By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Championship Scramble Hype: This was not a great Smackdown, but the focus of the show was right where it should be, hyping the Championship Scramble match. The participants in the match were in several segments throughout the entire show. It started out with the solid opening segment with Triple H being interrupted by Shelton Benjamin and Montel Vontavious Porter. All three were good on the mic (but not great). It was interesting to see The Brian Kendrick then attack Triple H from behind. Jeff Hardy then made the save. It was a nice way to start the show. Then we got MVP vs. Benjamin which was good, but too short. I was surprised to see MVP lose clean, but it helped the US Champion. Hardy vs. Kendrick was also good, but short. It was good to see Kendrick get the win, even a tainted one. Triple H then gave an interview and was interrupted by Hardy. They did good mic work. Then there was the Lumberjack Main Event, The Great Khali vs. Triple H. The Lumberjacks played their parts well. It was fun to watch the three heels gang up on Triple H and the one babyface trying to save him, until the end when Hardy attacked Triple H after the match. In the end, WWE did a good job of selling the main Smackdown match at Unforgiven.

Big Show - Kozlov Confrontation: It was a bit predictable that after Vladimir Kozlov demanded better competition that The Big Show would come down to answer the challenge. It is probably too early for this feud for Kozlov’s sake, but WWE has done a good job of building up Kozlov and he does need to take on a more credible opponent at this point. What I particularly liked about this confrontation is that Kozlov didn’t back down from Show as I was expecting him to. He was going to fight until Vickie Guerrero came out to put a stop to it. That made Kozlov look strong, which is a large part of why I am giving this a Hit.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Undertaker: I am just not into this Undertaker vs. Vickie Guerrero feud. Undertaker basically threatened to kill Vickie. He wants to burn her alive. That doesn’t seem like a babyface sort of thing to do. I understand that it is nothing new for Undertaker. Maybe after 18 years or whatever I am just tired of it. I enjoy rooting against Vickie, but that doesn’t mean I want to see her killed. This didn’t make me want to order the PPV.

Maria and Maryse: This was one of the worst verbal exchanges in recent wrestling memory. Part of it is the language barrier as Maryse isn’t great at speaking English yet. Obviously it is her second language and she has improved, but it will still take time for her to be strong on the mic. Maria isn’t good either. It was very awkward and not fun to listen to. I have a hard time believing that what was shown on Smackdown was the best take between these two.

Wrestling Quality: The wrestling action wasn’t great on Smackdown. R Truth vs. Bam Neely was solid, but only 2 minutes. It looked better than Truth’s debut against Kenny Dykstra, but it was too short too amount to anything. I mentioned MVP vs. Benjamin and Hardy vs. Kendrick as being good, but they were both way too short. I enjoyed them while they lasted, but they were over before they started. Maryse vs. Maria was sloppy as you would expect. I did appreciate Maryse’s facial expressions during the match. She definitely comes across as a heel, particularly when doing the camel clutch. However, it still wasn’t a good match. Ryan Braddock vs. Super Crazy was o.k., but again very short and just an excuse to have Kozlov come out and beat up Crazy to demand more competition. Victoria vs. Brie Bella was boring. The Lumberjack match was fun because of the Lumberjacks, not because the actual wrestling action was any good. The straight up action between Khali and Triple H wasn’t good.

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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