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SMACKDOWN HITS

Mysterio & Punk vs. Guerrero & Edge: This was the only highlight in a week of otherwise low level in ring action. It wasn’t great, and there was no build up to it, so this is a marginal Hit. I don’t understand why this wasn’t the Main Event. I don’t understand why it was never mentioned earlier in the show (more later). But, it was still a fun match. CM Punk and Rey Mysterio showed a lot of energy and fire. It has been fun to watch Punk get a chance to wrestle on the bigger stage of Smackdown the last few weeks. He carries himself like he belongs. There were some sloppy spots, but it had a nice ending with Punk getting the pin over rival Chavo Guerrero.

Hornswoggle, Finlay, McMahon: From a storyline advancement standpoint, the brief backstage encounter between Hornswoggle, Finlay, and Vince McMahon was the highlight of the show. It was a nice follow up to the scene from Raw when McMahon verbally berated Hornswoggle. It was nice to hear Finlay give an explanation as to why he would get himself eliminated in the Royal Rumble to help Hornswoggle. McMahon was good in talking about not needing loyalty or friendship. I continue to look forward to seeing the interaction between these three.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

2nd Elimination Chamber: What is WWE thinking? Who thinks two Elimination Chamber matches on one PPV is a good idea? Adding a second is not a good idea under any circumstances, and considering the Smackdown participants, it is a bad idea. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, JBL, Chris Jericho, Umaga and Jeff Hardy sounds like potential for a very good match. Batista, The Great Khali, Big Daddy V, MVP, Finlay and Undertaker does not. The Smackdown version will undoubtedly come first, and will likely stink. That will water down the anticipation for the Raw version later in the show. If you sit through a bad version of anything, it is likely to make you not want to see a second version. I don’t understand this at all.

No Hype for Flair: Ric Flair’s matches should be treated as a big deal. This is in reality a hindsight Miss for Raw and ECW. It would have been very easy on either (or both) show to announce this match. After Mr. Kennedy announced he was facing Flair at No Way Out, it would have only taken a few seconds for the announcers to say that Mr. Kennedy may not get his chance at Flair, as Flair would be facing MVP in a Royal Rumble rematch on Smackdown. The match itself was o.k. It was a little better than their PPV match, but still not very good.

Polumbo on the Mic: This segment just went on way too long, which underscored Chuck Polumbo’s limitations on the mic. He was o.k. at first. The promo was going along o.k. as he put the blame for Michelle McCool’s injury on Jamie Noble. The segment really went down hill when he brought McCool out. It didn’t help matters that McCool isn’t very good on the mic either. I kept expecting the end of the segment to come, but it wouldn’t! Jamie Noble could have saved things, but he never made an appearance. He is the glue that holds this feud together. Without him, you had too much Polumbo talking, which is not a good thing. In the end, it was mostly a boring segment.

Batista’s Promo: This is the second straight week that Batista has come out to cut a short promo on his upcoming PPV match. Neither has been very good. Batista is just not at his best when handed a mic and asked to cut a solo promo. He is much better at working with someone on the mic. It was short, so that was good. But, I can’t even remember much of what he said. He has the ability to show a lot of passion, but that passion was definitely not on display here.

Give Me a Reason to Watch: I was happy to see things switched up this week with Teddy Long running the show in Vickie Guerrero’s absence. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much to work with when making announcements during the opening segment. I already complained about his Elimination Chamber announcement. I am fine with Edge vs. Mysterio at No Way Out, as it was the most likely match. My other problem with Long’s appearance is that he did nothing to hype the rest of Smackdown. He didn’t give me a reason to stick around. I mentioned above that Flair vs. MVP could have been announced ahead of time. While that is true, Long could have announced it at the beginning of Smackdown. When Edge came out to bitch about having to face Mysterio at the PPV, why not have Long tell Edge that in addition to that match, he would be facing Mysterio as part of a tag team match later on Smackdown? They mentioned a few times during the broadcast that Undertaker & Kane vs. Big Daddy V & Mark Henry. But, that was hardly a great amount of hype. That match should have been in the middle of the show, with the other tag match as the Main Event. They tried to make it sound like a big deal that the Brothers of Destruction were teaming up, but even my their own admission, it hadn’t been that long since they last teamed. Some promo time and better hype for both of the two big tag matches would have helped give the show more focus, and give me a reason to want to keep watching. As it was, I didn’t want to keep watching, and I shouldn’t have as this was a really poor effort.

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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