By Jake Barnett

The purpose of this editorial is to rundown the latest edition of WWE Smackdown by highlighting the top angles on the show, list where I think they succeeded and where they failed, and give it a final letter grade in the traditional grade school format. I will also give the overall show a letter grade. The following Report Card pertains to the April 29 edition of Smackdown.

Angle 1: Christian vs Alberto Del Rio for the Vacant World Title

This Week's Successes:

• Alberto Del Rio and Christian were both great in the ring this week in their tag team main event.


• The focus of this feud continues to be on the world title, and that's refreshing to see. Too often WWE Title or WHC feuds tend to focus on personalities rather than the drive to hold the belt, and I think these two have done a good job holding the title above their personal issues as the driving influence in the feud. The more that top level talent puts the titles over, the better it will be long term for WWE.


• Christian's Promo this week was great, and was much better than anything that we've seen from him recently. Chris Shore and I mentioned it in our audio, and I think this promo will go a long way towards swaying people who are on the fence about Christian in the main event to get religion. He deserves to be there, and this is just another example why.

• The introduction of Randy Orton distracted from the feud, and I think he overshadowed both guys.


• WWE continues to foreshadow the finish of every match involving these guys by putting Brodus Clay in it as the greenhorn that's just there to take a pin. It's not necessarily ADR or Christian's fault, but it definitely cuts a lot of the suspense out of these tag matches they keep booking them in.

• The match between Rey and Mark Henry that involved a Cody Rhodes run-in was a great TV match followed up with a great post match segment that got over all 3 men. It was the only segment on the show that put great heat on the heels involved and generated a lot of sympathy for the babyface. It's rare that a segment is able to accomplish putting over everyone involved, and WWE deserves kudos for pulling it off.


• Cody Rhodes continues to show great intensity whenever he's on television. His mannerisms, psychological need to cover his face, and irrational anger really sell his new character.


• Rey Mysterio continues to be great week in and week out in the ring. Very rarely do we see wrestlers that are able to put together several months of solid TV matches, but Mysterio has been consistently great in the ring for months now, and it deserves mention.
  

• Rey Mysterio's promo felt like a funeral procession for his career, when he was really only moving o Raw. It sucked a lot of energy out of the crowd unnecessarily. Luckily he and Mark Henry got them back quickly.


• The Paper Bag thing with Cody Rhodes is rather dumb. If he hates Mysterio and what his mask represents, why isn't he trying to rip it off? The introduction of the paper bag was cute for a promo, but this week felt lame.

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