By Jake Barnett

The purpose of this editorial concept is to rundown the latest edition of WWE Smackdown by highlighting the three 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 March 18th edition of Smackdown.

Angle 1: World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs Alberto Del Rio:

This Week's Successes: Well, this week was another bucket of win for the main event feud on Smackdown. The show started with a competitive match between Brodus Clay and Edge. Brodus continus to get a good rub from working with established fan favorites like Edge and Christian, and Edge stayed on a roll heading into his big WrestleMania match.

Later on in the show, we got to see a great cage match between Christian and Alberto Del Rio. It contained some innovative spots from both guys, and even a unique setup for Christian's Killswitch, which I am usually not a fan of. Christian got a measure of revenge by picking up the victory over Del Rio, and Del Rio picked up a ton of heat by leaving both guys laying to close the show. Overall, I was very happy with both segments that involved these four guys.

This Week's Failures: The finish to the cage match was not good. I'm not sure if the finish was supposed to look different than how it came out on TV, or what, but it looked clunky and it made Del Rio look like kind of a doofus for waiting for Christian to beat him to the floor. They are lucky the post match attack played so well, because otherwise that would have left a bad taste in this viewers mouth. There were also some clunky spots between Edge and Brodus, but they weren't bad enough to take you out of the action, so I'll give it a pass.

My only other criticism would be that Brodus continues to lose, but he is the odd man out here and there is plenty of time to build him up for his first major feud, so I'm not going to let it ruin my day and neither should you.

Final Grade: A-

Angle 2: The Corre vs The Big Show and Kane:

This Week's Successes: The post match attack on Big Show and Kane by The Corre this week was excellent. Wade Barrett showed that he can be a ruthless and effective heel, and the entire Corre showed us for the first time since they formed that they are a relevant heel faction on Smackdown. The use of the steel steps was a safe and innovative way to show some brutality that doesn't violate WWE's PG sensibilities. Plus, the pancake of The Big Show on the announce table was a great image as well. This is the first time since I started covering the show that I felt that the air wasn't being let out of The Corre, and that's a good thing. I hope they keep rolling next week and pick up more heat.

This Week's Failures: The match itself was exactly why Kane and The Big Show need more limited roles in the WWE going forward. I am fans of both of them when they are used in the right context, but once you get past their imposing size these guys just aren't the same in the ring anymore. You have to suspend your disbelief to really enjoy a Pro Wrestling show, and when guys like Kane and Big Show wrestle anybody who operates at a different gear than they do, it amounts to a clunky match that feels like it's misfiring on a few cylinders.

Final Grade: B-

Angle 3: Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio

This Week's Successes: Rey Mysterio wrestled a very fun match with Ted Dibiase, and I was very impressed with what both guys showed in the ring. Rhodes and Dibiase wrestle similar styles, so I'm hoping we get a much expanded version of what we saw last night at WrestleMania 27. Cody Rhodes has now refuses to allow people to call him "Dashing", and has started to develop a much angrier dark character.

I am all for this, because with the loss of Dolph Ziggler, Smackdown needs a motivated and sinister young heel. With a new character comes a change in attitude and tactics in the ring, which Cody showed tonight by turning up the pace of his offense and even using his mask several times. I'm a fan of his new character, I just hope we get ot see more of it.

This Week's Failures: Well, the obvious thing is that these guys did not interact at all last night. No promos or backstage bickering or brawling at all. While I understand that WrestleMania is still two weeks away, it would be nice to see storylines flow forward in the ring rather than through video packages, which is basically what we got between these two on yesterday's show.

I'm probably picking nits to a degree here, but I really think Cody Rhodes needs to knock off the formal wear in the ring. I get that the departure from the Dashing character requires a new visual look, but new ring gear would suffice. I like Cody a lot, but the suit thing is played out. Jack Swagger did it after his World Title win, The Miz does it, and now Cody Rhodes. You're serious now. We get it, ok? Put your ring gear on, and for God's sake man get some knee pads.

Final Grade: C

Overall Show Grade: B

Overall Show Comments: Another strong edition of Smackdown. We got a lot more action in the ring tonight than we've seen the past few weeks, and much of it was very good. The Divas had a solid match, even though it was irrelevant to their WrestleManis storyline. Sheamus and Kofi Kingston put on one hell of a fine TV match with some great near falls and very stiff looking Brogue Kick for the finish.

The Corre managed to grab a hold of some heat and put themselves back on the map, and Michael Cole got some more ankle lock training for our amusement. If you have a few hours to kill, I'd highly recomment watching this show. The opening match between Edge and Brodus, Kofi and Sheamus, and the Main Event were all great TV matches that are getting more and more rare in this era of WWE programming.

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