Hardy’s Intensity: Jeff Hardy showed great fire in his post-match confrontation with Montel Vontavious Porter. It was the type of emotion and intensity that we aren’t used to seeing from Hardy. It was a short and to the point promo, telling MVP to never bring up his personal life again. What made the promo/threat work was how Hardy sold it. He was very believable. Maybe the real life demons that have plagued him in the past are motivating him to step up with his intensity and delivery here. Either way, this was a good way to follow-up on the feud that began last week.
Kennedy vs. Benjamin: This was a good match. It went a good length at 14 minutes, and never dragged. It had good back and forth action, and it told a story. Mr. Kennedy and Shelton Benjamin worked hard to tell the story of the match, as each worked on the other’s shoulder, while doing it in a compelling way. Jim Ross and Mick Foley were very good on commentary during the match, setting up how important it was for Kennedy to get the win, as he had fallen on hard times since coming to Smackdown. They made winning the match feel important, which it should be. That alone almost makes this match a Hit. They also did a good job of talking about Benjamin’s recent past, finally breaking a long title-less run. My only problem with the match is that Kennedy needed the win, but so did Benjamin so early in his run as United States Champion. It was an entertaining match that helped Kennedy, but it hurt Benjamin at the same time.
The Brian Kendrick: I am enjoying the new Brian Kendrick character. It has taken me a few weeks to comment on it, as I liked it at first, but thought WWE could have done a much better job of introducing his new attitude. But, they have done a better job since then. It was good to hear him get some mic time for the second week in a row. He sounded more confident on the mic this week. He has shown in the past his great athleticism and wrestling ability. He isn’t very big for a heel, but Ezekiel has a presence which makes up for it. I am happy to see Kendrick getting a push and look forward to seeing this new persona develop.
The Cutting Edge: This was easily one of my favorite wrestling segments of the year. Everything worked. Edge was great in his solo promo, looking back on his horrible last few weeks. It was a well written and very well delivered promo. Mick Foley was a good payoff as the “surprise guest” that we had been promised all night long. I like the fact that Foley had no idea he was the guest. As I have often mentioned that as a long time fan I enjoy the trips down memory lane when they show some classic footage, and that was the case with the 1998 Hell in a Cell video. Edge was great in his introduction of the video and in trying to convince Foley to help him figure out a way to defeat The Undertaker. Then came the best part of the segment, Foley’s response to Edge which literally (yes I mean “literally”) gave me goose bumps. This was Foley at his verbal best, reminding us all of just how good he is. This slow build in talking about the old Edge as opposed to the new Edge, with greater and greater intensity as it progressed was what gave me the chills, thinking about how Edge “made the letters TLC mean something.” Hearing Foley talk about the possibility of the old Edge vs. Undertaker in Hell in a Cell made me want to order SummerSlam more than anything else WWE has done to promote the PPV yet, and I doubt they will top it. Edge’s attack on Foley was very good also. Edge showed the type of intensity and aggression that Foley was talking about. It was a memorable beating. It was an extremely memorable scene.
SMACKDOWN MISSES
Hardy vs. Khali: This is an example of a match that didn’t need to be as long as it was. 11 minutes of The Great Khali beating on Hardy made me happy that at least there was a commercial break to keep things interesting. I just don’t need to see Khali ever wrestle, and certainly not for any length of time. It was a boring match. Another problem with the match is that Khali dominated Hardy for several minutes, but then Hardy hit two moves and looked to be on the verge of victory (again, after only two moves) if not for the distraction by MVP. The problem with that is that Khali is the #1 contender for Triple H’s WWE Championship. So, the #1 contender would have lost after dominating the match and only getting hit by two moves. That doesn’t make Triple H’s Title appear to be in any sort of jeopardy. Like Benjamin vs. Kennedy (without the quality wrestling), this was a match that was doomed from the start in terms of the outcome, because WWE couldn’t have Khali lose, but they couldn’t have Khali win clean either. It reminds me of many TNA matches over the years, and that is not a good thing.
Maria: I have never been impressed with Maria’s in ring skills. I will admit that she has improved some, but she isn’t any good. She had a purpose and a character that worked well for her for a long time on Raw. Her ditzy interviews were often (though not always) entertaining. She was better at that than at wrestling. This year, with her love story with Santino Marella, she dropped the character and became a very bland and generic WWE Diva. Now, she is on Smackdown and she appears to be the same bland and generic Diva. Having her wrestling isn’t going to help.
Abrupt Cut Away: After The Big Show squashed Domino, we got the predictable appearance by Umaga. I thing Show vs. Umaga could be good. It got off to a solid start last week with their interaction during the Battle Royale. Big Show sidewalk slamming Umaga was very impressive. I was curious to see what was going to happen as they had a stare down when Umaga came to the ring. Instead of actually seeing what happened, the Smackdown director abruptly cut away to Chavo and Vickie Guerrero in the back. It wasn’t like they were doing anything interesting. Why did they need to be shown right then? What happened in the ring? Did Show and Umaga come to blows? Did one of them back the other down? Did they shake hands? What happened?
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.
For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.
LATEST PRO WRESTLING TORCH NEWSLETTER #1039 (17 PAGES)
This issue begins with a cover story by Wade Keller who attended Brock Lesnar's first UFC victory on Saturday night in the semi-main event in front of a record-setting crowd in his hometown. Keller's BBL looks at Lesnar's place in MMA and in what ways he seems more comfortable than ever... Bruce Mitchell's Memo examines the dilemma of Chris Benoit and the Hall of Fame... Sean Radican reviews the two latest TNA DVD releases... In-depth coverage of the TNA Hard Justice PPV including Keller's match report with star ratings and the newsletter-exclusive Roundtable Reviews... Jason Powell's "Page 2 Buzz" with scoops and insider analysis... WWE Newswire, TNA Newswire, and ROH Newswire with insider news, big story analysis, and notebook tidbits... Plus Keller's reports on Raw, Smackdown, and Impact, the Top 5 Stories of the Week, and more....
