The Miz: I enjoyed The Miz this week. He did a good job of logically explaining why Kelly Kelly was in the match against Beth Phoenix on Raw. It is too bad that explanation had to come the day after the match, as it would have been very easy to have either Jim Ross or Jerry Lawler say that they understand that Kelly is being forced into this match by her manager, The Miz. He was also good in his brief backstage encounter with John Morrison. I would have rather seen the Main Event go longer, and have a clean finish, but I am intrigued by The Miz interjecting himself into the title picture. A three way feud over the title has a chance of having more life than just continuing the same Morrison vs. CM Punk feud.
Fabulous Moolah Video: I will repeat what I said on Raw, and what I am likely to repeat on Smackdown. The fabulous Moolah tribute video is a very well done and classy video to highlight the life of this WWE Hall of Famer.
Main Event: This match was disappointingly short given the build up and the fact that Morrison and Punk have been feuding for quite a while now. But it was very good while it lasted. Their matches have been Hit or Miss, and this one was definitely a Hit. It had good back and forth action, with each wrestler showing off his athleticism. Like I said above, I would love to see a longer match between the two if they can keep up the good action for that longer time.
ECW MISSES
Kane vs. Mark Henry: We’ve seen this match enough times already to know exactly how it is going to go. In reality, this was probably as good as these two can deliver against each other. But if that is indeed the case, then they shouldn’t be facing each other. I am glad that Kane is facing Mark Henry instead of Big Daddy V, as Henry is a better worker and is more compelling to watch. But, not enough to want to watch him face Kane. The fact that the match ended in a disqualification suggests we will see more of this match-up to come.
Layla vs. Kelly Kelly: This match was a short squash and played into the storyline of Miz trying to make Kelly’s life miserable. That is all fine. The problem is that neither of these women is really a wrestler. Neither is trained enough to be having matches on t.v. Neither of them wrestles very often at all, and there is a good reason for that. I was cringing from the moment they announced this match, because the risk for an injury is very high when you have two people in the ring against each other who aren’t really wrestlers. If one of them was a real well trained wrestler, she could protect the other. But in this case, it is going to be sloppy, ugly, and dangerous and WWE needs to reconsider putting these women in this situation, even when the match is kept basic and short.
Too Much Smackdown: I continue to complain about using Smackdown wrestlers on ECW. If they were building towards some sort of ECW vs. Smackdown feud, then it would be o.k. But, so far they are not doing that. Also, as long as they feature Smackdown wrestlers, at least have them facing ECW wrestlers. Don’t just have two Smackdown Superstars wrestling each other like Kane vs. Henry. The first three wrestlers on ECW were from Smackdown. Take the talent exchange somewhere interesting, or do away with it all together. Don’t just have random guys from Smackdown on to fill out ECW’s small roster. Try actually developing and increasing that roster.
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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