By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Sheamus vs. Sandow: We've seen Sheamus and Damian Sandow work good matches against each other in the past, so it was no surprise that they put on another good match against each other here. At 13 minutes, it went a good amount of time and was enjoyable to watch. I would like to see a stronger role for Sandow, but right now they have nothing in the works for him, so at least I got to see him in a good match. Sheamus needed the strong win after being part in two six man tag losses earlier in the week, so the outcome made sense.

Swagger vs. Orton: I really enjoyed this match between Jack Swagger and Randy Orton. It shows why Swagger has so much potential as a top star. He can wrestle. We don't know yet his fate after his arrest, but you can see why WWE wouldn't want to give up on him even though there is a strong argument to be made for letting him go. But, getting back to the match itself, it was a good back and forth match which never dragged. Swagger and Orton worked well together. Take away the arrest (which of course happened after this taping) and I would say that Swagger needs stronger wins than this. I understand that Orton is a huge star and any win over him is big. And Swagger is a heel, so in general it is ok that he cheats to win, especially over a top star (its not like he needed to cheat to beat Zack Ryder or someone like that). I guess that's why it is better not to book this type of match for him if you aren't going to put him over stronger than this. But, it was a really good match and the cheating ending didn't bother me too much.

Del Rio vs. Barrett: Smackdown featured three good matches than all went over 12 minutes which was nice. The main event was a strong match between Alberto Del Rio and Wade Barrett. Del Rio seems to be finding himself more and more as a babyface in the ring as opposed to on the mic where he still is coming across like he is pandering too much. This was a good match. I was curious to see what role if any Jack Swagger and Zeb Coulter would play in it which did add to the match as you kept expecting them to get involved, but their presence didn't distract from the match itself which it easily could have. Del Rio got the strong tap out victory which is the right way to go. But, once again I question having the Intercontinental Champion tapping out, even if it is to the World Champion.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Opening Segment: I'm just not a fan of the anti-immigrant vs. pro-immigrant feud. It doesn't do anything for me, so to hear Alberto Del Rio talking about how America was built by immigrants did nothing for me. But, he was fine in his delivery. Randy Orton's interruption was unexpected. I wasn't a fan of the indignation that the fans were expected to feel towards Jack Swagger for "stealing" the victory at Elimination Chamber. "I would have won, except for the fact that somebody else won" was basically Orton's argument. I am fine with him being upset for losing, but what did Swagger do wrong? Josh Mathews whining about it later on in the show was much worse, and John Bradshaw Layfield was right to call him out on it and put him in his place, but heels shouldn't be able to do that to babyfaces. I'm getting a bit off topic here. I did like the fact that Booker T actually had a plan for the rest of the show as opposed to just making it up as he goes like usual. And the opening did set up two big matches for later in the show which was good. So, I will call this a minor Miss.

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 Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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