AJ Styles vs Randy Orton-WWE Smackdown 7.3.2017.

Just looking at the transitions WWE style looks way more sophisticated than it's usually given credit. Doing limbwork is one of the first ideas that comes to mind when wrestles think of ways to fill their control segments, and while AJ's bumping may be strong enough that he can turn an irish whip into a corner into a believable beginning of a back work Orton in control feels like it was thought up by an e-fed writer, just a lot of moves that target a body part done consequently, not that much different from the logic used in spotfests. Styles carried those segments with his bumping and acting and when in control did some nice kneework, but what I most liked about it is how rough the match felt. Orton's sprawls when AJ would go for his leg, the sandbag on the Styles Clash and Styles sucking Orton in on a Springboard RKO counter everyone expects by this point created a level of struggle you don't see in an average WWE TV match. ***1/4