-- 11/27 WWE Smackdown Reax

Alex Roberts in the U.K. (3.0): After watching Smackdown this week, I can't remember when I last saw a less inspiring and less imaginative WWE show. Is WWE even trying on Friday nights? On the subject of character destruction, what exactly has happened to John Morrison? Where has the engaging and exciting character from ECW gone and why has he been replaced by this bland generic copy? I also feel compelled to ask who backstage finds the insufferably bad Batista-Kane matches so good that they keep booking them. Surely no one backstage can be this blind? The same question can be asked of the repeated Hart Dynasty-Cryme Time matches. If they were good, I could understand why we get one nearly every week, but they aren't, so I can't. It also depresses me beyond words that WWE is currently doing desperate character establishment for a former multi-time World Champion, C.M. Punk. And why on earth are we getting yet another rehash of smaller guy with big bodyguard? When was the last time this angle actually worked? And just to add to the stale rehashes around C.M. Punk, he's apparently being thrown into something with Matt Hardy now. Apparently WWE wants to put the two men who are living off Jeff Hardy's heat together. The Smackdown crew can't even make Vickie Guerrero interesting anymore, which is a stunning achievement given that she was easily one of the best characters WWE had just a few months ago. At least they've abandoned the Vickie/Escobar angle, although in the process of ending it, they've completely destroyed Escobar as a potential television character and left themselves with nothing but this Vickie-Teddy Long angle. That's the problem with Smackdown - there's nothing remotely fresh or interesting happening. As stale as Raw might be, it's not on the same level as Smackdown. It's a terrifying sign when yet another Batista-Underaker match isn't the least inspiring and repeated angle on your show. And where in the name of all that's holy was Drew McIntyre this week? WWE gave him a huge rub at Survivor Series and then had absolutely no follow-up on Smackdown this week. Are you kidding me?

-- 11/26 WWE Superstars Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (7.0) Best: Miz vs. Santino. Worst: Kozlov vs. Goldust. A nice solid show without having to "think" too much about a PPV. I figured Miz would win over Santino, but at least it was fun. I would have loved it if Santino won since Miz needs a new title opponent. Yeah, I know it keeps Swagger at bay longer, but it would only further bolster the title's importance to him (if WWE did it right). Kozlov got the "need to be strong" win over Goldust, but not much has changed in the ring with him. I should be more patient since it's been a while since last we saw Kozlov wrestling. I didn't mind the Cena HLR video; I did mind the umpteenth Raw Rebound. I didn't think Ventura was nearly as good of a host as I expected, even though going back on his word set up the end segment. Truth vs. Ziggler gave us two things: (1) what looks like a downward push for Ziggler, which doesn't have much explanation, and (2) Striker becoming more of a heel commentator. He called out R-Truth's right-hand glove as a potential weapon, yet referred to Paul Burchill's hard knee braces as "part of his ring attire" on ECW two weeks ago. He's coming across more of a Devil's Advocate heel, and I like it.

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