-- 8/7 WWE Smackdown Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (9.0): Best: Morrison vs. Kidd. Worst: Haas vs. Jesse. Since TNA tapes far in advance, you would hope they have plenty of time and forethought to take a look at the competition. Smackdown is proving how you can focus on the main eventers yet still have enough time for the undercard. Khali-Ortiz was pretty much a two-move squash, leading time to focus on the Kane-Khali story where Kane has now become dastardly as exemplified by him dragging Singh out of the arena. The match will still suck but storyline is progressing nicely. The four-way was a bit sloppy--most multi-person matches have a degree of sloppiness--but Rey, the champion, scouting it made the match seem like an important deal. I was expecting Dolph Ziggler to win so there was no surprise there. The Maria-Melina promo confirmed the in-ring vs. out-of-ring personality of Ziggler. Done right either Maria or Dolph could turn sides when needed. Jericho vs. JTG was an okay match, getting in the freak win for JTG to further along the title storyline (looks like Jericho/Show are likely to retain so far). JTG is a decent wrestler and could use more singles time. Jesse, my man, what happened to you? Well, I hate to say it, but Cena happened to you. When Cena was gimmickless, he wrestled much better and with a wider moveset. When the white boy rapper gimmick took over, his moveset went way limited. So too with Jesse, as the moveset with Festus was much wider than now. As much as he talked the talk about his Freebird past, he didn't walk it. He could and should have gone down "Badstreet USA" and still have it fit his new character. Nice touch though to have Cryme Tyme watching, though. The biggest problem with Punk's opening segment is that it slammed headlong into WWE's projected fan base. What do WWE cameras focus on more often than not? Fans hardly old enough to be even thinking about alcohol, pills, "smokes," and "funny cigarettes." Had he added the home viewing audience, then the promo would have more punch. That said, the Hardy-Punk brawl was nicely done, not the mass chaos of the all-over brawl on TNA. The minute I heard Vince say "Guest Enforcer." I knew who it was. Matt counting three with his right hand ends any possibility of using the cast for a storyline since there was none. But I'm not counting Matt as a face yet since he was nowhere to be found in saving Jeff. The end segment becomes a tricky situation. Others who have had a body part guillotined with a chair in recent past (Shawn Michaels, Kane, Batista) have spent a good deal of time on the shelf, real or storyline. If Jeff comes back next week, to smart fans he would be no different than Triple H way underselling Randy's punt. (For the record, I'm still waiting for Hunter's head to be "tested.") The door is open for a vacated title and a Hardy-Morrison match, since I can't see Morrison starting all the way over after losing to Jeff, but still beating Punk twice. I'm curious about the follow-up, for once a good thing.

Adam Colgan of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland (7.0): Best: John Morrison vs. Tyson Kidd. Worst: Jericho vs. JTG. Yes, I'm biased, a Jericho match has/should never be put as the worst match on the card, but I'm sorry, Jericho doing the job to JTG annoyed me more than the Khali match. Quite frankly this was a disgrace. If they're going to make Cryme Tyme look like they can actually win the titles, how about having Shad beat Big Show, or Jericho with some sort of controversy involved. The fact of the matter is JTG will never be able to hold a candle to Jericho let alone wrestle in the same ring (and beat) Jericho. This infuriated me even more than that Piven fiasco and Summerfest. You don't have your best wrestler, promo-cutter, and the overall best in the world at what he does lose like that. Onto the rest of the show, I liked the fresh fatal four-way number #1 contenders match, and even though we all knew Ziggler was going to win, (and sadly pin the best one out of them all) it was fun to watch. And it was good to see Rey and Finlay get some credibility back after the match. The main event World Title match was all right. I never get particularly excited for Punk-Hardy - it's definitely no Morrison-Hardy - but I was excited to see Matt Hardy being enforcer and this made the match more special and actually gave me reason to watch. It was great to see Punk lose indecisively so that we can still see a Punk-Hardy match and not be saying this guy already lost his rematch cleanly. And the fact that it's TLC should make it the best encounter of them all. The best match of the night for me was Morrison-Kidd. This was a brilliant encounter and makes me think that both these young men will be World champ one day. Kidd's already developed a Jerichoesque heel persona which I am loving. Yet he continues to be a great athlete (much like Jericho). And Morrison, what can you say about this guy that hasn't been said? He's spectacular and he's the main reason (excluding Jericho and Edge) that I watch Smackdown. Morrison is another one of those great wrestlers who pulls out a different way to surprise you every week. This week, the Starship Pain to the face and the sit-out powerbomb were both (and I don't use this word lightly) marvelous. Young guys like Morrison give me hope that when Cena/Edge/Jericho/Michaels/Taker are gone, that I'll still be watching and loving wrestling.

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 SD, click here.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE PPV REAX #1: "I wanted the biggest event of the summer to end with an exclamation point; it ended with a semicolon and a question"

WWE PPV REAX #1: Battleground finish generates mixed reactions...

WWE PPV REAX #2: In-Person Battleground Report on overall show, reactions, more