By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Opening Segment: The first WWE broadcast of 2009 was a pretty good episode of Smackdown, which started off pretty well. It wasn't a great opening segment, but it was good. It was interesting to see Vickie Guerrero walking, without a neck brace, and in a good mood. It was a bit of a different performance from her until Triple H came out and I liked the change of pace. I could do without the lame fat jokes, but Triple H was funny this week. The crowd was right with him as he tried to get Vickie to name him to the Royal Rumble. The bit about the action figure was amusing if not a little disturbing. Triple H was particularly funny with his Vickie impression with the figure. It also started the recurring bit about the nude photos which played out nicely in some later back stage scenes.

Heel McCool: It is a work in progress, but so far so good on the Michelle McCool heel turn. I like her more as a heel than as a babyface. She did a solid job during her interview with Eve Torres. Her beat down of Eve later in the show was very well done. She looked strong in taking her frustrations out on Eve. She needs someone better than Maria to feud with, but at least she seems to be embracing the new role.

Jesse & Festus vs. Kendrick & Ezekiel: This was a fun 5 minute tag match to get some momentum back on the side of The Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson. It was interesting how Festus hurt his knee. He just tweaked it in a way that didn't look like it would hurt. Some might say that this was bad, but I liked it. In real sports, athletes get hurt all the time in ways that don't look painful. I've seen guys tear their ACL's in baseball just running to first base. So a big guy like Festus tweaking a knee in such a simple manner is believable. It also isn't a long term injury, so why have it look like one? It was also interesting to see big Ezekiel take advantage of the injury and work on a body part. We keep seeing glimpses of him in the ring and he continues to be impressive.

Edge's Promo: Edge got in some good mic work before the main event tag match. His promo was short but very effective. He showed that his is one of the better talkers in WWE right now. He does a great job of getting heat from the live crowd. The "who beat up Jeff Hardy?" angle hasn't been very good, but at least Edge did a nice job of keeping it in the minds of the fans.

Edge & Big Show vs. Hardys: This was a good main event tag match to end a good episode of Smackdown. It is always fun to watch Matt and Jeff Hardy teaming up. I was glad that the announcers didn't overplay the uncommon nature of them teaming as they have in the past. Let's face it, they team up together fairly frequently, which is fine as long as the announcers don't treat it like it is infrequent (say the way they always act when DX "reunites for one night only"). The match itself featured plenty of good wrestling action. It made sense to have Matt take the prolonged beating as Jeff needs to be protected more as a newer Champion, plus this is Jeff's show. It was interesting to see The Big Show walk out on the match. There was a bit of dissension between him and Edge earlier, but nothing happened during the match itself. It will be interesting to see where things go from here, but some type of explanation needs to be given next week. The ending was fun and gave the fans a nice treat to see the Hardy finish off Edge in a strong fashion.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

"Samoan Fighting Machine": I am looking forward to the return of Umaga, and I suspect it will be in the Royal Rumble match itself. But, I am not happy with how Jim Ross has referred to him after his videos the last two weeks. I can't recall exactly what Ross called him last week, but I do recall not liking it. This week, he called him "the Samoan fighting machine" which is way too similar to Samoa Joe's nickname of the "Samoan submission machine." It sounds generic and cheesy. What happened to the Samoan Bulldozer? That was a good nickname that fit well with Umaga.

Khali & Finlay: I did not like seeing the pairing of Finlay and The Boogeyman on ECW this week, but at least the writers sort of gave an explanation as to why they were teaming. This week, there was no explanation at all for why Finlay and The Great Khali were a team. What's the deal? I don't think every match has to have a back story. Sometimes two wrestlers are just facing each other. But, there should be a reason why two random wrestlers are put together in a tag team match.

Helms Loses Again: Whatever momentum Hurricane Helms had coming off the disabled list seems to be gone now. He had plenty of momentum and he had a very good showing in his United States Championship match last week vs. Shelton Benjamin, but he still lost clean in the end. This week, he didn't even look good in losing to Vladimir Kozlov. If Kozlov is going to continue to get a push, I like seeing him get a win over a more established star like Helms. However, Helms was a poor choice so soon after his come back and a week after taking a loss. He seems worth protecting more at this point.

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.

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt