Shore's WWE Smackdown Hitlist: CM Punk and Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan and The Miz is the only hit match, Hype for WrestleMania is huge miss

By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown Hits

CM Punk and Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan and The Miz: This match was very good, if a little misplaced. I understand the combo tag match for main events, but with Miz serving in place of Chris Jericho here, the match didn't have the impact it should have. Still, it was well wrestled and entertaining. I'm not sure why Miz was made to look so good at the Elimination Chamber only to be booked as a paperweight since, but it continues to frustrate me.

Daniel Bryan and AJ promo: I thought Sheamus killed the heat on this, but AJ and Bryan did a good job to open the show. AJ carried the most weight, and I thought our correspondents were off about her being off. Yes, she seemed to be reciting lines instead of speaking organically, but I think that was the point. She was obviously saying what Bryan wanted her to say. For that to sound forced not only makes sense, but shows great nuance in storytelling that you usually don't see in wrestling. Could it have been dumb luck? Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that this segment was a hit unil Sheamus hit the ring.

WWE Smackdown Misses

WrestleMania hype: They replayed Undertaker, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels. Sheamus talked smack (poorly, might I add) for 20 seconds. Cody Rhodes attacked Big Show and ran. Randy Orton hit an RKO on Kane. That's the entirety of the build for WrestleMania. No, the Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny matches are not build. Not even the overbooked mess of the Dolph Ziggler win then loss qualifies. WWE pissed away close to two hours of hype time. That's the epitome of a miss.

Overall Show: Not only did the show fail to hype Mania, it failed to even entertain. None of the matches, besides the main event, lasted long enough to get into. Most were squash or enhancement matches. Swagger and Ryder had a shot, but it was squeezed into four minutes with an overbooked finish. Smackdown is floundering right now. WrestleMania needs to be over so Vince can forget he has a show on Friday nights.