WWE Minutiae: Why Daniel Bryan Is Big Show's Saving Grace

It's funny how one show can turn everything around.

A while ago, I wrote an article about how Big Show has been immensely brutal since his return. He would cut corny jokes and lacked any sort of believable emotion in his promos. His ring work has been a little hard to swallow as well. As a result, the feud has been strung out and without much life.

Fast forward to Friday's SmackDown and a lot of that changed.

It started as Mark Henry took out his frustrations on "Mr. Money in the Bank" Daniel Bryan. Henry proceeded cut a pretty good promo that featured a lot of intensity. To be honest, this is par for the course for Henry, but served to reinforce the distinctions between him and Big Show.

In the course of the feud, there really was little that Henry was doing wrong, but these things require "two to tango." Big Show had been all over the place in this feud. He went from dominating to corny to caring to angry in a span of a few weeks. For the record, last night's show was Big Show's best performance since his return.

When Big Show finally arrived, he went from his jovial self to his "angry hunter" self. He knocked out Jinder Mahal and cut a damn good promo. He spared the jokes and came across with pure anger.

When Big Show went on the warpath, it created the necessary depth for him that was lacking. Big Show played the vengeance card particularly well. His promo last night was better then most think. He managed to transition the revenge for Bryan into his own need for vengeance as well. 

His part where he made the point of "someone has to stop Mark Henry" was a great fulcrum for the feud. In that moment, it became larger then both of them (if that's possible) and added a lot of possibilities. To be succinct, it breathed life into a dying angle.

There was no corny jokes or fake emotion. Big Show found his niche last night that had been lacking. This is a credit to both Big Show and the SmackDown creative team for recognizing the issues and addressing them.

The establishment of Daniel Bryan as Big Show's sidekick was the spark. Bryan is booked as an underdog character. As such, his current booking is perfect as the object of "bromance" affection and scorn. Last night's opening segment was particularly effective in demonstrating Henry's monster gimmick. Big Show taking Bryan under his wing has so much storyline potential that it's mind boggling.

I know they started this a few weeks ago between Bryan and Big Show, but last night was the official launching point for that story. Up until Friday, it was convenience and plot device. On Friday, it became a "bromance."

In a span of one show, the feud between Henry and Big Show went from boring to brilliant. I would encourage the WWE to explore the angle before rushing it's conclusion. But this is exactly he type of angle that SmackDown needs to carry it through to the Royal Rumble.