SmackDown Gauntlet

WWE SmackDown 02/12/19: AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe

Bryan vs. Kofi to start things off was very good. They got to have a pretty lengthy singles bout there, and it was awesome; Bryan brought the goods on the offense with his usual awesome submissions, knees & kicks. My favorite bits of their segment were the LeBell Lock, where they put just the right amount struggle to it, with both guys being active in their respective pursuits to keep it locked in & getting out of it + the chop exchange, which Bryan won by headbutting Kofi down & then punishing him with those kicks. The finish was great too w/ Kofi catching Bryan w/ the Trouble in Paradise. Kofi vs. Jeff wasn't interesting, but they kept it pretty short so it wasn't bad. Kofi vs. Joe wasn't as good as I probably had hoped, but it was still pretty good all in all - Joe was, for the most part, pretty boring w/ his submissions, but the one neck/head -crank one looked very vicious, and that I did like very much. His lariats looked real good too, and much credit for that goes to Kofi for bumping like a motherfucker for those. Kofi vs. Styles was my favorite segment of the whole thing; LOVED Kofi getting fired up about AJ not wanting to wrestle a man who had already wrestled 3 matches beforehand - those pushes & slaps were fantastic, and AJ answering aggressively was tremendous; his offense was so on point, with every kick & punch of his looking absolutely amazing. Oh & that backbreaker gotta be mentioned, too. Then the knee psychology was also terrific w/ Kofi selling it in great fashion throughout, and AJ being very brutal targeting it & eventually getting the finish w/ a fantastically violent looking Calf Crusher. Orton's bit afterwards was perfectly done too, because there was no need for him to actually wrestle a real, lengthy match vs. AJ after Kofi's whole story surviving the gauntlet, so it ended at the perfect time. Really good hour of TV wrestling. ***1/2