By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Mick Foley: This was a bad Smackdown. There is no denying that. But, it was made watchable because of Mick Foley on color commentary. He has been very good lately. It took awhile for him to find his comfort zone, but now that he has it he has been right on. His analysis is strong. His humor is very strong. His chemistry with Michael Cole has improved. One of the things that I love about his commentary, is how he connects his comments from week to week. He doesn’t just talk about what is happening in a particular match, but he connects it well to each wrestler’s gimmick, storyline, and his own comments about that wrestler in the past. His progression of analysis on Vladimir Koslov for instance has been great. This week, he dropped the humor and actually talked about his Sambo background. That was very well done. His verbal sparring with John Morrison on guest commentary was very good. He also came out with the funniest line in wrestling so far in 2008 when he asked if Vickie Guerrero would drop her last name when she gets married and change it to Vickie Edge. That alone was Hit worthy.

John Morrison: As I mentioned above, the verbal sparring between Morrison and Foley was very good. It really perked up Miz vs. Finlay, which wasn’t a particularly good match (not bad though, just not good). He is a star in the making. He has improved greatly on the mic and continues to shine in the ring. His discussion with Foley over his tag partner was a definite highlight on this show. He came out with the second best line of the night when he said that Miz was a great athlete and has great hats. His deadpan delivery on that line was spot on.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Vickie Guerrero: I know that she is a heel and is supposed to be annoying. But her line readings have now gone way beyond annoying. She is too scripted. She gets interrupted half way through a line, then has to repeat the first half of the line verbatim. People don’t talk like that, unless they are focused on a perfect reading of a memorized line. She gets interrupted by the fans all the time, as she has done a good job of getting tremendous heat on her over the past month or so. That is all good. But, it is annoying when she repeats herself like that. Also, I am getting sick and tired of her two catch phrases. The first is “who the hell do you think you are?” She says it to everyone who even remotely upsets her, Undertaker, Batista, now Montel Vontavious Porter. Come up with some new material. The second is “excuse me.” She says that so much. It makes sense when she gets interrupted, but on this week’s show, she seemed to say it even when the boos weren’t very loud. It was almost like she anticipated more heat like she is used to getting, so she said “excuse me” out of habit when she easily could have just finished her sentence in the first place. Her appearances are starting to get very tedious.

Hardy vs. Neely: This was a very boring match. I am a fan of Matt Hardy, but I don’t enjoy seeing him get dominated the entire match. Part of the problem is that ever since winning the US Championship, he has been booked to take a beating every match, then hit one move and get the win. It isn’t a good way to build him up. This match was the worst as he really had very little offense, and Bam Neely’s offense was very boring. It wasn’t a long enough match to justify so many chin locks. I don’t mind rest holds in general, but to do so many elementary rest holds (come up with something more creative than a chin lock please!) in such a short amount of time was ridiculous. This really was just a very boring match.

Charles Robinson: This Miss isn’t for Charles Robinson’s acting ability (I am a fan of Little Natch), but of him being involved in a storyline at all. I complained last week that WWE is trying to create an interesting angle around a wrestler’s contract which is a boring subject matter, one that has never to my knowledge been done well. The same can almost be said about an angle involving a referee. Mick Foley said it best when he said that the fans tune in to Smackdown for competitive matches between great wrestlers, not to see a referee in the ring. Sure, it reinforces Vickie’s heel character, but she is over as a wicked General Manager. Having her do this to a referee doesn’t get her more heat than she already has, and is just silly. Referees should not be involved in storylines, nor should they be wrestling.

Main Event: WWE booked Batista vs. Chavo Guerrero all wrong. It makes me question whether or not the writers have a clue what they are doing. Vickie names Edge as the special guest referee. That works. La Familia wants to soften up Batista before his PPV match vs. Edge in a little over a week. If that is the case, then why would Edge try to end the match quicker than needed? He could continue to help Chavo stay out of trouble with Batista and make sure that Chavo continued to punish Batista. Instead, Edge did the fast count to try to make Batista lose. Who cares if Batista loses to Chavo in a short match? That doesn’t help Edge at all. He was a total fool for doing a fast 10 count to have him lose. What happened to softening up Batista? Yes, they got to beat on him after the match, but there was no guarantee that that would happen. Edge was an idiot for his actions. Plus, WWE missed a huge opportunity to elevate Matt Hardy. Hardy is facing Chavo at Night of Champions, and they had a great chance to promote that match by having Hardy come out to save Batista from Edge, Chavo and Neely. That would have hyped a second match from the PPV, elevated Hardy, and then when the Edge Heads come out to make it five on two, still given La Familia a chance to stand tall at the end, and given two babyfaces the desire for revenge next week. The match and aftermath was all wrong.

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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