign when he enters the steel structure on February 17th.
