By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Swagger Destroys Mysterio: I'm giving this a marginal Hit for the fact that Jack Swagger was very good in his role in attacking Rey Mysterio's injured ankle. It was a vicious and memorable attack. We won't be forgetting it any time soon. I liked how Mysterio sold and struggled and tried to grab anything he could to use as a weapon to get Swagger off of him. It was a very visually stunning scene. I had problems with it. For one thing, where was security? TNA used to take heat for the crappy security guards who showed up to break up brawls, but that was nothing compared to this nonexistent security. There was plenty of time for security or some wrestlers go get to Swagger and pull him off of Mysterio long before The Big Show showed up. Also, Swagger vs. Mysterio sounds like a very good, potentially great match. However, if you book Mysterio to limp around the ring the entire time, it isn't going to be as fun to watch. We want to pay to see Mysterio fly around the ring, not hobble. Also, there should have been ramifications for Swagger's actions. Where was Teddy Long to suspend him, or fine him at the very least? Why should he continue to have a Title shot at the PPV? A heel should always do this to a babyface Champion before a Title match if there are no ramifications. Yes, attacking and beating up a future opponent is typical in these situations. But, this went far beyond what we normally see. That works to get over Swagger as a heel, but it takes away from the logic of the storyline. If he injures Mysterio ahead of time to the point where Mysterio can't defend the Title, then why should he be rewarded for those actions? He should be punished. Yet as I said above, it was so memorable and well done that I'm still giving it a marginal Hit.

McIntyre vs. Kingston: This was a good match. Drew McIntyre has shown some improvement in the ring. Kofi Kingston's biggest problem is that he can be sloppy at times, but he wrestled a clean match here. The match went about 13 minutes which was a good amount of time for these two. It went back and force nicely and never dragged. It was interesting to see Kingston go for the boom drop on the ring apron. He didn't hit the move as McIntyre countered setting up his finisher for the win, but it made me want to see Kingston execute it in the future.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Alberto Del Rio: I haven't been impressed so far with these vignettes introducing the WWE Universe to Alberto Del Rio. It isn't Del Rio's fault, but these videos are so boring. I really don't want to sit through them. They aren't getting the right type of heat on this new wrestler. Part of the problem is that the attributes that he talks about having are good attributes to have. It is good to be honest. It is good to be inspirational. It is good to get a good education (if for no other reason than you learn synonyms for "good"). But, he is clearly being set up as a heel. The hook is that he feels that he alone has these qualities and therefore the fans don't. That can work. But, he shouldn't be booed for saying that he is honest or educated.

Kane- Swagger: I wasn't thrilled with how Smackdown ended. I knew Kane was going to make an appearance at some point to make a new accusation after CM Punk's alibi was revealed last week. So, when it didn't happen for the first 1:55 of Smackdown, it was very predictable he would attack Swagger when he did. Part of my problem with this is just like last month when Kane was booked to dominated the supposed top four superstars on Smackdown, here he is making the #1 contender, who had looked like a badass earlier in the show, look like a coward. The red lighting in the interrogation room was cheesy. The hook for next week is that Swagger will produce evidence of his own alibi. That doesn't really make me want to tune in next week. It just left me cold.

Recap Videos: I know that this is probably par for the course, but just like on NXT, the recap videos seemed worse than usual on Smackdown this week. The show started with a recap of what happened a few weeks ago between Jack Swagger and The Big Show. That set up the main event rematch and was fine. I don't mind recaps at the start of a show, as it is typical for tv shows. It is the constant other recapping that happens throughout the rest of the show that starts to drag things down. During the decent opening segment, Teddy Long played a replay from a few weeks ago of Drew McIntyre forcing him to humiliate himself by getting on his knees and repeating what McIntyre told him to say. I don't understand why Long would want people to see that again. Of course, we got multiple recaps of what happened to Mysterio at the hands of Swagger. There was a recap of what happened last week on the Peep Show between Christian and Matt Hardy. There was a long recap of what happened last week between The Straight Edge Society and Kane. I didn't enjoy seeing it the first time, and didn't need to live through it again (I won't give what happened next between CM Punk, Luke Gallows and Serena a Miss, but I will say that I am just not enjoying this angle at all).

Unbalanced Show: I don't mind a show where more heels look strong than faces. But, this show was really unbalanced with the heels winning at every turn. It didn't start out that way with McIntyre and Long, but in the end, McIntyre won his match to get into MIB. Dolph Ziggler also won a MIB slot by beating Chavo Guerrero and Montel Vontavious Porter in a really cheesy way with Vickie Guerrero interfering and the referee calling for the bell about five seconds after Ziggler locked in the sleeper on MVP. Looking at the rest of the show; Swagger dominated Mysterio. Christian appeared to turn heel when he turned on his partner Hardy allowing the heel team of Vance Archer & Kurt Hawkins to get the win. There was a lot of focus on the Straight Edge Society, a heel team. Cody Rhodes beat JTG (which was the right move, but was another in a string of heels going over this week). LayCool go the better of Kelly Kelly by beating her up during her backstage interview. And, Swagger got away from Big Show's attempt at revenge. The show ended with a babyface getting the better of Swagger, but as I said above, I wasn't a fan of that scene. So, the show was bookended by heels not looking strong, but every other segment in between had a heel winning a match or somehow getting the better of a babyface. It was too unbalanced and got old after awhile.

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.

We suggest these recent related articles...

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt

9/7 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Paige vs. Banks, Rollins vs. Ryback, Orton vs. Sheamus, Cena & PTPs vs. Rollins & New Day

8/24 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Opening Segment, New Day, Dudleys return, Stewart, Sting