By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Swagger's Ankle Lock: At the end of a solid match between Jack Swagger and The Big Show, Swagger busted out a new submission hold (at least for him), the ankle lock. I like this for a few reasons. For one, it is a good idea to give Swagger a secondary finisher in case he can't use the gutwrench powerbomb (still needs a name, but not the Swagger-bomb). For another, I like submission holds. For another, it allowed him to show off a vicious side as he refused to release the hold after Big Show got to the ropes and he did what appeared to be significant damage to Show's ankle. Show did a really nice job of selling the injury afterwards. I'm not thrilled with the fact that Swagger is doing Kurt Angle's move. He doesn't need to be compared to Angle and I found myself thinking that Angle would have been smoother in the transition from victory roll to the ankle lock than Swagger was. But, the good definitely outweighs the bad.

Hawkins/Archer/Ziggler vs. MVP/Christian/Kingston: This was a good six man tag match. It went nearly 12 minutes and had pretty good wrestling action throughout. I was surprised that the babyface team got the win as I had assumed that Dolph Ziggler would continue to get a push and that Kurt Hawkins and Vance Archer would continue to "make an impact." But, I'm fine with outcome. It was interesting how the announcers talked about how in addition to the personal issues in the match, it was a chance for all six wrestlers to impress Teddy Long to get consideration for the Money in the Bank match at the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV.

Hardy vs. McIntyre: This is just a marginal Hit as it was just marginally above average. I liked this match, but it dragged in the middle. 15+ minutes may have been a bit too much for it. Drew McIntyre isn't that good in the ring, so when you book a match where he dominates much of it, it isn't going to be that interesting. However, McIntyre looked better in the ring in this match against Matt Hardy than he has in many of his previous matches (in other words, he looks to be improving). Hardy sold well, and McIntyre did a nice job of selling frustration at not being able to put Hardy away. It was also a hard-hitting and intense match which I liked. There were some really good moments in the match, like when McIntyre teased stomping on Hardy's head on the steps, only to have Hardy counter by sweeping McIntyre's leg and knocking him back first onto the top step. It was a good strong win for Hardy. It could have been better, but was still just good enough to get a Hit.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

No Mysterio: I can't imagine John Cena (or Randy Orton, or Triple H) winning the WWE Title at a PPV and not being on Raw the very next night. In fact, I find it hard to imagine that Raw starting with anything but Cena coming out and saying "the Champ is here!" I didn't like WWE putting the World Title on Rey Mysterio. I feel strongly that Jack Swagger should have held on to the Title longer. It seems like WWE went way out of their way to make their 25% prophesy come true by having all the Champions lose in their fatal 4-way matches. I am a big fan of Mysterio. In fact, if you look back to earlier this year, I advocated putting the Title on him before WrestleMania. But, this was the wrong time. That was a tangent that I wanted to get out there. As for this actual Miss, once you put the Title on Mysterio you have to treat him with more respect as the Champion than you did the first time when he won by not pinning the Champion in a triple threat match, and had him subsequently lose just about every non-Title match in a relatively short Title reign. By not having him on the first Smackdown after winning the belt, you are sending the message that things won't be different the second time around, which is a shame.

McIntyre Deported: I think this is a new one. I can't recall a wrestler getting deported in a storyline before. Am I forgetting one? I just thought this was cheesy. I can't imagine Teddy Long actually going to the trouble of researching McIntyre's visa status. This was a bit too far-fetched for my tastes. If they wanted Long to get rid of McIntyre for a period of time, then why not just have him suspend him for his actions last week since Vince McMahon can't reinstate him like he did before? Like I said, it was cheesy.

Kane "vs" Punk: I didn't hear a bell to sound the start of this no disqualification match, so I'm not sure if the match ever started. It certainly didn't have an ending. I'm fine with that. I wasn't fine with the fact that with very little effort, Kane was able to dominate the Straight Edge Society — CM Punk, Luke Gallows and the mystery masked man. That didn't help their faction at all. I used the word "cheesy" a few times above, but I will use it again in regards to the fight between Kane and Punk in the lobby as Kane slammed Punk through a merchandise table. Was Punk running away from the building supposed to be funny? This is being presented as a very serious angle with the possible end of Undertaker's career and Kane's vengeful quest to pay back those responsible. Yet, the show ended with this somewhat comical moment of Punk in a mask running away from the building. I don't think it was supposed to be goofy, but that's how it came across.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, NXT, 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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