Author: Jack Jorgensen / Source: CBSSports.com
WWE Evolution highlights
With the heavily-criticized Crown Jewel event set to take place in Saudi Arabia in just three days, Tuesday night’s SmackDown Live in Atlanta served as the main roster go-home show. Scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia was a WWE championship match featuring AJ Styles defending against Daniel Bryan.
Recent reports, however, of Bryan refusing to make the trip to Saudi Arabia amid the political tensions had many wondering about the fate of the WWE title match, and we all knew headed in that the answer would come on this week’s SmackDown. We didn’t have to wait long to receive the answers we were searching for.Big fan of WWE? Subscribe to our podcast — In This Corner with Brian Campbell — where we go in depth on everything you need to know in WWE each week.
Crown Jewel WWE title plans rearranged
The WWE champion Styles made his way down to the ring to kick off the Crown Jewel go-home edition of SmackDown to a rousing ovation in his home state of Georgia. The champ said there was something he needed to get off his chest, but he wants to say it to his opponent’s face. He then called Bryan out to the ring. Styles offered up an apology for the miscommunication that took place last week in their tag team bout loss, but Bryan said there was no need. However, while he respects Styles both in and out of the ring, all Bryan sees when he looks at Styles right now is the WWE championship. Bryan said that it’s nothing personal, but this Friday at Crown Jewel, he’s taking the title. Styles then made a revelation — that the Pele Kick last week to Bryan was by no means an accident, and he looks forward to doing it again.
Bryan — looking none too surprised — countered that by telling Styles he feels like punching him in the face right then and there, and the champ said that he has no issue with defending the title against Bryan right here tonight.Shane McMahon made his way out, and the SmackDown commissioner said that oftentimes when two men want to go at it in the heat of the moment, nothing ever really comes of it. Well, that’s changing. McMahon announced that the “WWE Crown Jewel WWE championship match” would be taking place to open SmackDown this week.
WWE Championship — AJ Styles (c) def. Daniel Bryan via submission: In what was an incredible match, as if you’d expect anything remotely less from these two, Styles made Bryan tap to the Calf Crusher after working an injured knee all match, this following a reversal of a triangle choke into a Styles Clash. Afterwards, the two longtime friends and rivals hugged each other in the middle of the ring, but the drama didn’t end there.
Out of nowhere, Samoa Joe — who has been absent recently with an undisclosed injury — blindsided Styles and wrapped him in the Coquina Clutch. Bryan attempted to save Styles, but Joe…
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