By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Hardy - Helms: This was a good direction in the early development of the Hardy vs. Hardy feud. WWE had previously set up the notion that Hurricane Helms and the Hardys were friends. He was one of the wrestlers listed by Jeff Hardy as having attended the party with him before he was run off the road. Also, Helms was one of the first to check on Hardy after the pyro explosion. Helms gave a good interview with Todd Grisham (why is he on Smackdown now? Can't they find anyone else to do back stage interviews on Raw or Smackdown? What's Josh Mathews doing?). He gave a good delivery of an effectively written promo. Later, the brawl between Helms and Matt Hardy was very good. Matt got to play up his heel persona by bailing to the outside when the fight started going Helms' way. Helms looked strong in chasing after Hardy. Hardy got the upper hand, and really took the beating to Helms which was very memorable. The multiple elbow strikes to the head should be remembered for a long time.

Benjamin vs. MVP: I disagree with having the match in the first place (more later), but Shelton Benjamin and Montel Vontavious Porter looked good. At over 6 minutes, the two had a decent amount of time to show what they can do in a longer match. Hopefully this is just a tease and that their eventual US Title match will go much longer. They worked well together. The match featured some really nice wrestling action. They are both skilled in the ring and it showed. I am not a big fan of the Drive By as a finishing move for MVP. He seems to have stopped using the Playmaker. He also never seems to hit his big running boot to the face in the corner. He should use all three. More signature moves is a good thing. Being able to finish off an opponent with more than one move is good too.

Edge & Show vs. Undertaker & Triple H: This was a good main event tag match. It went a nice length and was fun to watch, particularly the dynamic between Edge and The Big Show. The announcers were on their game as they pointed out the trust issues between those two partners, as well as potential trust issues between The Undertaker and Triple H. There were some sloppy spots, and the action wasn't as crisp as it could have been. But, the match told a good story, and built nicely to the eventual hot tag. There were also some very nice spots, like when Undertaker had Edge in Hell's Gate and Big Show dropped a big leg on Taker to break up the hold. The right hand from Show to Edge at the end didn't look nearly as strong as many of Show's other knock out blows, but it fit in with the storyline.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Battle Royale: I didn't like the start to Smackdown at all. There shouldn't be any Battle Royales this close to the Royal Rumble. I can't get excited about them since they aren't going to come close to being as good as the Rumble itself. Also, this one was bland. Nothing particularly exciting or memorable happened. The Great Khali and Vladimir Kozlov both lost qualifying matches, so why were they given another opportunity to qualify? It was predictable that Kozlov was going to win. I guess he's better than Khali, but I am not particularly excited about seeing him added to the Elimination Chamber. If WWE really wants to build him up, they should have mentioned the fact that he eliminated Khali from the Rumble too (something that wasn't made to be as big a deal as I would have thought during the actual PPV).

MVP Wrestles Benjamin: I have to agree with what Benjamin said before the match. MVP lost every match for over 20 weeks. Then he won two matches and suddenly was in the hunt for the US Championship. That makes no sense. This match should not have happened. MVP should have challenged Benjamin, who had every reason to say no. He could have made MVP earn the shot. He should have had to have a winning streak to win the #1 contendership. This is a feud that could have been built to WrestleMania. I would love to see either of these guys (or both) in Money in the Bank, but I would just as soon have them face for the Title. Benjamin would be ducking MVP, making the fans really want to see MVP finally get his chance at the belt. Instead, WWE went their lazy and typical route (see my complaints in the ECW Hits & Misses this week about Finlay vs. Swagger) and had a challenger defeat the Champion in a non-title match. Boring. I like my booking much better.

Torres vs. McCool: This match was just rudimentary and boring. Eve Torres was ok in the ring. She didn't screw up in her first match. She wasn't sloppy. But, it was very basic. It looked like a match you would see in wrestling school. I don't know how much experience in the ring Torres has. Has she been in a ton of matches in OVW or FCW? Has she been in a bunch of dark matches or house show matches? I'm guessing not. Maybe I'm being unfair. As I said, she wasn't bad. Her inexperienced showed in the basic nature of match. Plus, as I said, it was boring. That is the biggest problem of all. Nobody seemed to care. The crowd was dead. They didn't do enough to get the fans behind the interviewer making her in ring debut.

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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