James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (6.5)

Matt Hardy stood out on this week's show once again, as he continues to develop the heel persona that is going to make him a money draw for Smackdown in the very near future. He's operating on a different plane than the he Edge/Hunter/Taker/Show program, which is fine. Hardy can be in a separate "main event" program with Jeff and still be perceived as a top star on the brand.

The main event tag match was fine for advancing tension between Big Show and Edge, as well as "respect" tension between Taker and Hunter. Next week's show should continue to build on that tension going into the Chamber match. The obvious conclusion is that the two stars will cancel each other out and allow Edge to win not because of anything he does, but because of the two stars removing themselves from the equation. Fine, basic TV storytelling.

The undercard is picking up a little more steam with the Shelton-MVP program. Fans still don't have a real reason to get behind MVP as a babyface, though. Did he change his attitude on being a superstar athlete? Is he humbled? Or, is he just not a heel? We need some clarity, and a follow-up video package on MVP's new outlook on Smackdown could help him make that smooth transition in the U.S. Title chase.

Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.0)

5.0 isn’t a great score, but considering my 2.0 score from last week, Smackdown was a pretty good show. However, it got off to a poor start with the Battle Royale for the last spot in the Elimination Chamber. This was boring and predictable. It made no sense to do a Battle Royale so soon after the Royal Rumble. I also question having Vladimir Kozlov and The Great Khali in the match considering they lost a qualifying match last week.

The show got better from there. I enjoyed the Hardy vs. Hardy feud development with Hurricane Helms' involvement. He gave a good promo early in the show, but the brawl between him and Matt Hardy was even better. Hardy got to play up his heel self by bailing to the outside when the fight went against him. He also got to play up his ruthlessness in his multiple elbow strikes to Helms' head. It was a very memorable moment.

I also enjoyed the in ring action of Benjamin vs. MVP. But, I disagree with having the match in the first place. After 20 plus weeks of losing, MVP doesn't deserve a US Title shot yet. This should have been stretched out until WrestleMania with Shelton Benjamin ducking MVP, and MVP having to get more of a winning streak to earn the Title opportunity. This was just quick and lazy WWE booking.

My other complaint about the show was Eve Torres vs. Michelle McCool which was basic and boring. WWE didn't do a good job of getting the crowd to rally behind Torres in her in ring debut.

I did like the main event tag match of Big Show & Edge vs. Triple H & Undertaker. It was good, but not great. The action wasn't as crisp as it could have been, but it told a good story as Edge and Big Show tried to work together to get past their issues as a team. All in all, this was a decent Smackdown, which is an improvement over last week.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

Smackdown seems to always hover between the 5.0 and the 7.0 mark, rarely going below or above that threshold. I didn't like the Battle Royal for the simple reason, as Jon Mezzera said, Khali and Kozlov already lost qualifying matches. At least we got to see Kizarny and Scotty Goldman again. They had to follow-up on Matt Hardy's turn and since Jeff wasn't there, it made sense to go with Hurricane Helms.

There was nothing wrong with Shelton vs. MVP, but they've got to get a little more creative than "challenger beats champion in non-title match to earn a title shot." That's so paint-by-numbers booking which isn't always bad, but it is when you go back to that well as often as the Smackdown booking team does. The six-man tag was fun and just made me wish WWE gave a crap about tag teams.

I agree with Jon that the women's match was "basic," but what were you expecting out of Eve's first TV match? She didn't botch anything and showed good fire, more than you can say for half the women on the roster, so I enjoyed the match. The main event was just OK, as I'm not too thrilled with Big Show's character since he doesn't seem to have direction and keeps wavering between face and heel. It's just an odd character right now.

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