-- 7/3 WWE Smackdown TV Reax

Jason Pointer of Detroit, Mich. (7.5) Best: mic work. The opening segment between Jeff Hardy and C.M. Punk was great. I love the way they're progressing the slow heel turn and keeping Punk in his tweener role. It's good to see Jeff progress on the mic and cut a great promo. Also the mic work of Jericho and Edge in the back was also great, but it's now expected from them. Worst: divas match. Just a very sloppy match at times. Smackdown is just a pleasure to watch and unlike Raw, I actually look foward to the show and am very excited each week. Fresh match-ups, superstars, and storylines just create great TV. The pushes for R-Truth, Morrison, and Ziggler, plus giving time to the Hart Dynasty and even Ricky Ortiz is how a brand should be run.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (7.0): Best: Edge/Jericho vs. Punk/Hardy. Worst: Harts vs. Cryme Tyme. With the trade almost complete (still not looking at the list, one trade for each show has yet to be mentioned or appear), Smackdown didn't seem all that affected. Looking at who did move so far, Smackdown moved only two (ECW moved seven, and Raw moved three). They pick up The Hart Dynasty, who lose on their first night. Already off to a bad start for the next generation. They picked up Finlay, who really needs to lose Hornswoggle's theme. Bad timing for him, as he was starting to show a bit of an edge on ECW that's been needed. But winning his first match without the shillelagh may mean the edgier him is not out of the picture. All of them moved before hitting the right stride, though. Speaking of entrance music, Dolph Ziggler needs to get rid of his new music. I tried to give it some time before passing judgment, but it just doesn't fit with him. He could time his sweat-tossing to his other music better. Dating Maria did wonders for Santino's emerging heel character. Dolph is already heel, so I'm curious about where he could go now. Maria is a jinx to him maybe? Maria and Morrison: don't quit your respective day jobs (referee and wrestler, respectively). I don't consider Morrison and Teddy Long riffing Michael Jackson as offensive when you consider the tabloid newspapers are claiming death shots of him. Live and let live on that one. I'm liking Jesse in denial as a "wanksta." Maybe down the road he'll be taken seriously, but for now he's showing some nice mic skils. I'm curious to see how he carries the character through to the ring. Rey vs. Kane was better than their past matches, but really only served to further along the Kane-Khali storyline. And who will Rey be defending the IC title against? Still no idea there, though I'd like to see Dolph there right now. Main event was match of the night, as it should be exepected to be. I still take heat for bringing up Edge's left knee, but you know it's bad news when he's gimping along before the match even starts. Something's going to give eventually. And as for C.M. Punk, WWE did a huge disservice by pulling the trigger on a heel turn this soon. Couldn't point my finger in the Superstars review why it bothered me so much, but now I have a reason: Michaels-Jericho. The parallels to last year include: Jericho was on Raw this time last year during said storyline; someone is faking an injury that at first his adversary doesn't believe (and so far unrelated Jericho isn't believing Punk this time either). Punk's opening promo got off to a good start on playing Devil's Advocate that he was a victim of circumstance, then quickly turned whiner with demanding an apology. Are we going to see Jeritron Smash II in order to put the brakes on Punk's turn? I hope not, but it's heading in that direction, with Jeff the face being the smasher this go round.

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