Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.5)

This week's "A show" (that's right Michael Cole, ask anyone that watches the WWE religiously and they'll tell you that Raw isn't anywhere close to "A" material right now) had some ups and downs but the highs certainly outweighed the lows. The "Word Up" and "Pretty Ricky" segments are hard to watch at times. I could see "Word Up" eventually leading to Jesse snapping and starting a feud with Cryme Tyme, so I won't condemn it quite yet. "Pretty Ricky" needs to go the way of "Just Joe". Eliminate it from TV and pretend it never existed, PLEASE!

I don't know if I'm alone but I think the days of the "giants" are dying. Between Big Show, Kane, and Khali, I don't have much interest in any of them anymore. Here's hoping that the Kane/Khali feud is over sooner rather than later.

Now that we got the lows out of the way, the rest of the show was very nicely done. It was good to see The Hart Dynasty even the score and thankfully they're not burying them on Smackdown. Natalya's clothesline was brutal (and I mean that in a good way)! I'm thinking she took the frustration of not being utilized for the better part of the past year she's been in the WWE and took it out on Eve with that clothesline.

Both singles title feuds (mixed in with Jericho and his solo Tag Title reign) have been booked great lately and tonight was no exception. CM Punk's character gets better every week even if Jeff Hardy can't keep up with him on the mic (which I don't think he did this week). It looks like Punk will transition into a feud over the World Heavyweight Title with John Morrison following his feud with Jeff Hardy. Can you imagine the type of match these two will have when given 15-20 minutes on a PPV?! Dolph Ziggler and Rey Mysterio, in my opinion, could steal the show come Night of Champions. Chris Jericho continues to be the perfect heel after burying his tag team partner just weeks after capturing the titles with him. I love how they have intermingled the middle and top of the card on Smackdown in the past few months. The "A show" continues to put on the best weekly shows in wrestling.

Brian Hoops, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

This show had some really good and really bad segments. First the good. Jeff Hardy and CM Punk are both giving main event level performances and show they belong on top. It is really refreshing that Smackdown is willing to put Hardy, Punk, Jericho, Edge, Morrison and now Dolph Ziggler in a position to main event. Ziggler and Morrison are quickly elevating themselves and both look like potential stars. The Morrison-Punk match and the tag match with Jericho/Ziggler against Hardy/Mysterio were both good TV matches.

Now the bad. I can't fast forward fast enough when Cryme Tyme does their backstage shtick. Does anyone really want to see Kane and The Great Kahli feud again? They just feuded in 2007 when Kahli was the heel and Kane the face. This reminds me of the Andre The Giant vs. Big John Studd feud from the 1980's when Andre was the face and Studd the heel in the early 80's, then feuded again after Andre turned heel and Studd returned as a face in 1989.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

WWE seems to be going all the way with CM Punk's heel turn, even using Jeff Hardy's past against him. That surprises me a bit, but it's an easy storyline for them to do because it's real life. Punk again had another terrific match with John Morrison. But following that up with the Word Up segment and Layla and Ricky Ortiz's....thing, kind of negated the opening match's goodness.

Kane vs. R-Truth wasn't as bad as I expected. I'm still not sure what purpose the Pretty Ricky segments serve, other than to give the viewers (but likely mostly, the writers) a cheap laugh. Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty's feud continues to underwhelm. I did like Chris Jericho's promo on Edge....classic heel, taking advantage of someone at their low point, even if it's another heel. The main event was good, and I liked the finish, even if it did lead to an apparent no contest.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax