WWE Smackdown Hits

Announcing Undertaker vs. C.M. Punk for next week: With the four-way for the title already in place for the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, I thought it was cool to announce a big main event for next week. Of course, the live crowd always gets deflated when a title match is announced for another show, but they were pretty hot for Rey Mysterio, so maybe they didn’t mind too badly. Of course, they probably minded the overall show.

Opening segment with Chris Jericho and Kane: Kane is one of those guys who will always be over. He was WWE Champ for one day, but he has credibility with the crowd. Imagine another upper mid card lifer come out and demand to be a team captain? Kane may not be a World Champion ever again, but he still fills a nice role for WWE. By the way, Jericho’s promos are redundant, but I love them.

Mickie James and Beth Phoenix target Michelle McCool: Solid segment here with the divas as it was important (at least to this viewer) to establish the two new acquisitions. I love how Mickie and Beth both staked their claim to being the best diva in WWE. I love that Beth said she wants Michelle’s title instead of just teaming with her in throwaway tag team matches.

Captain Lou Albano graphic: Nice job by WWE to acknowledge Albano on their website and Smackdown television show. RIP.

WWE Smackdown Misses

Rey Mysterio vs. Batista: This just never clicked from the start for me. The crowd was hot for Mysterio and I like that he made comments about becoming World Champion again in the future. Beyond that, the match was just blah to me (and that was the in-ring theme for the night). Basic formula match that saw Batista dominate, Rey play the underdog, and Mysterio get the surprise win. I did like Punk’s attack on Mysterio afterward.

Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty: Despite the start-stop nature of the Hart’s first WWE push, they could have righted every wrong by having them win their way onto the Smackdown team. Instead, they pretty much lost a very long feud with Cryme Tyme. Cryme Tyme is a fun act that is over with the crowd, but the Harts are the long term stars. Of course, if Bret Hart came back and sided with the Dynasty, they would be instantly elevated.

Drew McIntyre vs. R-Truth: Drew gets a rare miss from me this week. I like that they gave him an actual feud and didn’t just throw him in a bunch of matches. However, I’m just not feeling this program and hope they move both guys onto something else asap.

Eric Escobar vs. Matt Hardy: I had hopes for Eric and he just didn’t do much to impress. Of course, he is now on the Smackdown PPV team. Matt sure seems to be in an odd spot right now. As for the match, if you cannot have a good match with Matt Hardy, you need some work. I just wasn’t into Escobar’s offense.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox: Well, Ziggler should be on the team for Bragging Rights, but Knox should be there too. Notice that every miss on this show was a match, and this one led it off. I feel even Ziggler has lost a lot of momentum and oddly enough, I think Mysterio’s suspension hurt him, because I think he would have eventually won the Intercontinental Championship from him.

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