By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Kingston vs. Christian: I expected a good match between Kofi Kingston and Christian for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, and I was not disappointed. They delivered a good 12 minute match to start Smackdown off well. They worked very well together in the ring. The match went back and forth with plenty of counters to keep things interesting. One spot that really stood out to me was when Kingston went for a leapfrog and Christian caught him midair and turned it into an electric chair. The ending was well done also with both wrestlers selling a bit of a hesitation after Kingston rolled through Christian's sunset flip attempt, only to have Kingston recover quicker to hit Trouble in Paradise for the win.

Swagger's Trophies: I will admit that this was a very long scene and did drag a bit, but I still enjoyed it. This was a chance for Jack Swagger to have a solo stage with a microphone for a long period of time, and he delivered. I absolutely loved some of his lines, like when he talked about being neighbors with greatness and being best friends with success, then adding "oh we hung out a lot." I also loved his line about being a lifeguard and saving the lives of many mediocre people so that they could continue living their mediocre lives. Swagger has a way of getting under people's skin and it was on display here. There were a lot of nice touches like the sandwich that is named after him and the dance trophy. It really built to the point where the fans loved the Big Show for finally coming out to put an end to it. I'm not a fan of the idea that Show would destroy Swagger's property like that, despite the fact that Swagger was so obnoxious in presenting it to the WWE Universe. But, it worked ok to rally the fans behind him.

Layla Wins Title: With the unfortunate injury to Women's Champion Beth Phoenix, I was glad to see WWE put the Title on Layla instead of just going the lazy and expected route of putting it back on Michelle McCool. LayCool has been a fun team (for the most part) and this has the potential to be something new, different and entertaining for the duo as opposed to if McCool had won. I also liked how McCool celebrated with Layla, not showing any sings of being upset or jealous. That might come later, but there is no need to rush it by tipping their hands on the first night of this storyline. The only thing that I didn't like about this segment was the fact that Vickie Guerrero referred to herself as the Raw GM. Didn't she resign at the end of the show? What did I miss?

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Return of McIntyre: Based on the way Drew McIntyre's character was introduced as Vince McMahon's "chosen one," this did make sense. However, it was disappointing that he would be reinstated so quickly and easily. It was just a week ago that he was fired and now he is back. The firing last week was interesting and created some intriguing possibilities of where WWE might go with the angle. This one might have made the most logical sense, but that doesn't always mean that it is the best choice. It was also the boring choice. I did like how angry Kingston was over having to hand over the IC Title to McIntyre. WWE did a nice job of putting an emphasis on that Title for nearly the first quarter of the show. I just think a better storyline could have been presented to eventually get McIntyre back on the show. If this was their plan, then they were planning a Title change bait-and-switch all along which is going to alienate some fans who tuned in to see the heavily hyped match to crown a new Champion.

MVP & JTG vs. The Dude Busters: This Miss is for the idea of this match and the outcome, not for the quality of the match itself which was solid. I did not like the pairing of Montel Vontavious Porter with JTG. For one, JTG just got out of a tag team, and they are putting him in another already? That seems like a mistake. For another, MVP has looked good in his initial re-run on Smackdown getting involved with the huge feud between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio. But, this week he was in a random tag match like this. It seemed like a step backwards. Also, part of me is bothered by the fact that WWE but MVP and JTG together probably just because they are both black. Admittedly, a big question remains unanswered which is "is this really a new team, or is it a one week thing?" I don't like either answer to the question. If it is a new team, I have already laid out my reasons for not liking it. If it was just a one week thing, then you just jobbed out a legit established tag team (with a good amount of potential in my estimation) to a random team of singles wrestlers. Either way, I don't like it.

Mysterio vs. Punk: Like the previous Miss, this is for the idea of the match between Myserio and Punk, not for the match itself which was good. I don't understand why WWE gives away matches like this just a little over a week away from a PPV featuring the same match. If you think that the value in this match isn't high considering we've seen Punk vs. Mysterio at two straight PPVs, then why are you having a third match in the first place? If there is value in the match, then why give it away for free this week? I don't get it. I also don't like the stipulation for their PPV match. It is a combination of two of my least favorite match stipulations, hair vs. being forced to join a group. I did a long tirade against hair vs. hair matches a while ago, so I won't relive it now. But, I don't recall ever talking about my objections to matches where if one wrestler loses, he has to join the other's faction. I don't like it, because it is ill-defined. If Mysterio has to join the Straight Edge Society, how long does he have to remain a member? Can he join, and then quit? The stipulation was that he just has to join, so that would seem to fit the letter of the law. I assume he would have to swear allegiance to CM Punk, but could he then kick him, say "I quit" and be done with it? Does the Straight Edge Society have by-laws that Mysterio will have to follow? Also, at times in the past when WWE has gone this direction, I don't recall ever enjoying the subsequent angle. Watching a wrestler have to belong to a faction never ends up being entertaining tv. It is hard to get excited about this match in the first place, and giving it away now makes me feel like it is a waste to spend money on it in a week.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, NXT, 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.

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