5/15 WWE Smackdown Reax

Mark S. of London, U.K. (8.5): Best Match: Haas/Benjamin vs. Punk/Morrison. The difference between Raw and Smackdown right now is like the difference between the WWE and WCW at the end of the Monday Night Wars. Watching Smackdown is an absolute pleasure as the talents of guys like Morrison, Punk, Hardy, Edge and Jericho are all given the chance to shine with compelling storylines and excellent in-ring action, whereas Raw is incredibly stale. There's no question that Smackdown did better out of the draft from a wrestling fan's perspective and the lack of an overbearing authority figure (Teddy Long plays his role nicely) or Super-Shane McMahon is a blessing. Smackdown did a better job of selling Judgment Day to me in this one show than Raw's done all month. I love the idea that every time Punk looks like he's about to cash in his MITB briefcase, Umaga stops him. (How much is Edge responsible for this?) Even John Morrison's apparent overnight face-turn is coming off well as he's using his natural athleticism and some top-drawer moves to win the crowd over. It's a crying shame that Kofi Kingston is stuck on Raw right now as he'd slot in incredibly well with the current Smackdown roster of young, exciting talent with the incredibly talented Jericho and Edge heading up the roster and, you suspect, mentoring those below them. Any show that can make Great Khali palatable is doing something right.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (8.5): Best: Morrison/Punk vs. Benjamin/Haas; Edge vs. Jericho. Worst: Jeff vs. Ortiz; Dolph vs. Yang. This "go-home week" got off to a bad start with Raw, and stumbled during Superstars, but ended on a nice swing with Smackdown. Starting off with a match right off the top hasn't been done in a while and was a nice change of pace. There was a half-hearted attempt to acknowledge that Punk and Morrison were rivals, but otherwise amnesia happened. And the crowd doesn't quite look to be on the same page with the face turn yet. The only face chant I heard was for Punk; other than that it was clapping. It begs the question of how fast the turn should have happened. But with the face turn has come the return of the split-legged corkscrew moonsault and the Thomas Flare (pommel horse gymnastic) legdrop. Am I to guess that the Moonlight Drive may be shelved for a while until he goes back heel again? The Hardy-Ortiz match was a pinch of filler mostly to get Jeff in the ring for the brief post-match promo. The fact that his promo tracked a statistic regarding Edge's title wins and losses adds to the vibe that Edge retains. For all the talk about Gail being such a good wrestler, and she is good, it has yet to translate to her WWE return. Her huracanranas are lousy and there was huge light to be seen on the apron shoulder thrust to Alicia Fox. Not sure why she came back, but the honeymoon is definitely over. Yang hasn't been on TV in a while so he's somewhat excused for the sloppy Dolph-Yang match. The finish was completely stupid; it would have come across better had he just missed the moonsault. And the glasses explanation behind Knox was tried again, but it's still falling flat. Minus a segment for the TV audience to see for themselves, this just won't go anywhere. Like with Raw, it was another neat change of pace to have the commentators doing a live rundown of the PPV matches. The reaction feels at least a little bit more realistic, especially for Smackdown's notorious use of canned noise. This could lead smoothly into in-ring interviews like the Jeff Hardy one or other bits and segments. Edge-Jericho was very interesting to watch. Considering that it was a two-heel match, Edge's recent face-like behavior helped to keep the crowd involved. The mass brawl at the end hasn't been done in a while and ramped up the energy on the three Smackdown matches. Of those three, only one really seems to have a predictable finish (Edge retains). I do expect Rey to retain unless news bouncing around about an injury at the tapings turn out to be more serious. Jericho just doesn't need a 9th IC win. Punk-Umaga still doesn't have a viable reason for anyone to care about it, but the match could go either way. Punk needs the win considering the briefcase, but if it goes that way it won't be a clean one.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE Smackdown Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Smackdown, click here.

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