By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Henry - Show: WWE continues to do a nice job with this feud which has carried strong Smackdowns for the last few months. The mic work from The Big Show was very strong at the start of the segment. He gave a good promo about winning the World Title. Mark Henry was also good in the mic when he came out to interrupt. I like the fact that he was just setting up Show. He acted like he was nervous due to his injured ankle, but he was just setting him up for the sucker punch. The physicality at the end was a good way to hook fans into really believing that Show is going to defeat Henry at the PPV (though I hope he doesn't).

SMACKDOWN MISSES

The Announcing: I can't always put my finger on why I give the announcing a Miss some weeks, when it is usually bad and usually deserving. I suppose it just bothers me more weeks than others and that was the case this week to be sure. The announcing situation is just terrible. This is going to be a long Miss. It is ridiculous for Michael Cole to defend Cody Rhodes' actions. It is even more ridiculous how spineless Josh Mathews was in calling Rhodes' actions into question. During the opening match, Cole referred to Rhodes and Wade Barrett as the "sole survivors" of their Survivor Series elimination tag match. You can't be "sole" if you are two people. They were the survivors, not the sole survivor. Learn the meaning of words please. Didn't Ezekiel Jackson and Wade Barrett belong to the same faction earlier this year? Shouldn't that have been mentioned during their match? It took Rhodes on guest commentary to mention that Jackson was whom he defeated to become Intercontinental Champion. The non stop bickering seemed worse this week than usual. It was terrible when Cole was berating Daniel Bryan. That is so old and so lame. When he says that Bryan never has won anything, why doesn't Mathews say that he won the Money in the Bank ladder match, the same match that last year Cole praised The Miz for winning? Why doesn't he say that the last time he was in the ring with Rhodes, he won? I mean seriously Josh, grow a set. And if you are being produced to be spineless, then grow a set and step up for the quality of the broadcast. Cole is so bad as a straight announcer and does a good job in the heel role, but it is detrimental to the product. I almost choked when he said at one point that he knows the names of the moves. Has he gotten the name of one move right in 15 years? Orton doesn't do a "scoop slam", he does a powerslam. I liked hearing Rhodes refer to Barrett doing a Big Bossman Slam, but Cole recently called it a tilt-a-whirl slam even though it is far from a tilt-a-whirl anything. It is really getting to the point where I don't want to watch WWE tv any more. I think I should give Bryan vs. Rhodes a Hit, but Cole's announcing ruined my ability to enjoy that match. Ok. I can't think about this any more or my head will explode.

Beat the Clock: I like the concept of Beat the Clock for a series of matches. It doesn't work quite as well when it is just two matches. The main problem though was that I just didn't care about the outcome. It wasn't like Barrett and Randy Orton have specialty matches that they can choose if they win. I don't see either having an advantage in a Chairs, Tables, or Ladder match. So, what was the point? They sort of addressed the idea of gaining momentum by choosing, but it seems like they both wanted a Tables match and since that was the one stipulation not yet booked for TLC, it was inevitable anyway. I have enjoyed the build to this match up, and the mic work from Barrett and Orton was strong this week, but the Beat the Clock concept failed.

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

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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