Elimination Chamber has been and gone, and it's no surprise to see that Daniel Bryan had match of the night.His bout with Drew Gulak was only confirmed two days ago on SmackDown, but even with not much of a build, both men were able to tell a fascinating story.Gulak hasn't had many chances on SmackDown, but it's though that Bryan is a massive fan of him and personally pitched the storyline.Nevertheless, the two men got in the ring in Philadelphia and delivered an absolute clinic, with the fans very much invested into seeing Bryan be victorious, and he took some very dangerous bumps to his neck along the way.They were the kind of bumps that would make you wince when you remember Bryan has a history of neck problems, but he was able to battle through the big moves and he made Gulak pass out to the LeBell Lock - before leading the fans to praise his opponent.
It was very respectful from Bryan, and he lauded Gulak in a post-match interview with WWE.com, but he also decided to try and troll fans from WWE's competition - All Elite Wrestling."This is what I love - I don't ever want to just go through the motions, I want to fight with my heart, I want to fight with blood and guts," Bryan said.
"That's why I wanted to fight Drew Gulak for years. I remember I was commentating on the Cruiserweight Classic and Drew Gulak was in the tournament - I watched him and wished I could get in the ring with that guy, because that guy fights with blood and guts.
"So when he came up to SmackDown and I saw him doing his PowerPoint presentations, I thought this isn't the Drew Gulak I've seen before, I wonder what's wrong with him.
"And then he came up to me and said 'I've spotted some holes in your game, and I want to help you', and I took that as him thinking he's better than me.
"But I went out there and he was better than I thought he was. I thought he was one of the best technical wrestlers in the world when I watched the Cruiserweight Classic - and when I went out there and fought him tonight, he made me fight with blood and guts."
That's THREE blood and guts references, and we all know that he's targeting AEW when he mentions that.
Just last week, Tony Khan's promotion named their WarGames match a 'Blood & Guts' bout, and that's referencing Vince McMahon labelling AEW that very phrase in an earnings call in 2019.
Bryan is known for making tongue-in-cheek and outspoken comments - he used to do it all the time when he was on Talking Smack as SmackDown's General Manager!
And saying 'blood and guts' no more than three times in that promo will make fans think that he's trying to get a reaction out of AEW superstars and supporters alike - and they may have a point!