By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Polumbo, McCool, Noble: This segment got off to a bad start just by the fact that Michelle McCool was still with Chuck Polumbo after his verbal abuse last week. The announcers did a decent job of explaining that he had apologized and that they were still friends. Polumbo vs. Jamie Noble was a decent match that allowed Polumbo to once again dominate, and Noble to once again pull off the win. It was good to see Polumbo’s continued heel turn. The crowd chant of “Chuck’s a Loser!” helped out here, as they were clearly behind the decision to turn him heel. Jamie Noble’s return to the entrance way was an interesting touch. He did not make a full fledged save, but he distracted Polumbo enough to allow McCool to get out of the ring. Noble did a good job of showing anger towards how Polumbo is treating her.

MVP vs. Batista: This was a good t.v. match. I was a bit surprised that WWE gave this match away for free with no build up. Also, it suffered from not having a promo from Batista to explain why he was trying to stand up for Ric Flair. But, the match itself delivered. It had good action and told a good story as Montel Vontavious Porter worked on Batista’s neck. Batista did a very good job of selling that injury, particularly when he winced and fell over after hitting one of his traditional shoulder thrusts in the corner. The count out finish was predictable as it seems like many of MVP’s matches end that way. But, it makes sense to protect both guys. It also makes sense that WWE wants to protect this match for a PPV down the line. MVP can brag that Batista couldn’t pin him. Batista did a good job of showing disappointment for winning via count out. I have been expecting Batista vs. Edge at WrestleMania, but if WWE goes a different direction, a rematch of this match might be good if given two months of build.

Finlay - McMahon “Deal”: This is the second time that we’ve heard about this deal between Vince McMahon and Finlay regarding Hornswoggle. I am very intrigued. The fact that they’ve only mentioned it twice, with a great deal of space in between is generally not a great idea. However, they covered for that nicely by having McMahon threaten Finlay not to ever mention their deal again. Clearly, he does not want the details of their deal known, so it makes sense that it wouldn’t be brought up very often. Also, if it is more of a subtle angle, it rewards patient fans who pay close attention when the storyline ultimately plays out. If we were hit over the head with veiled talk of a deal week after week, we would get tired of it pretty quickly.

Main Event: Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio was a good t.v. Main Event. WWE did a good job of hyping the match with the video package on their two previous I Quit matches. The opening segment of the show which set this match up was not good (more later), so I wasn’t feeling a strong connection to the match, as I felt the reasons for having it were not strong. But, Rey and Chavo delivered a very fun match. They had some early exchanges where they each did the same moves which was interesting. There were times during the match where I felt that they were trying to have more of a luche libre style. I’m not saying that this match really resembled what you would see on AAA, but there were parts of the match that were closer in feel to that style than what you get in almost every WWE match. The sequence before the commercial break was strong with the action spilling to the outside, and Chavo ramming Rey into the steps. There were some very nice high flying moves. Michael Cole needs to learn that not every splash is a Frog Splash, as clearly Rey just did a regular splash to get the win. Edge’s presence doing guest commentary actually distracted from the match. Michael Cole is just too annoying trying to be cute with heels at the announce table. Coach was more annoying than last week in trying to kiss Edge’s ass. That is the type of thing I am tired of with the traditional heel color commentator. Luckily, Edge’s presence justified itself with his run-in afterwards.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Opening Segment: As I mentioned above, I was not thrilled with the opening segment of the show. I have mixed feelings about the use of Eddie Guerrero’s name in this context. It is interesting to see both a heel in Chavo and a babyface in Rey questioning Vickie Guerrero’s relationship with Edge. But, she is right. She does have the right to move on. She shouldn’t get booed just for having a boyfriend. I don’t know. My real problem is that the segment was just plain boring. Everybody read their lines o.k., but I wasn’t engaged by anything that was said. There was no spark. There was no energy. It did not get me excited to watch the rest of the show. A similar segment in the middle of the show, or a few shorter ones in Vickie’s office, may have served the same purpose in a better way. I am always in favor of starting the show with a match, but that unfortunately doesn’t happen very often. When it doesn’t, the talking segment has to capture my attention and make me want to watch to the end of the show. This one failed to do so.

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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