By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Opening Segment: I have been enjoying Smackdown much more than Raw since the draft, and this week was no different. Smackdown once again got off to a good start with the opening talking segment. It wasn't as long as last week, which was good. It was nice to see Rey Mysterio treated as a big deal. You had to know as soon as Teddy Long introduced him as the new face of Smackdown that Chris Jericho would not be far behind. Mysterio was solid on the mic. Jericho was good as you would expect. Their little confrontation was well done and set up what happened later in the show. Jeff Hardy's appearance was good too. He came across like a confident #1 contender. This segment nicely set up the main event and what was on the line.

Punk vs. Edge: This didn't go as long as their match last week, but that makes sense. It was certainly just as good while it lasted, which was about 7 minutes. CM Punk and Edge really work well together. These two matches have been a hint at what they could do in a longer PPV match which seems inevitable. The looming threat of the Money in the Bank challenge once again was present, but not to the point that it was last week. Obviously, everyone knew that Umaga would get involved, but it was nice that WWE did things a bit different from last week. Punk looked good in again taking the World Champion to the limit, while Edge got his heel heat back after losing last week by walking out this week.

Dolph Ziggler: It was interesting how Dolph Ziggler was treated with the respect by WWE to get a pre-commercial hook. He appeared right before a break to tell Jesse and Jimmy Wang Yang to pay attention to what he has to say after the break. I'm not sure that the hook will work with Ziggler this early in his career, but it was a subtle sign that the fans should take him seriously. I enjoyed his short promo. He was good on the mic. I was expecting Kane to accept his open challenge, so The Great Khali was a bit of a surprise to me (probably since I am constantly trying to forget he exists), but what was an even bigger surprise was the outcome of the match. I expected a Khali squash, but was happy to see Ziggler take out Khali with the steel chair. He lost the match, but came out looking stronger.

Hardy vs. Jericho: This was a very good main event. We've seen Hardy and Jericho put on good matches in the past, so it wasn't surprising that they would do so here. It went 16 minutes and featured plenty of high energy wrestling action, near falls, reversals, and the intrigue of both Edge and Mysterio at ring side which added to the match. The outcome was predictable as you had to know that the triple threat was not going to happen, and that Mysterio vs. Jericho was going to happen instead. But, it was still very fun to watch. This was the best match in WWE this week.

Edge on Guest Commentary: Usually, when a wrestler is good on guest commentary, I don't give them a Hit. I tend to just mention them in a positive way in the Hit for the actual match. However, Edge was so good on guest commentary during the main event, that I have to point it out. He really added to the match. I enjoyed listening to his banter with Jim Ross. Some of the lines were so great, like how he complained about Jericho being too opportunistic and doing exactly what he would have done in the same situation. He was great in having the pompoms out for Hardy. Edge is consistently one of the best performers today on the mic in any situation.

Wrestling Quality: There wasn't a bad match on Smackdown this week which is a Hit. Other than the two big matches, none of the others were quite good enough to get individual Hits, but they were all solid. Mike Knox vs. R-Truth was a good 3 minute match. I was expecting a squash, but it was quite competitive. Gail Kim vs. Michelle McCool was another solid, but short match. Kim continues to shine in the ring, but she isn't being built as a strong competitor as she keeps losing. But, the match was fun to watch while it lasted. John Morrison vs. Charlie Haas was a bit longer, at nearly 5 minutes, and it was what it needed to be. It featured good action and allowed Shelton Benjamin a chance to show off some personality while cheering on Haas from ringside. The inevitable World's Greatest Tag Team reunion speculation is fun also. The Khali vs. Ziggler match served its purpose. Throw in the two Hit-worthy matches and you have a good week of in ring action.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Arm Wrestling: This was a very good Smackdown, and the only individual Miss came over half way through the show. I didn't enjoy the dance off last week between Eve Torres and Layla, and I didn't enjoy their arm wrestling contest this week. Tag team wrestling is practically dead in this company right now. Cryme Tyme was one of the few teams that didn't get broken up in the draft, yet they have no other teams to wrestle and are reduced to hosting this crap. I honestly can't remember enjoying an arm wrestling contest ever. They are all cheesy and the babyface always wins. Eve looked stupid for turning her back on Layla. Layla attacked her last week after a dance contest, so she was stupid for not expecting her to do the same this week.

Match Length: While I enjoyed the quality of the wrestling action, I would have liked to see a few of the matches go longer. Punk vs. Edge was as long as it should have been under those circumstances, but it was in a typical two-segment position. I'm fine with that match being that length, but then make the under card matches a bit longer. By taking away the bad arm wrestling segment, and the Raw Rebound, they could easily give two more minutes to Truth vs. Knox and McCool vs. Kim (two non-squash competitive matches that would have benefitted from being 5 minutes each instead of just 3).

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

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