By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Orton vs. Henry: The ending of this match was lame, but I can understand the reasoning behind it. WWE wanted to keep Mark Henry strong going into his WWE Title match against CM Punk on next week's Raw, and they want to keep Randy Orton strong in his feud against Kane. So, my only real problem with the end of the match was that they could have at least done a count out of some sort - either a double count out, or give Henry a win by having him roll back into the ring to beat the 10 count. The match itself was good while it lasted. Orton and Henry worked well together. Henry has been looking good in the ring. He is never going to be a great worker. But given the right opponent, he has shown enough skill in the ring to have good matches, and that is what happened here.

Piper's Pit: I did not like the Blast from the Past theme for Smackdown (more later), but the one good use of a WWE Legend on the show was Rowdy Roddy Piper's appearance to host Piper's Pit with Daniel Bryan and AJ. The segment varied from solid to very good. Piper did stumble over a few lines here and there, but was good for the most part. He understands how to sell a character and a storyline. It was an interesting twist to see AJ trying to make up with Bryan after what happened last week. She played her part well. But, the real strong part of the segment was the end when Piper turned Bryan's "Yes, Yes, Yes" mantra into "No, No, No." This was more of WWE trying to cement Bryan as a heel. He will always have his die hard fans who will cheer for him, but they seem to be effectively turning the rest of the fans who had at least recently jumped on the Bryan bandwagon around, and Piper helped that out with his No promo. The slap at the end was a nice touch as well.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Opening Segment: This was a terrible show and it got off to a bad start. I do give WWE credit for addressing the situation with Sheamus kicking the referee last week. I said that it was not an admirable way for a babyface to act, so I'm glad that they didn't just ignore it. The probation and fine do make sense. But, I just don't want to see so much of John Laurinaitis feuding with babyfaces on both brands. The double apology did nothing for me. I'm so sick of heel authority figures acting heelish just because they are heels. There was no reason for him to put Gene Okerlund in a match. I could understand it if Okerlund had said or done anything to suggest that he doesn't like Laurinaitis, but just to put him in a match was too over the top for the cartoonish Laurinaitis. It has gotten to the point where I see the general manager and I want to change the channel.

The Announcers: The announcing was dreadful on Smackdown this week. I can't go over everything, but this trio of Michael Cole, Josh Mathews, and Booker T just doesn't work. When Cole makes the claim that Punk has gotten himself purposefully counted out and disqualified because he can't defeat Henry, nobody questions him. Clearly he didn't get himself purposefully counted out two weeks ago, and this week he did get himself disqualified, but a good strong babyface announcer would make the argument that Punk got himself disqualified due to letting his anger get the better of him because of Chris Jericho, not because he is afraid of Henry. But, there isn't a good strong babyface announcer on Smackdown. The bickering during Orton vs. Henry was very annoying. I can't believe that Booker said he dreamed that Cole had died. What place does that have during a broadcast? Adding a fourth commentator in Mick Foley for one match didn't help (will he get in trouble for mentioning Vince yelling into his headset, or for using Owen Hart's catch phrase?). After Damien Sandow's promo, Cole made a comment about it trying to act seriously, but everything he does and says is ridiculous, so how can we take it or anyone he is talking about seriously? He then transitioned right away back into being a goof making fun of Booker T for not having an iPad. I could go on and on, but they are ruining this show (although this specific episode had plenty of other crap to ruin it).

Blast from the Past: I respect everything that the WWE Legends did in the business. It think there is certainly a time and a place to use Legends to help the current product. I think there is even value in some of them being on TV on a regular basis. But, throwing them all on together in one big show never seems to work well. Jimmy Hart could still be a manager. The Fink should still be the ring announcer. Occasional Piper's Pits can be very effective. Mick Foley if used properly could elevate the overall product. But for the most part, they weren't used effectively here. It was too much. It got too cartoonish. At a time when WWE desperately needs to be creating new stars, they spent the show focused on retired ones. Did Hart or Foley enhance Heath Slater, Tyson Kidd or the Usos? No. Did Dusty Rhodes do anything to help elevate Cody Rhodes? No. Did Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Sergeant Slaughter elevate Hunico? No, they made him look bad. I didn't enjoy watching all the legends beat up Ricardo Rodriquez in the end, or even Michael Cole. Plus, I don't want to even think about the waste of time segment that culminated in Mae Young kissing The Great Khali. The themed three-hour Raws have been mostly a bust over the last few years, and WWE should learn from that (and the poor ratings) and not do the same for special live Smackdowns. In fact, just leave the show on Friday.

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

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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