By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

Like last year, I find myself with way too many Hits and Misses for 2009 to try to cram them all into one long article. Thus, I start my look back on the year that was with the good from 2009. There were too many great matches, promos and individual moments to list them all. Therefore, while I will point out the best of the best moments, I am focusing on larger issues here. I am lifting up the performers who had good years. I am highlighting the storylines and feuds that worked well in 2009. There is a lot to cover, and I undoubtedly overlooked some feuds or wrestlers or angles. I hope you enjoy this positive look back at the last 12 months.

2009 HITS

Michelle McCool: McCool turned heel in late 2008 and it was a good thing. Her run as a heel on Smackdown has been one of the few (if only) consistencies among the Divas in all WWE in 2009. She plays a good heel. She has done a nice job with a series of different partners (Layla playing the most recent). An injury slowed her down in the middle of the year and at the end she is being hampered by the Piggie James stuff. However, her performance as she grew into a good heel should be commended.

Michaels - JBL Angle Ends: I was not a fan of this storyline. However, the worst of the story came in the last few months of 2008. The better part came in the first few months of this year. John Bradshaw Layfield's anger over his employee Shawn Michaels' inability to help him become the WWE Champion before WrestleMania built nicely over the weeks. This led to a great match between Michaels and John Cena on a January Raw. It continued to build as JBL ultimately gave a job performance to Michaels and challenged him to a "winner take all" type match for No Way Out. The feud built nicely to Michaels finally winning his freedom and the mostly bad angle came to an end on a good note.

Legacy: There were some definite bumps in the road for Randy Orton's stable of second generation wrestlers. There were various teases of who would be involved. Most of that didn't work well. But, once the group was cleared of the likes of Manu and Sim Snuka and settled on the membership of Orton, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes, Legacy could go on to have a good year. There continued to be ups and downs, but there were more ups than downs, and in 2010 both Rhodes and DiBiase seem to be on the verge of big things.

Swagger on ECW: Jack Swagger became the ECW Champion in January and that led to a good first half of the year for young Swagger. He carried the Title well on Tuesday nights. He continued to develop, both in the ring and on the mic. He was given a chance to show his great potential and to make a case for eventually being drafted to Raw or Smackdown to step up into a larger role with the company. Unfortunately, I believe that jump came too soon and he has since been lost in the shuffle on Raw. However, he did good things as ECW Champion before being moved. He also had a great match against John Cena as a special guest on Raw before the draft.

Mike Knox: I became a fan of Knox in 2009. It all started on a Raw in January when he gave an interview with Todd Grisham before a match against Rey Mysterio. He gave a great understated performance that made me want to hear more from him. Unfortunately, it would take a long time before WWE would deliver much more, but Knox's evil kinesiologist character on Smackdown in the second half of the year was a lot of fun.

Randy Orton: I already mentioned his forming Legacy, but I would be remised if I didn't hold up Orton for his great work throughout the year as the top heel in WWE. He had some very memorable moments early in the year with his feud against the McMahon family, like when he punted Vince McMahon. He had a few runs as WWE Champion. He had an overly long feud with John Cena, that still produced some very good matches, mostly on PPV. He played his part well as a mentor for DiBiase and Rhodes. Later in the year he got involved in one of the best feuds of 2009 with Kofi Kingston (more later). His work in 2009 has been so strong that there have been times when the fans have actually rallied behind him. There is a decent sized part of the audience that wants to cheer for him which is a testament to the work he has done.

Christian vs. Swagger: I gave Swagger a Hit for his work on ECW early in the year, but I want to specifically bring up the fact that once Christian debuted about a month into the year, the two of them had a good series of matches feuding over the ECW Title. It allowed Swagger a chance to have some longer tv matches and it reminded the WWE fans of how good Christian can be in the ring as well.

