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Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (8.0)

As the great Judge Smails would say, "top notch, top notch!" Smackdown is everything that Raw is not and I love it for that. The few negatives in this show were easily overshadowed by the big positives.

On the negative side, we had a divas match that painful but at least was kept short. Khali vs. Dolph Ziggler is another feud that I hope has run it's course, but I get the feeling hasn't because of how the match ended tonight. I really think Ziggler does have some potential but needs to get in the ring with someone that can actually, you know, wrestle! The 6-man tag match wasn't necessarily terrible, but following what could possibly be the best TV match of the year so far in Edge vs. Morrison makes it fall into the "lows" of the show.

The rest of the show was exciting both in and out of the ring. The "cross pollination" of the Hardy vs. Punk and Jericho vs. Mysterio storylines was great tonight. I really think that the writing is on the wall for CM Punk to turn heel and it probably should've happened tonight at the top of show. I can forgive it though because I guess it is nice to see WWE take their time and string things out a little more. Smackdown has done a much better job of doing that than Raw in the past so many months too. Having Mysterio put his mask on the line for the IC Title is a GOOD thing. I do expect Mysterio to win back the IC Title because I don't think WWE (at least because it's on the Smackdown side that doesn't make many mistakes) will make the same mistake that WCW did with Rey. Putting Mysterio's "heritage" on the line for the IC Championship does nothing but elevate the title and that is a good thing (said w/ my best DDP smile).

The highlight of the night (for me) was the John Morrison vs. Edge match though. These two guys had a hell of a match! This is the type of match that I think most people would pay to see and we got it on Smackdown for free. If this isn't a sign that Morrison is ready to break through the glass ceiling to the main event level, then I don't know what is. I'd love to see a series of matches with these two for the next few months until after the Hardy/Punk feud dies out. Then, it should be time for Morrison to get his main event push.

I really had trouble not making this show an 8.5 or a 9, but I don't want to come making it look like Smackdown is that much better than every other wrestling show on TV (although I believe it is, w/ the exception of ROH because I don't receive HD Net in my area, so I can't judge it). Maybe I am very biased towards Smackdown these days, but for my money (or the money not needed because it's on network TV) it's the best wrestling show on TV right now.

Brian Hoops, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

Another solid show from the Smackdown brand. If you like to watch a program with solid to great wrestling matches combined with interesting verbal confrontations and simple, easy to follow storylines, then you need to invest two hours in watching Smackdown. Chris Jericho continues to show why he was the MVP of the WWE last year and is ahead of everyone in 2009 for the same award. Edge and Morrison were both great and it should help to elevate Morrison by hanging with Edge on the mic and in the ring. The CM Punk persona is evolving and has my interest as to which direction the character will end up.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

Two stand-out matches, but not much else on the show this week. John Morrison continues to impress me week-in and week-out with his in-ring work. It's only a matter of time (or injury) before he gets bumped into the main events. Punk vs. Mysterio was another entertaining match and I like what they're doing with Punk's character right now. Shades of gray doesn't always work, but it is working here.

Jericho vs. Hardy, at just over five minutes, wasn't much to get excited about. Nothing else on the show really stood out either. Ziggler vs. Khali and the six-man match were just kinda there. Melina vs. Alicia Fox was shorter than the usual women's matches and the mic work on the show was OK. But it was still good enough to get a thumbs-up.

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