By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

MVP vs. Swagger: This was a really good match. After the somber and over done opening to the show (more later), it was nice to see things get on track with the opening match between Montel Vontavious Porter and Jack Swagger. These two had a small feud on Raw last year that had potential, but never went anywhere. They showed here the potential of that feud. Under other circumstances (ie not for the World Title), this could have been a PPV match and customers would have been happy. It went 15 minutes and was good from start to finish. MVP showed why he deserves a chance to be elevated up the Smackdown card. Swagger showed that he is a very good worker and deserving of the World Title. I really enjoyed this match.

Kingston vs. McIntyre: While not as good as the first match, this was the second good two-segment match in a row on the show. Kofi Kingston does some amazing things in the ring and can be very exciting and fun to watch. He can also work a good match, but he doesn't always. He can also be sloppy at times. Drew McIntyre is solid in the ring, but far from flashy. He has had some good matches, but some not-so-good ones also. I never know what to expect in terms of match quality from either of these guys, but in this case they worked very well together and put on a good match. Matt Hardy's presence in the front row worked well. McIntyre did a nice job of being slightly distracted by Hardy throughout the match, setting up taking a cheap shot at him, then being distracted by him one last time allowing Kingston to hit the SOS for the win to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Hardy's attack afterwards was good, especially the way he tricked the security into thinking he was leaving before storming the ring.

Kane's Investigation: I wasn't thrilled with how this angle started, but the backstage scenes with Kane accusing various wrestlers of being involved in the cowardly attack on The Undertaker worked pretty well. I like the fact that he accused all of the participants in Fatal 4 Way, since taking Undertaker out of that match was a possible motive. I also liked the fact that he didn't turn a blind eye to the fact that someone like Rey Mysterio would be involved. The scenes themselves were good for the most part. I particularly liked how CM Punk tried to offer the Straight Edge Society's assistance in finding the culprit.

Battle Royal: This was a good battle royal. It was interesting at first just to see who is actually still on the Smackdown roster. I was a bit surprised to see Finlay randomly back without much word from the announcers as to why we haven't seen him in a few months. Also, he got to stay in the match longer than some of the others who have been featured lately. I was also surprised that Shad Gaspard was missing. WWE was doing a pretty good job of building him up as a solid heel with promise, but he hasn't been on in a few weeks. This was a chance to elevate him, but he wasn't on. Did he get hurt? Getting back to the match itself, battle royals can vary greatly in quality. This one was on the higher end. Some mid-card feuds were advanced like Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler. Mysterio got to go after Punk's mask. The announcers talked about how this was another opportunity for Vance Archer and Kurt Hawkins to make an impact and Hawkins actually lasted very long in the match. Like many battle royals, the match quality depended on the end with the beginning just filling time (although in a good way in this instance). The match was very good once it got down the final three of Kane, Mysterio and Luke Gallows. I liked the mystery SES member's attempted interference. I like that it didn't work. The final few minutes between Kane and Mysterio were strong. The actual elimination of Kane by Mysterio was very impressive.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Opening Segment: There were things about Smackdown's opening that I liked, but enough that I didn't to land in the Miss column. I appreciate the fact that WWE is turning Undertaker's injury into an angle. That allows for a storyline and eventual feud for him upon his return, as opposed to some of his other returns when he has been off tv for awhile and he just shows up and gets a World Title shot. Part of my problem is that if it appears that Undertaker's career is over as Kane suggested, then Teddy Long's original announcement seemed to under sell the magnitude of the situation. We could have used more information. It also seemed that if this happened over the weekend, we would have heard about it (since it is such a huge story) earlier than Friday night. The funeral service was a bit much. Kane gave a good performance, but it seemed out of character to me. This was the most humanity he has shown, and I suppose it makes some sense given the circumstances, but it somehow didn't click for me. I guess it was too uncomfortable to watch for my tastes.

Mendes vs. Kelly: This was an ugly match from a wrestling stand point. Rosa Mendes has never shown that she belongs in a WWE ring. Kelly Kelly has some skills to be sure, but she can't carry someone to a good match. She needs to be in the ring with better workers to perform at a level that is good enough for WWE prime time. I can see her having better matches with Michelle McCool, but they need to keep Mendes out of the ring on tv until she has more opportunities at house shows or other avenues to get more work to improve.

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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