AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan – SmackDown, June 12
Likely unsurprising to…literally anyone who has ever seen them wrestle – AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan put on one of the greatest matches pre-Thunderdome in a bout for the Intercontinental Title in a tournament final. After Sami Zayn was stripped of the title for refusing to wrestle through a pandemic, a single eliminator tournament was set up. Prior tournament matches had been undeniably great such as Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Bryan vs. Drew Gulak; however, the final was a match of the year candidate.
With flashbacks to their other epic SmackDown bout 2 years ago, it brought memories of Bryan suddenly low-blowing Styles to win the WWE title, turning heel in the process. Now fighting for the ‘workhorse’ title, a determined Bryan fought valiantly against a despisable AJ – with Bryan fighting to win his second IC title, this time for good, which would make his return to wrestling even more feel-good. So, of course, AJ would come and rain on the Goat’s parade.
A match of technical mastery, Bryan used his strategic offense to wear down ‘The Phenomenal One’ before Styles managed to start working over the leg. Being a ring veteran for so many years, the second Daniel made a mistake; AJ exploited it managing to hit the Phenomenal Forearm before getting the pinfall on the leader of the ‘Yes!’ movement.