This week’s episode of Talking Smack started off with Daniel Bryan wearing the new James Ellsworth shirt and praising Ellsworth for his resiliency in his match against AJ Styles.
Bryan said that he was quite disappointed at the way AJ Styles handled Dean Ambrose’s constant interference, but it is a matter he has to discuss with Commissioner Shane McMahon.
When Renee Young brought up Survivor Series, Bryan said he and Shane are yet to decide on the teams. He said the sibling rivalry between Shane and Stephanie McMahon was a catalyst in Raw accepting their Survivor Series challenge.
Bryan then criticised Raw and Stephanie and Mick Foley for being “somewhat cowardly” for needing to bring in Attitude Era stars such as Bill Goldberg, while Smackdown Live relies on their own stars
Guest 1: The Hype Bros
The Hype Bros come in extra pumped as always, and Bryan got quite surprised at the level of energy Mojo Rawley had. They had a brief chat about the Smackdown Live tag team division and the conversation then switched to which of the two Hype Bros gets more ladies.
The conversation then switched back to the tag team division, and the Hype Bros stated that they believed that they are the top tag team in the division. They even said that they are the ideal team for the Survivor Series 5-tag team representing the blue brand because they believe they will be able to keep the other teams hyped.
Guest 2: AJ Styles
AJ Styles stormed in, visibly furious, and ranted at Daniel Bryan, telling him that Dean Ambrose keeps messing up the seriousness of the WWE World Championship. He then accused Bryan of being the very authority that he fought against.
He told Bryan that the only way to rectify the situation was to let him face Dean Ambrose. Bryan agreed and set the matchup for next week, stating that if Ambrose won, he would get a title shot against Styles in the future.
After Styles stormed out, Renee brought up the topic of Carmella and her accusations against Nikki Bella for using her boyfriend John Cena to elevate herself, and Bryan went on to disagree and defended Nikki Bella saying he knows how hard she works.
He even defended his wife Brie Bella who had the same accusations thrown at her, stating that he knows how hard Brie had worked to get what she accomplished.
He said that it is interesting how Carmella keeps adding fuel to the fire, and it will lead to an interesting fight, to which Renee responded that she is still hoping for a No Disqualification bout between the two.
Guest 3: Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin came in, bragging about his 2-minute squash of Jack Swagger. He said that he came to WWE to make money, and not friends.
When Bryan asked him how he felt about talents such as Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and AJ Styles accomplishing more than him, he stated that the mentioned names, including Bryan himself, took all but over a decade to get into the WWE and only wrestled for five years in WWE before his body gave out.
Corbin insisted that he just needed one phone call, and that he got into the main roster in just three and a half years, and that his body won’t give out the way Bryan’s did. Bryan, visibly upset, stated that once Corbin accomplished the level at which they did, he had the right to talk about it.
Corbin asked what Bryan could do for him so that he could elevate himself to the next level and eventually surpass what the likes of Bryan accomplish.
Bryan said that the statement rubbed him the wrong way because he himself never relied on an authority figure to be the best, and that he had to fight through them to get the opportunities, bringing up his 18-second loss at Wrestlemania 28 and how he ended up main eventing two years later.
Corbin was at his best heel performance, elevating his own character.
