Shore's WWE Smackdown Hitlist: A weak Smackdown leads to only one hit and several misses

By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown Huts

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: On a rare four match night, the main event had no problem stealing the show. The match was a little formulaic. Orton loves to battle into the crowd for some reason, but it didn't have that "paint by number" feel about it either. Barrett took yet another loss, not that it was any real surprise. But they may have damaged this guy beyond repair at this point because he never goes over on a major feud, and therefore has no heat. There wasn't a whole lot of choice with Orton's return, but this guy needs a winning streak something bad.

WWE Smackdown Misses

Overall Show: Seriously, one hit is all I could find. Not that everything was a disaster, but it just wasn't very good. You can usually count on Smackdown to have at least a hot open and close. The hot close happened, but the opening segment was weak and overbooked, and the middle of the show dragged on and on. Not a good week at all for the blue brand.

Opening Segment: Besides the fact that Teddy Long flubs more lines than me (OK, not really), the whole segment was just poorly done. Henry's appearance added no fire, and the suspension was the weakest thing I have ever seen on WWE TV. Then you have Sheamus come out to bury him with an unnecessary Brogue kick, and THEN you have Cody Rhodes come out for an impromptu match. Too many things going on for the segment to have been good.

Natalya Farts: This is the last time I write about this ignorant angle unless I have to. It's not that it's Natty or even the continued disrespect to the Divas. It's just not funny. If it was, I might forgive it. But it isn't. Vince got his laugh, I'm sure. The rest of us grown ups (and I include anybody over 12 here) don't find it amusing.

Daniel Bryan: Bryan's promo wasn't very good this week. He's been solid the past few weeks, but not here. I know he's trying to imitate CM Punk's preachy character to some degree, but it just didn't work on this night. Nor do I think it will work as a whole. Eating meat is nothing like drinking or smoking or doing drugs, so it's not going to get the same reaction from the crowd. Big Show helped some, but it felt like the same old stuff from them. AJ improved the moment nicely, but it was too little, too late by that point.

Cody Rhodes vs. Sheamus: The match itself wasn't poorly wrestled, but once again, the ending was never in doubt. There is a difference between appreciating the art of wrestling and liking a match. Here, both men showed what they can do in the ring, and the match built nicely. But knowing the ending ruins it, and anybody who didn't know Sheamus was going over is either willfully or tragically ignorant. So a good match, but still a miss overall.