By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown Hits

Mark Henry: Any lingering doubts I had about Henry split when Henry looked at Teddy Long and said, "Did you take care of that?" He has learned that less is more and is easily doing the work of his career right now. He is completely believable as the monster heel, and his destruction of Kane and Big Show only added to the mystique. If you don't watch Smackdown, you are missing out.

Sheamus: Sheamus is being turned by the fans, and WWE has embraced it. I was concerned about it as he just screams natural heel, but he did a very good job of facing off with Henry. Smackdown is in need of additional babyfaces, so this is certainly a good move. And he's a big enough guy to be able to get a good match out of Henry as his first feud.

Tamina, Alicia Fox, and Rosa Mendes vs. AJ, Kaitlyn, and Natalya: Do not adjust your Internet, I actually have the Divas in the hits section. No, it was not a compelling match because there was nothing to compel us. It was, however, a well wrestled match. Goldust (a/k/a Dustin Rhodes) is the agent for the women now, and he cares about in-ring work. That shown through on this match. And while I still didn't care, it gives me hope for the future because we used to get bad matches while being uncompelled. Now, at least for this show, the match was good.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett: Not only was this segment a hit, but I think the feud will be as well. Bryan continues to improve on the mic every time I hear him, and Barrett can serve as a good foil for him to work with. On the other hand, Barrett needs a guy he can work with in the ring, and Bryan certainly offers that. A smart move all the way around for WWE.

WWE Smackdown Misses

Opening Segment: The opening segment wasn't bad as much as it was counterproductive. Christian was already having a hard time getting over, and Hunter just came through and steamrolled him. The R-Truth stuff was OK, but that's for another show, not this one. The only person that really looked good coming out of that segment was the non-wrestler. That's the definition of a miss.

Christian vs. John Morrison: I'm not sure why you would bring Morrison and Truth over to Smackdown only to have them job out. Especially when those two will be facing each other in a PPV match in just a couple of weeks. Morrison desperately needs to get over, and outing him against a weak opponent, who was just further weakened by Hunter, doesn't get it done. Morrison can get it done in the ring, no question. But that alone will not get him to the top in WWE. This was a fine match, but neither man gained anything coming out of it.

Randy Orton vs. R-Truth: This match had all the same problems as the opener, only reversed. Orton looks too strong and Truth looks like a fool for coming to Smackdown. But more than anything, I don't get why Orton is going crazy and killing people. Why would you have your top babyface get disqualified again? I understand that opens the door for him to destroy Christian at SummerSlam, but can we get a little suspense, please?

Zack Ryder: I've been waiting a long time to see Zack Ryder on my TV, and when I got him, I wasn't impressed. Ryder has good comedic timing, but either he was having an off night or they didn't let him really show it. I'm reserving judgment on the character until I see more. But his first shot at it was definitely a miss.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: