WWE fans might have been ecstatic when it was revealed that Big Cass’ ‘injury’ would keep him out of action this week on SmackDown LIVE, meaning his Money in the Bank qualifying match against Samoa Joe wouldn’t be going ahead.
Obviously, when you consider that the company will want to build Joe up as the monster heel on the blue brand while Big Cass is probably still in the doghouse as he has heat on him - directly from Vince McMahon for disobeying his orders - it seemed highly unlikely in the first place that Joe would lose.
DREAM MATCH
Instead, a dream match was given to fans on free television once again. Daniel Bryan battled United States Champion Jeff Hardy in a second-chance Money in the Bank qualifying match; with the winner going on to face Joe. This came after both men failed in their original attempts to qualify when they lost to Rusev and The Miz respectively.
As expected, there was plenty of excitement ever since the match was announced and that only increased during this week’s episode of SmackDown LIVE where the former general manager praised Jeff and how great he is in the ring, before claiming that he will make a legend tap out.
However, what unfolded at the end of their contest it what seems to have rubbed many fans on Twitter the wrong way.
As you’ll be able to see in the video below, the finish of the match came when Bryan locked in the kneebar on Hardy, resulting in him tapping out to end the match.
CRITICISM
While the result didn’t come as much of a surprise, fans on social media aren’t happy with the fact that WWE had their United States Champion submit in that fashion, while they’re also unhappy that it took a ‘regular’ submission move to defeat Hardy, compared to the infamous YES! Lock finishing move.
The fact is, a submission victory was always going to be on the card, especially since Bryan highlighted that earlier in the evening that he was going to make a legend submit - so there’s no disputing the outcome.
However, the frustration from the fans is understandable. In comparison, the writing team probably wouldn’t have RAW’s Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins submit like Hardy - the United States Champion - did, even if it’s against somebody as popular as Bryan.
What did you make of Jeff Hardy submitting to Daniel Bryan’s kneebar during their SmackDown LIVE main event? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.