Smackdown Hitlist: Edge, Batista, and Festus, plus the trend of destroying the tag team division continues

Smackdown Hits

Edge vs. Funaki: This was an old school heel champion vs. jobber television match. Edge was cocky from start to finish. He gave Funaki a couple of hope spots when he got too cocky, but never lost control of the match. Maybe I’m just being sentimental, but I really liked this throwback squash match because it let Edge look dominant and gave him a chance to taunt Taker by mocking his mannerisms and performing his finisher. Squash matches are generally used to showcase debuting wrestlers or treated as filler these days, but Edge probably got more out of this match than he would have out of a competitive match with a mid-card wrestler.

Jesse and Festus: Festus’s act is really getting over with the live crowds. I’m not sure how long it can last because the formula to the duo’s matches is painfully obvious. Festus flips when the bell rings, then Jesse tags in and sells until he makes the hot tag. Nevertheless, the crowds are popping for Festus’s act and they react positively to some of his power moves. I can’t imagine where Jesse would be without Festus, but he does a good job with what’s asked of him on the mic.

Video game opening: This grabbed my attention and was for a one-week gimmick. It’s not something I’d want to see every week, but it was pretty cool to see just how realistic the graphics for the video game are and how well it captured the mannerisms and entrance of Batista.

Smackdown Misses

Batista squashes Deuce and Domino: I really don’t have a problem with Batista squashing these guys since they’ve been established as glorified jobbers over the last few months. However, I am tired of watching WWE destroy its tag team division by having three different teams lose squash matches in the last eight days.

Overall show: This might seem odd given that there are more “Hits” than “Misses.” There are generally a few things I like about Smackdown every week and there are rarely things I dislike enough to list as “Misses.” The problem is that the overall show just comes across second rate. Raw generally leaves me excited about WrestleMania, whereas Smackdown just hasn’t captured the spirit of the big event. Of course, it doesn’t really help matters that only a few Smackdown wrestlers will appear in the major WrestleMania matches.