Adam Pearce vs. Daniel Bryan vs. King Corbin vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

[5.0] "This seemed like a mix bag to me. Sami/Rey had a nice little angle to start, which was well done but a bit disappointing as I'd love to see them go at it for real. Mysterio vs. Nak was pretty good, though seemed short. Nak vs. Corbin was, honestly, bad I thought, really dragged. Nak vs. Bryan was awesome, easily the best part of the match. The angle with Pearce... I got what they were going for but it seemed like a very strange scenario, and the referee just did whatever Reigns said and ignored all the interference. Cole screams that Reigns attacks people every week but also that there was no way for Nak to see this coming, bad commentary and bad production from WWE as usual. Still some good moments but could have been a lot better."

[7.0] "A really well put together gauntlet match that shows the storytelling chops on Smackdown right about now. Rey gets a brief moment to shine in decisively beating Sami Zayn, who gets to continue his delusional conspiracy theory heel bit on. From there, we go into the Shinsuke Nakamura story, as he starts off still somewhat heel battling the eternal underdog Rey Mysterio, and while it's not WrestleKingdom, we got a taste of a motivated and high quality Shinsuke tonight, and it's been sorely missed. He put on a clinic with Rey, and then a great little match with Baron Corbin, effectively turning face in the process as he fought against the bullying bruiser. His showdown with Daniel Bryan from there makes me ache for a full-speed singles match between the two of them, and again made Shinsuke look like the legend that he can be. And while I'm not a fan of fuck finishes often, the closing worked perfectly, as Roman Reigns forced Adam Pearce into position - and forced him into being the number one contender, getting an "easy defense" for the Head of the Table to feast on. Perfect heel work. Perfectly executed."

[8.0] "I loved everything about this match. Sami losing quickly was hilarious and perfect for the story. Then it got serious and Nakamura had the best match he's had in years. He looks prime for a big babyface push and I'm all for that. The ending worked too, because Adam Pearce didn't do anything wrong, and it garnered even more heat for Roman and Jey, while elevating Nakamura into a full-on babyface role. I can't wait to see where this story goes. ****"

[7.0] "This was actually a very fun match. The quick elimination of Sami Zayn was funny and helped to progress his conspiracy theory victim storyline. And of course, Nakamura finally got a chance to shine basically by running the entire match, with a solid 20 minutes of him being strong and going over three of the biggest names on Smackdown cleanly. Once Pearce was announced to be inserted into the match we all knew he was going to win, but the way they went about it was logical and satisfying. Worst case scenario, we get a three-minute squash match at the Royal Rumble. Best case scenario, Pearce somehow gets replaced with KO or Nakamura and either one of those guys would have a great match with Reigns. Solid booking here and it really made me look forward to the next episode of Smackdown."

[7.0] "This was a really good main event that would have been even better if they hadn't ruined the finish for storyline purposes."

[7.0] "A lot of interesting things: a faceish Nakamura, strong work by Mysterio and also Corbin beside of the mighty AmDrag. Funny stuff with Zayn and the return of the former 5 time NWA Worlds champion Adam Pearce! It's a different kind of booking, for now is very very enjoyable to watch."

[9.0] "The uprising of Shinsuke Nakamura is what this will be remembered for, but he had 3 good to great bouts back to back, (even the Corbin one). He vs Bryan was merely a tease but showed how giddy these two want to wrestle each other so badly, and it shows. Can? t wait to see what happens next in this story."

[7.0] "An interesting match. A stunning performance by Shinsuke, which heated up as he passed through the opponents. Against Mysterio, it was okay. It was a little better against Corbin. The match with Bryan, as for TV, was on a phenomenal level, a wonderful performance with intense interactions and a great ending. I'm not going to criticize the subsequent events, but the implementation was mediocre, Reigns is still a bad actor and their gang with Jey and Paul looks just ridiculous. They had a chance to give an instant boost to Nakamura and bring him closer to star status, but it was missed in favor of a dubious plot move. I will be happy if everything turns out to be in Shinsuke's favor, because he just stole this match (***1/2)."

[7.0] "Nakamura was the star of the match, good wins against Rey, Corbin and Bryan. Loved the chemistry between Bryan vs. Nakamura."

[8.0] "Not necessarily the best gauntlet match they've done in recent years, but there's a great Nakamura performance, a very fun showdown with Daniel Bryan, and a real shithead piece of heelwork at the end. Had me intrigued through out and I'm honestly very curious to see what they do next with all this."

[7.0] "This was carried by some of the best performances Shinsuke Nakamura has put on in the last three years - it seems that recent loss to Otis was his Southampton 0-9 Leicester City moment. Nakamura put away Rey Mysterio, King Corbin and Daniel Bryan, the latter in a great little match in its own right, before falling victim to Roman Reigns' urge to have Adam Pearce as his challenger at the Royal Rumble. Hopefully this at least leads to Nakamura getting a chance at Reigns and the Universal Title."

[7.0] "This thing is completely carried by the legitimately great match between Nakamura & Bryan. Nakamura looked & felt more spirited than he has in at least 90% of his main roster matches; him & Bryan already had a nice little TV-match last year, but this was even better. If I were to rate it as a singular match, I'd give it a very strong 8/10. But as it is, I would and will go 7/10 on the overall gauntlet, and that's still a helluva score considering none of the other segments in it were anything, really."