By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

MVP & Hardy vs. Deuce & Domino: If this had been a regular tag team match between Deuce & Domino and an established team, it likely would not have gotten a Hit. It was not a great match from a technical stand point. The traditional isolation of the face by the heels was even more prolonged than usual, as Matt Hardy suffered for a very long time. But in this case it worked because of the dynamic between MVP and Hardy. It was very interesting that MVP wanted those Tag Titles so bad that he would continue to “support” his partner. The typical ending to this match would have been for MVP to finally just give up and ditch Hardy. But that didn’t happen, which was a nice surprise. Everyone played their parts well. Deuce & Domino looked better than usual. Hardy did a good job in selling for them and making his various comeback attempts. MVP was excellent in his performance on the ring apron while Hardy was getting beat down.

Jamie Noble: Noble’s scene in the back with Shannon Moore was well done. It was a good example of what can be done in a short scene that furthers a storyline (Noble vs. Hornswoggle), develops a character (Noble getting more and more paranoid about the troubles he’s had with Hornswoggle), and does so in an entertaining way.

Main Event: Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay was the best match of the night from a technical standpoint. Mysterio did a good job of selling his pain from his earlier match against Batista. It is a good example of what Mysterio can do when facing a heavyweight opponent who does not dominate him. He and Finlay really worked well together. It was believable that in using his speed, quickness and high flying attacks, Mysterio was able to overcome the size and strength difference. If both hadn’t wrestled earlier in the night, perhaps the match would have gone longer. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing another longer match between the two.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

McMahon and Coach: That was an incredibly long and boring segment. It had two goals. The first goal is that Vince McMahon established that he is a great lover. Great. The second goal is that Jonathan Coachman is a huge kiss ass. Yeah, we didn’t know that before. This was honestly one of the worst segments of the year. I can’t overstate how much I wanted to change the channel and not change it back. It just kept going and wasn’t funny or entertaining in any way. I kept watching hoping something would happen or someone would come out to steal the spotlight from Vince. I thought that it would be great if Ric Flair came out (where is he by the way?) and would seduce the women and leave with all of them to show them what a real man is. That would leave Vince fuming in the ring and would at least give the segment a chance to have an entertaining moment. But that didn’t happen. Nothing happened. It was terrible.

Long, Bad Stretch: That long bad segment was in the middle of a long bad stretch of Smackdown. The stretch started after the Batista vs. Mysterio match. After that match, there was what I thought was the Raw Rebound, a long bit of footage of what happened to McMahon on Raw. Then a commercial. Then they showed a video package of Ashley getting ready for her upcoming appearance on Survivor. The video was o.k. and at least explained what Ashley is doing and acknowledged that she is suspended, so it doesn’t get a Miss on its own, but it wasn’t good enough to get a Hit. After that video came the terrible segment with McMahon and Coach discussed above. Then another commercial. Then came the Masterlock challenge with Chuck Palumbo. Again, it wasn’t bad enough on its own to get a Miss, but was far from a Hit either. Then another commercial. Then the real Raw Rebound aired with the footage of Randy Orton and John Cena. Then came the funny bit between Noble and Moore. Then another commercial. Then the start of the Main Event. That was a long stretch with no wrestling, only one good short skit, and one really long and bad skit, and a bunch of lame filler.

Treatment of Mysterio: On Mysterio’s first Smackdown in 10 months (other than a brief appearance when he got destroyed by Umaga), I was disappointed to see how they treated him, and by the fact that that treatment is likely to continue. The problem with Mysterio’s World Title run last year is that he was never treated as a legit Champ. He was the underdog Champion. He lost so many non-title matches to Mark Henry and The Great Khali that he looked weak. When he won it was a fluke. Now he is back again, and he is going to be booked the same way which didn’t work last year. The whole idea that he was being destroyed by Batista was the same as last year when he couldn’t compete with the biggest guys on the roster. Batista feeling bad about doing any power moves on Rey, showed that Rey is someone we should pity, not cheer for. Batista acted ridiculously in the match. Rey looked better in his match against Finlay as I talked about above. But I was disappointed that Rey will face Khali because it is going to be more of the same. Rey was only able to do a move on Khali after Batista attacked him. And while Rey stood tall at the end, it was Batista who did the damage. Mysterio looked weak here and if this is how they book him, his return is going to be disappointing.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hitlist Specialist, providing his point of view in the Torch's hitlist format for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

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