WWE SmackDown Grades: Daniel Bryan Is Back In The Saddle Again

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4. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev

The King Of Strong Style has a date at WrestleMania with AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in what will be the biggest match of his career.  But in the meantime, Shinsuke Nakamura has had to deal with The Bulgarian Brute.

Nakamura defeated Rusev at Fastlane and last night, he got another match with Rusev in the show’s first matchup of the night.  Rusev has been ridiculously over with the audience over the past few months and he has proven his worth in the WWE alongside Aiden English with the Rusev Day gimmick.

Much like their Fastlane encounter, Nakamura vs. Rusev was a solid match last night.  It really did resemble their Fastlane match to a degree with both stars looking impressive.  But much like the Fastlane match, Nakamura got the win only this time by just catching Rusev by surprise instead of kicking his head off.

Rusev and English attacked Nakamura after the match and with Styles sitting ringside, he was about to help Nakamura fend off Rusev and English.  But just as Styles was about to get involved, The King Of Strong Style was able to fight them off by himself.  Post-match shenanigans aside, this was a pretty solid match although it didn’t get enough time.

The in-ring chemistry between Nakamura and Rusev has been stellar lately and that trend continued last night.

Final Grade: B