Michaels vs. Undertaker: I know I said in the introduction that I am not going to focus on individual matches during 2009 as there are too many Hit worthy matches from the year. However, I have to bring up the best match of the year, Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker from WrestleMania 25. I won't go into detail here on the match itself. We all saw it. We all know how great it was. But, I do want to point out that the build for the match was very well done too. After a rocky start, WWE got back on track pretty quickly with a verbal exchange between the two on Raw which really put the match into proper context. Moving forward, there were other good moments, particularly Michaels' special appearance on Smackdown when he dressed all in white. That was very strong work and it all led up to the Match of the Year.

Unifying the Tag Titles: I would love to see Raw and Smackdown have deep tag team rosters with both shows having their own Tag Team Titles like they used to. However, given how WWE treated the tag divisions in the past, it just made sense to unify the Titles and have one set of Champions who can defend the Titles on any show. The build towards the unification match between Miz & Morrison and the Colon brothers was quite good. I was hugely disappointed that the match took place before the WrestleMania broadcast. However, the unified Title concept worked well and allowed for Chris Jericho to appear on Raw for most of the year which was good. His teams with Edge and Big Show were enjoyable to watch develop. That was a result of unifying the gold.

Steamboat Returns to the Ring: One of the highlights of WrestleMania was getting to see Ricky the Dragon Steamboat return to the ring. While I wasn't thrilled on the whole with the storyline involving Steamboat, the other legends, Mickey Rourke and Chris Jericho, I did like the fact that this legend got a chance to show a new generation of fans what made him so special in his prime. He is older and obviously not what he once was, but he still performed well in a few matches which were enjoyable to watch.

John Morrison in the Ring: John Morrison gave consistently the best matches in 2009, especially on free tv. He was involved early on in some good tag matches with The Miz. But, he will be remembered this year for good, very good, and great singles matches starting with an 18 minute match of the year candidate against Evan Bourne on ECW in April. I didn't count to know for sure, but I believe I gave more of his matches Hits this year than any other wrestler. He had memorable matches on ECW, Smackdown and Superstars against wrestlers like CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Tyson Kidd, Dolph Ziggler and Edge. His Intercontinental Title win over Rey Mysterio on Smackdown was one of the top three WWE matches this year (at the very least when you look at non-gimmick matches).

Superstars: In April 2009, WWE introduced us to the newest version of Superstars and on the whole, it was a Hit. Sure, six + hours of primetime programming a week is a bit much. And sure, there have been ho-hum and even bad episodes of the show. But for the most part, it has been fun to watch. As I have said before, the show is at its best when it has three matches, two of which get two-segments. That formula was used more often than not. Superstars gave a chance for some undercard and midcard wrestlers to get some in ring time on tv that they weren't getting on their show (especially Raw). There were quite a few really good matches on Superstars this year (Undertaker vs. Benjamin, Mysterio vs Benjamin, Jericho vs. Punk, Jericho vs. Morrison and Swagger vs. MVP to name a few). It enhanced my enjoyment of WWE tv.

Brand Split After the Draft: For the most part, WWE did a very good job with keeping the brands separate after the April Draft. The brand split was nonexistent before the draft and got a bit blurry (in some cases very blurry) in the last few months. However, April through September or so was the best WWE has done in the last few years of keeping the brand split strong, thus making what show a wrestler is on seem important . They set up the Unified Tag Champions as being able to appear on multiple shows, which allowed for a reasonable amount of inter-brand mingling. Keeping the brands separate made a special appearance by Undertaker on Raw late in the year seem like a big deal.

Miz Challenges John Cena: One of the highlights of the first half of the year on Raw was the series of promos from The Miz calling out John Cena. This was a big step for Miz whom I thought would be lost on Raw without John Morrison. I was wrong and I am glad. He showed very good mic skills, charisma and confidence in these promos which were all entertaining. The ultimate pay off when he was squashed by Cena was disappointing. But, part of that disappointment is because the build to the match was done so well to create anticipation for seeing Miz elevated. Ultimately he had a strong year becoming the United States Champion.

