Shore's WWE Smackdown Hitlist: Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton hits, CM Punk vs. Dean Ambrose is better but still misses, Bad News Barrett, Ryback and Curtis Axel

By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown Hits

Daniel Bryan promo: I agree with Zack Zimmerman (who stepped in and covered Smackdown this week, thanks!): where the hell was this promo a few months ago? In some respects, this promo could be a miss just because of the timing. But I'm making it a Hit because I don't think this was done randomly. I think maybe Bryan gets the undisputed title at WrestleMania. That would be a good way in the company's eyes to make him top dog, though they could have accomplished the same thing earlier this year.

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton: A good match to close out a fairly entertaining show. They spent a lot of time talking about the Slammy's so it seemed like a news worthy show even if it really wasn't. Bryan and Orton may not be the best match of the night (in an interesting twist) but they were the biggest Hit of the night. The post-match promo by Wyatt also added an interesting air to the final moments of the show and covered Bryan's loss very well.

Goldust and Cody Rhodes vs. Curtis Axel and Ryback: Axel and Ryback are a surprise for me. They aren't great, but they are a much better tag team than I would have thought. Of course the Rhodes boys haven't had anything but Hits since winning the tag titles. It’s a shame WWE doesn't see the value in tag teams as they have a decent roster of them right now and may have found a way to give a lift to Ryback and Axel when they desperately need it.

WWE Smackdown Misses

CM Punk vs. Dean Ambrose: This was probably the best match of the night and in almost every case would be a Hit. But I hate hypocrites more than anything so I try very hard not to be one and I would be one if I made this a Hit. Why? Because the mid-card champion lost to a star in a non-title match that shouldn't have happened. There's a little cover here since Punk is in a feud with the Shield, but they have to do a better job of protecting their champions. If you need a Punk vs. Shield match here, and you absolutely want to protect Reigns, then you have to send Rollins out there to take the fall, not your US Champion. That's why this ultimately ends up in the miss column.

Dissension in the Shield: The impending implosion of the Shield is happening too fast for this viewer's liking. They can make each of these guys the individual stars they want them to be and still have them run as a group for a while longer. The two things do not have to be mutually exclusive. When they break up, people are going to want it to be a big deal, and it just doesn't feel like we've had enough time to make it seem like a big deal just yet.

Bad News Barrett: What a waste of talent this is. Give Barrett a microphone, some talking points, and a real feud in the ring and get out of the way WWE. This isn’t rocket science.