By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Opening Segment: This is a marginal Hit. The opening of Smackdown wasn't great, but it was pretty good. Triple H was o.k. in his opening promo. Some of what he said was good, but I could have done without the Vickie Guerrero is fat jokes. It was good to see Jeff Hardy get some mic time to sell himself as the fans' choice for Cyber Sunday, but I doubt he really needed to do any campaigning at this point. Vladimir Kozlov was good in his short bit of mic work as well. It is good to hear him talk a little more. I liked how he said that the fans wouldn't vote for him, not because they don't like him, but because they know he would defeat Triple H. WWE continues to build him up as a strong confident heel.

Carlito and Primo: I am enjoying the team of Carlito and Primo Colon. They seem to be having fun playing off of each other. They had a decent match with Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neeley, but he fun was what happened backstage later in the show. It was very amusing how Carlito interrupted Primo's attempt to hit on Brie Bella. It was even funnier after she left and Carlito accused his brother of chasing her away. It was also amusing (albeit very predictable) when Primo finally convinced Carlito to let him have Bella (despite Carlito's being older and having been in WWE longer), only to have it obviously be her twin sister instead. They had two amusing backstage segments and a solid tag match. That adds up to a Hit.

Triple H vs. Undertaker: I still object to having this match, and I am surprised that it lasted as long as it did. However, I have to say that the match itself was a good match. It isn't surprising that these two would be able to put together such a good match. It had plenty of good wrestling action and really went back and forth. Neither wrestler (or should I say "entertainer"?) had an advantage for very long. There were many counters and reversals and near falls. It had everything that you would hope for from these two, other than a clean ending. It had to end with interference, so Big Show's appearance wasn't surprising or disappointing. There shouldn't be a clean finish in this match under these circumstances. It was also nice to see such a long match go without a commercial interruption. I still say it was a mistake to have this match, but I have to commend Triple H and Undertaker for the match itself.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Mariachi Stuff: My problem with this is that all of this seems to be pointing to Michelle McCool turning heel, which I am totally fine with. However, she is in the right. Maria should have been there to get the tag, and not been distracted by Jesse & Festus and the mariachi band. Coming out during the match wasn't a very considerate thing to do. I also am not thrilled with the patronizing nature of the gag, as Maria happens to be of latin decent, so of course someone would woo her with a mariachi band. I did like how Festus went berserk when the bell rang after the match. That was funny. But, I didn't like the later scene with Maria acting like an idiot looking for her friend. Then the later appearance by the group chasing each other around wasn't nearly as funny as the initial moment when Festus snapped.

Kung Funaki: I have enjoyed many of Funaki's antics over the years. I have to admit to loving his "indeed" voice over gimmick with Taka Michinoku back in the day. I don't mind him getting more t.v. time. He has been in the company longer than most on the roster. But, this is just cheesy. I was really trying to forget about R-Truth singing to him. Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time that it was the birth of a whole new gimmick. He has been a jobber for so long, it is hard to take him seriously as a wrestler, especially when he is playing this character. But then, he got the win over Montel Vontavious Porter. I am hopeful that they are going somewhere good with this losing streak angle for MVP, but it is starting to really hurt his credibility, which had at one time been very high.

Khali Kiss Cam: This was just one really long boring and even offensive segment. There is a way to do this gimmick and have it work. As a former resident of San Francisco I get tired of the gay jokes as the majority of San Francisco's inhabitants are not gay. It just went on too long. It got very boring and redundant after about two minutes. It is offensive that Khali needs so much coaxing to kiss the unattractive woman. It is like WWE's weird way of being politically correct. The unattractive woman gets the kiss in the end. But, it is very demeaning towards her in the mean time. Throw in Triple H's jokes about Vickie from the start of the show, and any heavy woman watching has to get offended I would think.

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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