Dreamer's Chase for Gold: One of the highlights of the first half of 2009 for ECW was Tommy Dreamer's attempt to become ECW Champion. He declared that he would retire in June when his contract came up if he had not yet become the Champion. It made for good tv. It was pushed to the back burner almost right away which was unfortunate. However, WWE went back to it eventually and it ended up working very well. Dreamer gave some very good performances leading up to his possible retirement. His interaction with both Jack Swagger and Christian were good and memorable leading to his eventual run as ECW Champ.

Mysterio vs. Jericho: This spring and summer saw a good feud on Smackdown between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho. I was not a fan of the mask gimmick, but the strength of this feud was not in the storylines (although those were ok for the most part). The strength of this feud was the in ring action between these two ultra talented workers. Mysterio and Jericho had a great series of matches. This was one of those rare occasions where two wrestlers keep facing each other multiple times but nobody complains about it getting redundant. Everyone just enjoyed the show.

Punk Cashes in Money in the Bank on Hardy: I enjoyed CM Punk's ambiguous character that ultimately developed into his current heel character more than the heel character itself. Not that I don't like it, I just really liked how he played that tweener role for awhile. It all started when he cashed in Money in the Bank after Jeff Hardy had defeated Edge to become the new World Champion in a brutal Ladder match. This was a case where WWE actually seemed to think ahead and instead of just having Punk suddenly turn heel, they went the route of a slow turn which worked very well. His feud with Hardy was good in the ring, but never that good outside of the ring because I was never a fan of his being a heel for telling fans not to do drugs.

Santino The Babyface: I enjoyed Santino Marella (mostly on Superstars) as a babyface this year. His comedy role has been very funny. I loved the development he showed as he started to "discover" that he has actual wrestling ability. This led to some entertaining matches, even if he did lose more often than not.

Zack Ryder: After a major bit of skepticism on my part, Ryder really grew on me. I became a fan over time of his new character. He really has done a nice job of putting himself into that character 100%. Also, he showed a good amount of skill in the ring. He had a number of good and even very good matches on ECW, particularly against Christian and Yoshi Tatsu. I have not been a fan of his pairing with Rosa Mendes, but I have become a fan of Ryder himself. Woo woo woo. You know it!

Goldust vs. Sheamus: This was a small short term feud on ECW before Sheamus was moved to Raw for his ultra push. However, it was incredibly well done and very memorable. Working with Sheamus seemed to light a a fire under Goldust's ass. They had a series of good matches. It built well and culminated as the main event on ECW one week. This elevated Sheamus while he got to work with an established veteran. It also helped make Goldust relevant again for the first time since returning to WWE. This was how mid card feuds should be done.

Yoshi Tatsu: This is the third Hit in a row for ECW. Tatsu has been a very good addition to the ECW roster as part of the New Superstar Initiative. Some of the additions (Abraham Washington or Tyler Reks) have been bad. Some (Baretta & Croft) are too early in their runs to tell. But others (Sheamus most notably) like Tatsu are quite good. He has a ton of energy and can do some really amazing high flying moves in the ring. He got over with the fans very quickly after his debut. I hope his future is brighter than what Evan Bourne's future looks to be at this point.

Hurricane vs. Burchill: I was a big fan of The Hurricane back in the day, so I was happy to seem him return to ECW this year. He can be a fun character and Gregory Helms is a good wrestler. I enjoyed his feud with Paul Burchill who really grew as a performer both in and out of the ring. He has shown more personality and charisma than ever before and the two of them worked well together and had some good matches.

Lillian Garcia's Farewell: I know I said I would try to stay away from individual moments, but considering Lillian Garcia's long tenure in WWE and the classy send off that the company gave her when she left in September, I figured it was worth lifting up here. WWE still hasn't found a good replacement for her as ECW's ring announcer is up in the air.

