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By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Opening Segment: Smackdown was good this week, much better than Raw. It got off to a good start with Edge and company. Edge cut a good promo about not only defeating Rey Mysterio, but taking him out of action. It was a nice use of the real life situation to further his heel character. He showed real passion declaring that he will end Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania. I have to say that Edge lost Money in the Bank last year, so he really isn’t undefeated any more. It bothers me that they are ignoring something that happened last year. That is a minor complaint in an otherwise good promo. Undertaker’s appearance was predictable but fun. I liked that Edge didn’t back down at first. He tried to attack Undertaker, only to run away when that didn’t work. It was a nice first step in the build to their match at WrestleMania.

Benjamin vs. Yang: This was a fun high energy match. Shelton Benjamin’s win was predictable, as Jimmy Wang Yang is clearly not going to be used in Money in the Bank. As I said for Raw, these qualifying matches are ridiculous. Benjamin deserves a chance seeing as how he’s been in Money in the Bank before and is one of the top stars on ECW. But Yang? I am a fan of his, but he has not been pushed as a guy worthy of that opportunity, certainly not as much as others on the Smackdown roster like Batista, MVP, Finlay, The Great Khali, Mark Henry or Kane. I wish he were treated as more of a star than some on that list, but the fact is that he isn’t. As I a said for Raw, there are more qualifiers to go, but unless everyone more worthy gets one, then it makes no sense. I didn’t mean to go off on that much of a tangent, because I really did like the match. It had good back and forth action. There were some nice high flying moves. I still am amazed every time Benjamin leaps to the top rope. His overhead throw of Yang was incredible. I wasn’t thrilled with this being a Money in the Bank qualifier, but he match itself delivered.

South America Video: I enjoyed this video package on the recent tour of South America. WWE does a good job of making these international tours seem like a big deal. The Superstars who are featured all do a good job of highlighting what stood out to them on the tour. This is a great way for WWE to show that the first W in their name is a realistic description of the company. It also serves as an advertisement in other foreign markets for the next tour. WWE should do videos of their domestic house shows more often too.

MVP vs. Batista: This is two weeks in a row that Batista and Montel Vontavious Porter have put on a good match. I’m not sure that this one was quite as good as last week’s, but it was still a good 8 minute match. Both guys sold the impact of the Elimination Chamber on their bodies. The announcers did a nice job of playing up their injuries from No Way Out as well. That makes a dangerous match feel big after the fact which helps sell the next dangerous match. The match was slow, but that is to be expected. It was never boring. The match told a good story as MVP sold his back injury while working on Batista’s neck. The long term selling is one area where this match was better than last week’s, even though the match as a whole wasn’t as good. I liked the ending with the three spine busters in a row. That was great. I am surprised that MVP lost clean again. I figured he would wiggle out of the Batista Bomb attempt and give Batista a low blow for a disqualification. MVP once again looked strong for taking it to Batista, but not that strong considering he lost. Also, does he ever have to defend the U.S. Title any more? I am curious what the plans are for both of these guys at WrestleMania. I assumed Batista vs. Edge, but he lost the Elimination Chamber match. I have been assuming MVP will face a returning Matt Hardy, but he might end up in Money in the Bank. I don’t know what is planned for Batista, but if I were running WWE, I would have cut that idea and had him come to Rey Mysterio’s rescue at the end of the show, setting him up as Floyd Mayweather’s partner at WrestleMania. If a tag match was the original plan, and if the original plan for Batista was Money in the Bank (terrible idea) or a singles match vs. Khali or Henry (terrible idea) then why not have him replace Mysterio in that match? That would get the fans behind Mayweather.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Mysterio Wrestling: Until the end of the show, there was nothing to really dislike on Smackdown. With only four Hits, there wasn’t a lot to love, but everything was solid enough to stay out of the Miss column. Maryse’s appearance was a nice tease. Jesse & Festus vs. Deuce & Domino was a decent tag match (by the way, was that a different Cherry?). Big Daddy V vs. Shannon Moore was an o.k. squash, where Moore at least got to show some fire. Kane vs. Khali was kept short and wasn’t as bad as you’d expect. Chuck Palumbo had a strong showing in his squash. Those decent segments, mixed in with the very good segments, had Smackdown on a good roll leading up to the final few segments. But, the show left a bitter taste in my mouth, as Rey Mysterio should not have been put in a match with his injury. He and Chavo Guerrero had a good match considering the injury, but that isn’t the point. Why risk further injury? Why risk being out more than 4-6 months? Yes, it got over Vickie Guerrero as a strong heel GM, but at what price? It was unrealistic. Mysterio would have a great lawsuit against WWE if wrestling were real. I am a strong proponent of booking wrestling as if it were real. WWE didn’t do that. The same purpose could have been accomplished if Rey had come out at the very end of the show, and Vickie had interrupted with The Big Show. Take away the match, and you still get the ending that you want. That puts Mysterio in a less risky situation.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

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