By Tony Donofrio, Torch specialist

-- 5/17 WWE JUDGMENT DAY PPV HITS & MISSES

PPV HITS

The Three-Headed Monster gets the axe: The first thing noticeable about Judgment Day was the fact that we did not have the team of JR, Jerry Lawler, and Michael Cole. This is a good thing as most people, including myself, have not been big fans of the triumvirate of two play by play announcers with one color commentator. That being said, Jim Ross in the hybrid color/play by play role is still not winning me over. But, that’s another rant for another time.

Jack Swagger vs. Christian (ECW Title): For the second PPV in a row, this match delivered and left you wanting more from these two. It told a very similar story that the match did from Backlash having Christian outsmart (or out-cheat) Swagger again. This feud is still going pretty strong and they could easily get another month or so out of Swagger and Christian. Something that could help push both of these guys is some more promotion of the ECW brand on Monday and Friday. ECW is only important to WWE on Tuesday nights and that needs to change if they want the rating to solidify and/or climb. It can be argued that ECW is the best booked show in WWE right now. But again, that's another rant for yet another time!

Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison: This match was a "hit" simply because it delivered pretty well in the ring. Both of these guys are tremendous athletes and put on a match you would expect from having these two working against each other. Two spots in the match came off as sketchy or botched but considering how difficult they were, I can't be swayed to call it a "miss." This also looks like another feud that will continue, hopefully with the same in-ring work to keep it interesting.

The Miz cutting a promo: The first half of this segment was absolute gold! The line that The Miz rattled off comparing former partner John Morrison to Marty Jannetty was easily the line of the night. He continues to deliver strongly since being drafted to Raw. His rants against the city of Chicago and Alphonso Soriano (who was in the front row) are ways of drawing cheap heat but it also really pissed of the crowd, which makes it a great move on his part. The promo should've ended there though as the interruption by Santino Marella would slowly kill the segment (psst, more on that later!).

Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio (Intercontinental Title): This match was easily the best worked match of the night. I was a bit surprised that Jericho didn't walk away with the IC Title but at the same time it adds credibility to Mysterio and the title since he was able to beat a multiple time world champion and last years WWE "Superstar of the Year." This feud obviously will continue as the two should be able to work matches that will continue to entertain. With a rumored "Mask vs. Title" match upcoming, this also means that Jericho and Mysterio should be at it for at least a few more months (after Jericho wins the title, of course). I think mostly anyone would love to see these go at it in a ladder match as well. Let's hope that the WWE realizes that and strikes gold with it.

Batista vs. Randy Orton (WWE Title): Surprisingly, the WWE Title match was much better than I thought it would be. These two worked a solid match that told a great story. Orton really played up the fact that he was going to keep the title by any means necessary whether it was by self inflicted count out or DQ. Orton getting himself DQ'd on a PPV for the title would usually be a "miss." However, the story of the match, the fact that it wasn't the main event, and the surprise arrival of Ric Flair to make the save, made the match captivating and ready for what looks like an inevitable Legacy vs. Evolution feud that could be exciting. Here's hoping that Flair doesn't break his in-ring retirement and serves more as a manager this time around. No one wants to see Ric Flair become the Brett Favre of wrestling.

PPV MISSES

Umaga vs. C.M. Punk: The opening match of the card started off with a major bang as C.M. Punk returned to his native Chicago. That's about all I can say good about tonight's developments pertaining to this match and the continued treatment of C.M. Punk as well. Punk losing this match, first of all, put the crowd into a somber mood for rest of the night. It also caused the crowd (both live and at home) to expect to see Punk later in the show cashing in his briefcase for a World Title. Now the "permanent number 1 contender until the briefcase gets cashed in" winner has lost two months in a row on PPV to wrestlers that should not be considered main event guys. It would have been hard to call the match a "miss" if it set up Punk to cash in "Money in the Bank" later in the evening, but it didn't! WWE had built up for weeks the fact that Punk was set to cash in his briefcase for gold. Does this make WWE a bigger tease than a prude on prom night? In my opinion, yes. Let's just hope this isn't the start of WWE burying C.M. Punk.

Santino Marella and Chavo Guerrero's role at Judgment Day: Having Santino steal the thunder off of The Miz was a bad idea. Sure it came off as humorous and gave a little bit of a kick start to what has been teased as a Chavo-Santino feud, but the latter part of The Miz/Santino/Chavo interaction could have been saved for Raw. What started off as gold with The Miz quickly turned to copper with his promo being watered down by Santino and the later arrival of Chavo. The extra time used on Santino and Chavo could have also been effectively used on the cashing in of "Money in the Bank" that didn't happen.

Josh Matthews botches his one interview question: Aside from calling ECW's "main event for Judgment Day" (as ECW GM Tiffany so succinctly put it), Josh Matthews had the honor of interviewing Chris Jericho before his Intercontinental Title match. On this particular night, he couldn’t even do that right! He more or less asked Jericho to comment on "the controversy" that has been trying to hold Jericho back in the past month or so since he was drafted to Smackdown. Immediately, I knew he meant to say "conspiracy" and so did Jericho. To Jericho's credit (or maybe discredit), he decided not to make Matthews look bad for this. Personally, I think Jericho should've ran with it and made a fool out of Matthews, as to keep up with his heel persona. I guess Jericho decided to take the high road though and I guess there's nothing really wrong with that.

Big Show vs. John Cena: Along with the misuse of C.M. Punk, this match was easily the biggest "miss" of the night. I guess one is 1A and one is 1B, you can decide which missed worse. First of all, it was the most boring match of the evening. Secondly, Cena has been injured for almost a month now and was just barely cleared to wrestle before the show started. Big Show did dominate this match, as he should have. Show also worked Cena's ribs the whole match, making Cena out to be weak and beat up, which he has been for a month now! However, after being sandwiched into the steel ring post and Vader Bombed by the "500 lb Giant," Cena was still able to hoist up the monster and hit the Attitude Adjustment for the 1-2-3. This was a win that Big Show needed to have but they still chose to put Cena over. Cena didn't need this win as he is going to be over even if he loses his next ten matches! Another poorly booked match and very boring also. In that sense, I suppose it does make it the biggest miss of the night.

Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (World Heavyweight Title): I didn't expect much coming into this match and I surely didn't expect Hardy to take home the title. So in terms of that, it met my expectations. However, with the exception of one big spot, there wasn't much about this match to get excited about as far as the in-ring work went either. The one glaring spot of the match saw Matt Hardy interfere again in helping Edge retain the title. This makes no sense at all. The brothers are now on separate shows and have not interacted or even mentioned each other in nearly a month now. If the brands hold up, as they're now supposed to, there will be no re-birth of the feud that effectively looked like it ended last month. To top it off, as I mentioned before, there was no attempt post-match by C.M. Punk to challenge Edge for the title in his hometown. The crowd seemed to be anticipating this, as they were more or less dead for the final match, and it never happened. Not the type of match you'd expect from Edge and Jeff Hardy to main event a PPV.

Overall: I had low expectations for Judgment Day and it didn't quite meet those even. Batista vs. Orton was surprisingly better than I expected while Hardy vs. Edge was equally surprising on the bad side. The bad booking of C.M. Punk and Cena-Big Show was what made this show a disappointment. I wouldn't call it a horrible show but it sure wasn't good. I'd give Judgment Day a grade of "C." "Extreme Rules" is just three weeks away, here's hoping that WWE can do some damage control between now and then.

Tony Donofrio is a new PPV Hits & Misses Specialist covering WWE PPVs. Contact Tony at PWTorchTD@gmail.com

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