JeriShow: One of the best things in WWE in 2009 (maybe the best?) was the team of Chris Jericho and The Big Show. When Edge went down with a major injury, Jericho was left without a partner and he chose Show to team up with as they became the Unified Tag Team Champions. The rest as they say is history. They worked very well together and had great chemistry as a team. I loved so many of their moments together like when Big Show would make a strong believable statement like "I won't be intimidated by anyone" and Jericho would chime in from behind Show's back something like "I won't me intimidated either." One of my favorite moments from 2009 was on Raw after Jericho had been knocked out and you saw Show carrying him away from the ring on his shoulder at the bottom of the screen. As a team, they helped elevate (albeit briefly) midcard acts on Raw (Mark Henry & MVP) and Smackdown (Cryme Tyme). Despite their stature as a team, they were able to have good feuds with those midcard teams and make the fans want to see them get defeated for the Titles. I have even enjoyed their interaction in December after their loss to DX.

Smackdown's 10th Anniversary Special: WWE did a very good job making Smackdown feel like a big show on its 10th Anniversary. They had video clips highlighting the history of the show which were well produced. There was a nice tribute to Eddie Guerrero. Former stars of the show got to return for the party (although some of that was lame). The Rock made a guest appearance addressing the fans in a very entertaining promo. And the show culminated in a fun star studded 8-man tag main event. The biggest problem with the show was the fact that JBL didn't make an appearance.

Kingston vs. Orton: The one thing about late 2009 that should be remembered the most was the rise and push of some midcard wrestlers into the uppercard and sometimes the main event. This all started at the end of October when Kofi Kingston was pushed into a feud against Randy Orton. He stopped Legacy from interfering in Orton's Iron Man Match against John Cena at Bragging Rights. The next night Kingston had a good match against Chris Jericho. He was attacked afterwards by Orton to get revenge, and the feud was on. Kingston got the better of Orton and Legacy on most occasions. Their brawl at Maddison Square Garden leading to his huge Boom Boom leg drop through Orton on a table was one of the most memorable moments of the year and a real star making moment for Kingston. Orton deserves credit too for his part in elevating Kingston. And, the feud is still going leading into the start of 2010.

Grisham & Striker: When Taz left the company in April, Todd Grisham was shifted to Smackdown to work with Jim Ross and Josh Mathews was moved to ECW to work with Matt Striker, thus the 2008 Slammy Award winning broadcast team was split up. Neither of the new teams was very good. I didn't like the pairing of two play-by-play announcers on Smackdown, and the chemistry between Striker and Mathews wasn't good. Neither team was bad (they won't get Misses), but they certainly won't get Hits either. It is unfortunate that it took a serious health problem from Jim Ross to get Grisham and Striker back together, now on Smackdown, but I am happy to see them together again. I hope Ross returns soon, and I am intrigued by the idea that he could return just part time and call the PPVs, which would be better than Michael Cole. In the mean time, regardless of what happens with Ross' health, I am going to enjoy this duo on Smackdown.

Sheamus' Rise: I did not like the initial move to have Sheamus come to Raw so early in his WWE career. I felt that he needed more time on ECW before moving on to one of the two big shows. I also thought that he would get lost in the midcard heel shuffle with the likes of Jack Swagger, The Miz, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Obviously I was wrong. He is now the WWE Champion. I think Swagger is more deserving of this push, however I am thrilled to see as 2009 comes to a close a younger talent getting this opportunity. Sheamus has done a good job, starting with his destruction of Jamie Noble. The writing has been good to put him in this position. Time will tell how long he stays on top and if other young stars get similar opportunities (we can only hope). But, seeing a young star elevated to the moon like this was refreshing.

John Cena: Cena had a good year in 2009. It wasn't all good (see 2009 Misses for complaints about his feud with The Big Show for instance). However, he had a memorable feud with Orton. It went on too long, but it did feature good matches. He is also helping to elevate Sheamus at the year's end. What I particularly liked about Cena this year was that he has done a good job of moving away from the silly poopy humor to being more serious. I commented numerous times in my Hits & Misses how he gave a serious promo. Often they started out silly, but then got really good once he pushed the silliness aside and got serious. Some of his best mic work has been in this feud against Sheamus, starting with the promo he gave during their contract signing, moving on to the promo he gave during their Championship Showdown with Mark Cuban, and even his promo to start the final Raw of 2009. I cringed a lot less during his promos this year than last and found myself enjoying many of them.

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.

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