-- 10/23 WWE Smackdown Reax

Joey Soprano of Bay Point, Calif., Retail Mgr. (3.5): Best: Jericho on the mic. Worst: Finlay on Team Smackdown. Not a very good build-up at all towards Bragging Rights. Jericho was great. "Where's your partner JTG, in jail?" was classic. I almost wish they said Shad was. It would of fit Cryme Tyme's persona more than "he's sick," even though true. Eric Escobar isn't ready yet! His ring-work and mic skills are weak. McIntyre is at least passable. Poor Dolph. He deserves to be on Bragging Rights. Finlay needs to stay behind the scenes. He looks older than Flair, and I almost fell asleep when he spent the majority of the match in the ring. I would have liked to see more friction between Batista and Mysterio, which made the tag match useless except to see Jericho and Rey in the ring together. Batista was stiff and thank God for replays because the initial spear for the finish was weak. The title match was focused too much on facial expressions from Long, not the PPV. Overall, a very weak show.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (6.0): Best: Rey/Batista vs. Jericho/Kane. Worst: wholesale switch of the Smackdown 7. At least Raw TRIED to give a good hard final sell. Smackdown was a letdown for PPV build. The opening promo was good to introduce the Smackdown 7, only to kill all the momentum by having the entire non-captain group be switched. I guess the pro the switch is an elevation of star power for Smackdown, as well as making it tougher to predict the person taking the fall (who will still be from Smackdown). From there it was a long list of questions left unanswered. Did someone not notice Todd Grisham not being there? Couldn't Long and Armstrong not put themselves in their predicament by not giving Undertaker the title shot that led to the screwjob? It would have kept the main event from being as overbooked as it was. And can anyone explain to me why Undertaker was after Punk's hide to begin with? Is the 7x7 Raw vs. Smackdown match a standard or elimination tag? What happens to the eliminated Smackdown team players? Shouldn't we get some sort of "where are they now?" follow-up like they do on "Biggest Loser?" The only way I see Team Raw losing now is because of four disgruntled employees (a thought which wasn't there until tonight). ... Miz worked with Marty Jannetty as an opponent; why couldn't Morrison work with Marty as a partner against Knox and someone else? Beth and Mickie made their intentions known about Michelle, but Mickie gets to make the first strike. Fair is fair considering the way she dropped the title on Raw. And thankfully Mae Young didn't completely embarrass everyone involved. For once it pays to be PG. Does anyone else see Batista turning on Rey somewhere? Of course, how many times have there been turn teases where the gun gets pulled down at the very last minute? And finally, if Smackdown saw fit to invade Raw and get in their faces, why didn't Raw do likewise? This made Team Raw seem pompous and overconfident despite having had their turf trespassed.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE Smackdown Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on SD, click here.

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