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SMACKDOWN HITS

TLC Announcement: I am pleased that my prediction from my Raw Hits & Misses article that Undertaker vs. Edge would be a Ladder match came true. After all, a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match is just another name for a Ladder match. The rules are the same (you can use chairs and tables in all Ladder matches!). This just makes the most sense. I know some people were hoping for Hell in a Cell, but as I said about Randy Orton vs. Triple H, Hell in a Cell should not be used on One Night Stand, where it will be watered down by the other “extreme” matches. TLC makes perfect sense, and the announcers did a good job of hyping how Edge has been involved in all TLC matches in WWE history, while Undertaker has never been in one. The intrigue of seeing Undertaker in a TLC match might actually help the PPV buy rate.

Finlay vs. Palumbo: This was a solid, intense and physical match. The match went 8 minutes which was a nice length. It wasn’t good enough to leave me wanting more, but it was good and was the right length. It was very hard hitting. Sometimes it is nice to see a match between two guys who are just trying to out-physical each other. They weren’t trying to wear each other down. They weren’t trying to win on a quick roll up. They were just trying to smash each other around the ring. They were trying to beat each other down to get a three count. I could have done without the silly Hornswoggle stuff. The green mist was o.k., but I don’t need to see it become a normal part of their act. So this wasn’t a great match, but it was good enough and physical enough to get a marginal Hit.

MVP vs. Batista: Just like their nice series of matches from a few months ago, Batista and Montel Vontavious Porter worked well together and put on a good match. This was not as good as Batista vs. Chris Jericho from Raw, but it was still a good match. It had good action, and told a story as MVP worked on Batista’s shoulder. Mick Foley did a good job of relating the action during the match, to the type of action that will be seen when Batista faces Shawn Michaels in a stretcher match at One Night Stand. Will the Batista Bomb be enough to keep Michaels down long enough to be rolled out of the arena on a stretcher? I would have preferred it if more time had elapsed between their series of matches and this match. WWE bordered on having them face too often, and they needed to give more time in between. Also, why is MVP losing every match? He is very over as a heel, so he can bounce back from the losses, but he really should be built back up better than this after losing the US Title.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Opening Segment: Smackdown got off to a rather lackluster start this week. Why does Smackdown always start with some long winded talking segment? They never start with a match. This one was at least kept relatively short, but hearing Vickie Guerrero talking on and on without interruption is not very fun. As I said above, I like the TLC announcement, but it could have waited for later in the show. This opening did nothing to get me excited about the rest of the show. WWE should either have an exciting start to their shows (the way that Raw started with Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy for instance), or with a talking segment that sets up some key angles and matches for the show and makes me want to stay tuned. This did neither. After Vickie finished her announcement, the announcers kicked it to commercial by saying that Teddy Long would be a guest on the VIP Lounge. That isn’t enough to get me excited about the show.

Maryse: Cherry, Jesse & Festus vs. Maryse, Deuce & Domino was a typical bland WWE tag team match. I suppose I could give the match as a whole a Miss, but I want to particularly highlight (or low light) Maryse’s poor performance in the match. She didn’t look like she belonged in the ring at all. When Cherry gave her a bull dog, she looked like she had never taken a bump before. When she punted Cherry in the face to get the victory, she clumsily fell down. It was comically bad. To make matters worse, WWE showed the replay of her kicking and falling to the mat multiple times from multiple angles. Why is she in the ring, when she isn’t ready? Why is she getting a push, instead of new comer Natalya?

Raw Footage: More people watch Raw than Smackdown. There is only a small part of the audience that watches Smackdown but not Raw. So, why does WWE insist on showing so much footage from Raw? First, they showed footage from the disappointing Piper’s Pit parody. This angle does involve a “celebrity” and I can understand wanting to hype Cousin Sal’s involvement. If that is the case, then you don’t need to show the Raw Rebound of the William Regal saga as well. The announcers had already mentioned William Regal being fired. It is going to be a major angle going forward, and undoubtedly there will be replays on Raw too. So why show it here? More original content please!

Cole’s US Champs: It seems that every week since Matt Hardy became US Champion, Michael Cole has pumped up the Title by listing some of the greats who have held the belt. That is a good idea. The problem is that every time he does so (literally every time) he lists the same four former Champions, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, and Steve Austin. Are those the only four names that Cole knows? The title has been held by so many greats over the years in WCW and WWE (really, it started as an NWA title). So, why not do a little research and come up with some other names, so you don’t sound so redundant? Off the top of my head I thought of Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Rick Rude, Eddie Guerrero, Curt Hennig, Edge, The Big Show, and John Cena. I did a little research (it took less than 5 minutes) and came up with some other names that I either didn’t realize or had forgotten had worn the US Title belt like Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper, Greg Valentine, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Bret Hart, and Terry Funk. There are others who are in TNA, so I can understand not listing their names. But, by listing some of these others instead of the same four each week, Cole would actually sound like a wrestling fan, would avoid sounding so redundant, and would pump up the title even more. After all, there are a lot of current fans who don’t know anything about Harley Race. But they do probably know about Eddie Guerrero, Roddy Piper, and Bret Hart.

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.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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