By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Opening Segment: This was a bit longer than it should have been, but it featured some good mic work from Chris Jericho, Edge and CM Punk. It was a good way to establish Jericho on Smackdown. It also established that Edge is the new World Champion. The tension between them was good. I know some people wanted to see them as a team, but I like the idea that they each want to be the top guy on the show. By the way, Edge's line about how Jericho's "angry man in a suit routine" was one of the best lines of the year. Punk came out and it was interesting to watch as Jericho, then Edge refused to let him speak, until he forced the issue. He set up the main event and the idea that he was planning on cashing in Money in the Bank at the end of the night. In the end, despite it going on too long, it accomplished the main goal that it had, to make the fans want to watch the rest of the show.

Fatal Four-Way: I'm glad that WWE changed its mind and switched the #1 contender match from a Scramble to a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match. I'm not a big fan of the scramble gimmick, although I think it might work better for a #1 contendership than for a Championship, but that is a discussion for another time. I liked that this was elimination style. The match went over 17 minutes. There were two commercials, but we still got to see 10 or 11 minutes of good wrestling action, particularly once it came down to Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy at the end. But, the early moments of Kane dominating were well done too. My problem with the match was the middle section and how Jericho was booked in the match (more later). But, on the whole, it was still a Hit-worthy match with the right outcome.

Edge vs. Punk: I don't get jobbing Punk to Kane at Backlash. In light of his challenge at the start of Smackdown and his main event match vs. Edge, I would think a strong win over Kane would have been a better decision, especially considering that Punk got a clean victory over the World Champion. We know the bookers (are they still called bookers in WWE?) changed their minds over the #1 contender match, so maybe they had no idea what was going to happen on Smackdown when they decided to have Kane beat Punk. Ok, I'm off on a tangent. I should be focusing on the fact that Edge vs. Punk was a good wrestling match. They worked well together and put on a match that when back and forth and built well to the end. The idea that Punk might cash in Money in the Bank right after the match was a nice hook that the announcers fed into throughout the match.

Umaga: It was good to see Umaga return. Hopefully, he is fully healthy and can stay healthy because he can be a big plus to this roster as the #3 heel after Edge and Jericho. I assumed early in the show that Jericho would interfere setting up a feud between him and Punk. It became clear that WWE was going a different route when he had his altercation with John Morrison. That left the main event as a huge question mark. You had to figure Punk wasn't going to win the World Title, but you also had to figure that he wasn't going to fail in his Money in the Bank opportunity. This was a nice surprise that worked well to keep Punk from cashing in his Title shot, while also keeping his promise to the fans alive, as he clearly planned on doing it. Umaga vs. Punk has potential.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Morrison vs. Benjamin: This match confused me. Why were two heels wrestling? Why did WWE put on a match between two talented workers who have gotten pretty good pushes lately and give the match less than 3 minutes? Why did Shelton Benjamin take the loss in such an easy way? I'm all for giving John Morrison a bigger push. I am withholding judgment on whether or not he will make a good babyface (presuming that they are turning him face based on this match and his later backstage altercation with Jericho). But, this match could have been a PPV match if built right. It at least should have been a showcase of what both can do in the ring and should have been given more time. Benjamin losing after a long match wouldn't have hurt him the way this does, where he looked like a jobber.

Jericho's Actions in Four-Way: I have a fan who leave comments complaining about how I often put something in both the Hit and the Miss columns. This fan doesn't understand that I can like something on the whole, while still having a complaint about it. I can like a match and think it was good enough to get a Hit, while still not liking something about it (the ending, the outcome, the fact that it was given away for free when it should have been saved for a PPV, etc.). In this case, the Fatal Four-Way was good enough to get a Hit, and three of the four wrestlers involved looked good, but the fourth, Chris Jericho looked like an idiot. I wasn't happy earlier in the match when Kane broke up the Walls of Jericho to attempt a chokeslam. Why not let Jericho eliminate one of the competitors? It was even worse when Jericho pulled Hardy off of Kane after the swanton bomb just to pin Kane himself. I guess an argument can be made that he is an egomaniac who wanted to eliminate everyone himself, but Jericho has been cast as a smart heel. He was totally stupid for pulling Hardy off of Kane and allowing Kane time to possibly recover. He still was able to get the pin, but that made Kane look week for not kicking out at that point. Then, Jericho continued to look like a fool for using the chair right in front of the referee. He came across as an idiot which is unfortunate.

Brooklyn Breakdown: This was just stupid. Cryme Tyme wasn't particularly good on the mic in their first official night on Smackdown. I don't care to see dance contests ever really, but especially during a wrestling show. The writers just don't put much thought into the Divas, do they? They want a feud between Eve and Layla, and all they can come up with is that Layla was upset that Eve won a dance contest. That is ridiculous. Besides, I don't want to see these two wrestle each other. They need to be working with better wrestlers to help elevate them. I can only imagine how ugly this match will be when it happens.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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