Smackdown Hits

Chris Jericho vs. MVP: This match stole the show and that's becoming a trend for both wrestlers. Jericho is really on a roll now that he's managed to shake the rust off and move on from his awkward feud with JBL. Meanwhile, MVP's stock is rising in WWE. I didn't even mind the finish because it came across like MVP was desperate and got himself disqualified to avoid losing. It would have been frustrating if Jericho had been chasing the title or if both belts had been on the line, but it was a non-title match and the finish played into MVP's heel character.

C.M. Punk vs. John Morrison: It was nice to see these two get more time than a typical television match. The action was really good late in the match and I dug the finishing sequence with Punk slipping out of Morrison's finisher and hitting the GTS. Morrison's character comes across so one dimensional on television, which is a shame because he does some really funny stuff on "The Dirt Sheet" on WWE.com. Of course, that doesn't mean he can cut good heel promos, but it does show that he's capable of doing more than they let him do on television.

Smackdown Misses

Edge and Undertaker segment: No, I'm not going to bitch about Vickie Guerrero being asked to take part in a funeral skit. She's a big girl and she could speak up if the segment bothered her for any reason. Rather, I'm disappointed that WWE went with such a tired gimmick as the final hype for WrestleMania 24. We've all seen Taker pop out of the casket before and I'm sure we'll see it again. I realize it's a staple of Taker's act, but I expected something a lot hotter heading into the big show on Sunday.

Furthermore, I hated the way the focus was placed on Taker's streak rather than the World Hvt. Title. Edge's generic promo focussed on ending Taker's streak, and Taker doesn't talk enough to put over his desire to win the belt, so the title feels secondary heading into this match. The streak is a nice gimmick, but it's not worth putting ahead of the title.

Floyd Mayweather and Big Show match rules announcement: A crawler with the tacky production look of a '70s UHF station? For a minute there I even thought my local CW affiliate was going into business for themselves because it just looked so cheap and did not live up to the usual WWE production standards. I'm all for adding a little spice to the final episode of Smackdown, but WWE would have been better off having Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman post-produce their commentary so that they could have at least reacted to the announcement and put over the match stipulations.

No Ric Flair: I realize Flair worked a dark match main event, but why not give the guy one more match or even an appearance on Smackdown? I think the world could have lived without the four-man battle royal match or the water fight match if one of those segments had been replaced by one final Nature Boy promo heading into the pay-per-view.

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