By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown Hits

Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan: Even though it felt like they held back a little, this was still a match worth seeing. Bryan showed why he is considered the best wrestler in the world, and Orton showed a technical side that was a nice change of pace. As good as the match was, the post match brawl between Orton and Big Show was better, and put good heat on those two heading into the Elimination Chamber. I worry about Bryan's heat though. The vegan gimmick isn't working, and I don't know what they can do to fix it.

Big Show and Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes: The opening segment set this up nicely, even if it was a little too busy for my taste. The match itself was ell done, with the nice surprise of Big Show doing the bulk of the selling for his team. No, it's not surprising that they wanted Sheamus to look good, just that Show had to sell so much, nor was it a bad surprise. I hate that Barrett had to take the loss here, but it's better than Cody taking the loss because I think there is more money in Cody that Barrett right now.

WWE Smackdown Misses

Farting: Enough. Seriously, enough.

Beth Phoenix and Tamina: This could be a big surprise, but I doubt it. The Divas haven't been taken seriously since Kharma found out she was with child. They have put Tamina over strong against the fart queen for a few weeks, but that doesn't mean she can go with Beth. Beth did a decent job of selling this here, but we've been conditioned like Pavlov's dogs not to care. So it's a miss.

AJ's interview: Even though it wasn't near as bad as our correspondent made it out to be, this still was not a good segment. AJ struggled at the beginning, but found her stride by the end of her part, only to have Cole act and idiot and Bryan come out to deliver another "vegan means I'm better than you" promo nobody cared about. They tried here, but the material itself doomed this segment from the strt.

Great Khali vs. Jinder Mahal: First of all, this feud has already played out with Mahal getting squashed, why do we have to see it again? Second, what in the hell is the big deal with Mahal's pre-match ceremony with his turban? The basic rule of storytelling is that if you show a gun, you have to fire the gun at some point. They go through all this trouble to show the box on the gold pedestal and have him go through the motions of a religious ceremony for...nothing. That kind of thing drives me crazy.

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