By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Kane's Opening Promo: The post-Money in the Bank Smackdown got off to a good start with this good promo from Kane. I probably could have done without the music playing, but it was something different and I didn't really mind it. I definitely could have done without the images of The Undertaker that were edited into the promo. That took me out of the moment. They weren't needed. Kane gave a strong and intense performance. He got over the importance of winning the World Championship for his career while at the same time balancing that win with his storyline of trying to find whoever is responsible for Undertaker's vegetative state to get revenge. It was well written and well delivered.

Hardy & Christian vs. McIntyre & Rhodes: Smackdown continued on nicely after the opening promo with this opening match. The match was successful as it was entertaining and good from an in ring action stand point, while also fitting in nicely with these four all trying to regroup after losing Money in the Bank, plus the side story of the recent tension between Matt Hardy and Christian. It has been interesting to see Cody Rhodes doing some of Hardcore Holly's old signature spots, and Matt Striker even called attention to it this week. Drew McIntyre has been improving in the ring lately. All of these guys did a nice job of selling the effects of the big ladder match from the PPV. And the end continued to tease a possible Hardy vs. Christian feud.

Swagger vs. Mysterio: I thought going into this match that there were only two possible outcomes, and Rey Mysterio becoming the #1 contender was not one of them. I felt strongly that Jack Swagger would win, but I had a feeling that WWE might go the cheesy route and have the third fall of the match end in a draw to make a triple threat match at SummerSlam (if you think about it, whoever doesn't win to face Kane for the World Title doesn't have much else going at this point). So the ending with Mysterio getting the win was very surprising for me. I was a bit disappointed as I would like to see what Swagger could do in a longer PPV match against Kane. Kane needs good workers as opponents to have really good matches, and I want to see if Swagger could help elevate Kane. Mysterio is a great wrestler, but the size difference and the fact that he might still be selling the ankle injury won't help bring about a great match. However, I have gotten off on a tangent. The point for now is that Swagger and Mysterio did have a good two-out-of-three falls match. It was interesting to see Swagger lose his cool and get disqualified. The discussion afterwards as to whether or not he did it on purpose was silly as he could have just let go, not gotten DQ'd and then reapplied the ankle lock a moment later and possibly gotten the tap out victory to go up 1-0. But, that is an issue with the announcers, not the wrestlers. They did a good job of telling a story and putting on a good match. Mysterio performed well in still doing exciting moves that make him so fun to watch in the ring, while at the same time continuing to sell the ankle injury. It was a good main event.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Ziggler vs. Kingston: This wasn't that bad of a match. It was solid for the most part. The reason I'm giving it a Miss is that I am already getting sick and tired of the Vickie Guerrero - Dolph Ziggler relationship. The heel authority figure helping a wrestler is just too overplayed in my estimation. The female valet cheating to help her wrestler win has been overplayed too. This is a cross between those two wrestling conventions and I'm tired of it. It was ridiculous that the consultant of Smackdown (a position which has never really been defined) has the power to kick someone away from ring side. She grabbed Kofi Kingston's leg and he stood there as if Big Show were holding on to him. I don't want to sound sexist, but even an injured and tired Kingston should have been able to pull his foot away as soon as she touched him and it wouldn't have distracted him so much. There were some nice moments in the match, but it was too slow at times and I was too distracted by the Guerrero - Ziggler dynamic to enjoy it.

Straight Edge Society: I didn't do a Hits & Misses last for Smackdown last week, but if I had, I would have given a Miss to CM Punk being unmasked. It was a little too anticlimactic for my tastes. I say the same thing this week about the mystery masked member of the group being unmasked and revealed to be Joey Mercury. He has been the rumored masked wrestler from the start, so it wasn't a surprise to any internet wrestling fan. But for fans in general, how many even remember Mercury? It has been a few years since he was around, and he had been out with the shattered face for a long time before coming back briefly before being let go (I could be wrong on the time line, but that's how I remember it). When you build up a mystery identity, you should have the reveal be someone important for the fans. This is not a shot at Mercury, but the fact of the matter remains that very few fans probably recognized him when the mask came off, and there were some new fans who have never heard of him, and older ones who don't care about him. So, what was the point of having him in a mask? I understand the idea was that there were secret members of the SES, but the reveal was still nothing special. Plus, the group barely has any purpose right now. It is totally ridiculous that Punk would continue to shave his head. He obviously continued to shave it until last week since he was totally shaved bald still. This week, the hair was already starting to grow back. So why hasn't he been letting his hair grow the previous month (or however long it had been since he was shaved by Rey Mysterio)?

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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