By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Jeff Hardy: I wasn't a big fan of the opening segment on the whole, but I did like Jeff Hardy's part in it. The opening with Undertaker's voice over with the image of the casket just doesn't do anything for me after nearly 20 years of similar gimmicks. It wasn't bad, just not good. But, I liked when Hardy interrupted the proceedings. He cut a good promo about Undertaker needing to worry about him. The mood with the black light and the face paint was pretty freaky and effective. It made me want to know where they are going with his character. I was pleased to see more of this Jeff Hardy during the Triple H - Vladimir Kozlov contract signing. If you read my Hits & Misses regularly, you probably know that I hate contract signings as a general rule. I wasn't a big fan of this one until Hardy unexpectedly showed up. I honestly didn't see that coming. His flying clothesline putting Kozlov through the table was very well done. Again, it made me want to know where things are going.

Hardy vs. Benjamin: Smackdown continued to move along nicely after Jeff Hardy's first appearance, with his brother's match against Shelton Benjamin. This was a good two-segment match that featured some nice mat wrestling early with Matt Hardy in control of Benjamin's arm. They did some nice moves with Benjamin trying to escape the arm lock with Hardy trying to hold on. After the commercial, the match picked up well with some very good action. There were a few sloppy spots like when Hardy's moonsault found Benjamin's legs, but on the whole the action was still good. There were some nice near falls and reversals. It had a good ending with Hardy picking up the win with a sudden Twist of Fate. I'm not sure what the point of the match was, but it was good.

Kendrick vs. Carlito: Smackdown continued its entertaining streak with the next match featuring The Brian Kendrick and Carlito. The match certainly could have gone longer, at just 5 minutes, but 5 minutes is actually longer than the typical Kendrick match. I am really curious to see Kendrick in a long singles match, because we've never really seen it in WWE. This match was fun to watch. Both Kendrick and Carlito brought plenty of energy to it. Carlito does see reborn since teaming with his brother Primo. I don't think having Kendrick and Ezekiel teaming is the best use of them as this point. However, the tag team division is in such a sorry state, that I don't mind seeing them temporarily in a feud with the tag team champs. That running shoulder destruction of Primo on the outside by Ezekiel was brutal looking.

Hardy vs. Undertaker: This was a good extreme rules match. We don't see Undertaker in these settings that often which helped make the match feel special. It wasn't great, but it certainly had plenty of good action. It was a good use of weapons to add to the match without taking away from it. Sometimes these types of matches get over done with too many weapons, but that wasn't the case here. It went back and forth and Hardy looked very strong for being able to withstand so much offense from Undertaker. The Big Show's appearance was predictable and obviously brought the quality down a bit. However, it still had a satisfying ending with Hardy hitting one of his signature ladder spots with the sling shot leg drop to get the win.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Fat Jokes: I was fully expecting to put the contract signing as a Miss as I talked about above. However, Hardy's involvement keeps it out of the Miss column. Yet, I have to comment on the lame fat jokes from Triple H. He is one of the biggest stars in the company. He is the WWE Champion. He is also too old to be doing this lame sophomoric humor. They weren't funny. He shouldn't need to stoop to that low in order to get over. It is almost like he heard what Wade Keller said about Rhino being the biggest prick babyface in wrestling, and he got upset and wanted his title back. It is just offensive, not funny, and totally unnecessary.

MVP vs. Kung Fu Naki: I am still hoping that Montel Vontavious Porter comes out of this losing streak angle with some type of momentum, but I just don't see how that is possible at this point. For him to lose to Funaki like that is just embarrassing. Yes, The Great Khali sort of distracted MVP, but Funaki shouldn't be doing the Crane Kick from "The Karate Kid" at all, and it certainly shouldn't be enough to finish off someone like MVP. That was ridiculous. His feud with Khali is ridiculous too. I hate Khali as a face, and I hate his lame Kiss Cam. I hate how this is making MVP look. It is safe to say I hated everything about this.

Maria vs. McCool: This match is getting a Miss largely because of how short it was. I was not looking forward to the match, so it wasn't like I was disappointed that there wasn't more of it. But, it was a Divas Championship match. It went under 2 minutes. I don't think Championship matches should be that short, even if I don't particularly care to see the match itself. If WWE doesn't trust these two to have a longer match, then why is one the Champion and the other the challenger? Maria as the #1 contender was always a joke, which played out in how short the match was. After a really good start to the show, things idled with a segment featuring a Kizarny video and the John Cena video. They went quickly down hill with the contract signing, followed by MVP vs. Funaki, followed by this match. That was a long chunk in the middle of the show that was pretty bad after the good start and before the good finish.

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.

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt