Shore's WWE Smackdown Hitlist: John Cena vs. Ryback surprises, but Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio stinks, Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper delights, as does The Funkadactyls vs. AJ and Tamina, Curtis Axel vs. CM Punk misses

By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown Hits

John Cena vs. Ryback: A surprising TV main event Hit that actually exceeded their matches from earlier this year. A lot of this was WWE's camera work, but that's true of many good matches in WWE today. Do not mistake that as saying Cena and Ryback didn’t pull their weight here; they absolutely did. Ryback used his power well and Cena bumped around for him like he did for Sandow. Cena has the ability to sell in the ring enough to make him a credible babyface in peril. It’s a shame that doesn’t translate to his promos.

Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper: I didn't like the finish or the post-match save by CM Punk, but this match was as good as I thought it would be and a definite Hit. Luke Harper is a very talented big man and Daniel Bryan is Daniel Bryan. Bryan is still stuck in that main event move loop a little, but I thought he broke out of it enough and he certainly meshed well with Harper. If these two teams do work a match at Survivor Series I will be anticipating this pairing again to see what they are capable of doing with the shackles taken off.

The Funkadactyls vs. AJ and Tamina: Another pleasant surprise and Hit on this show. Naomi's athleticism was well known, but I was very impressed with Cameron this time, especially when she was in the ring with Tamina. Tamina played her part perfectly, and AJ was AJ. This wasn't just good by Divas standards, it was just good. It's a shame the women don't have the personalities to make this match meaningful

WWE Smackdown Misses

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena: Everything about this segment was a miss. Del Rio's promo was lame and weak. Cena's promo was his shitty Chuckles the Clown shtick. And Vickie Guerrero's unexciting match announcement was strike three. I wish there was something nice to say about this but there isn't. Everything about it was bad.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Great Khali: Continuing the miss of the talking segment just before this match, Del Rio and Khali wrestled a match so bad I zoned out and when I zoned back in, they were doing the EXACT same moves from the moment I zoned out. How bad is a match when you can’t even get lost in your own mind while watching it?

Curtis Axel vs. CM Punk: This is more of a miss than the previous two things which were just plain bad. Axel and Punk wrestled an OK match, but we've seen it a million times already, and Cutis Axel just doesn't have the personality to make him seem like a credible threat to Punk. Punk's paint by numbers opening promo didn't do anything to really help this match either.