By Jon Mezzera, PWTorch Specialist

SMACKDOWN HITS

Opening Segment: This is a marginal Hit. Like the opening of Raw, this went on too long for my tastes. However, it didn't feel like it dragged to me nearly as much as the Raw opening did. I liked that WWE followed up on Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback being rehired right away. Daniel Bryan did a nice job of introducing them, though I still don't understand why Bryan calls Ryback "the Ryback" when nobody else, including Ryback, calls him that. The mic work from Ryback was fine. The mic work from Rowan was not very good. The mic work from Ziggler was pretty good. I like how he talked about being so close to proving he belongs at the top by being a Champion and winning at Survivor Series, not just for being the most entertaining. That type of talk is always welcome from Ziggler. The heel interruption worked well. It set up the big matches for Smackdown. So it did go on a bit long and some of the mic work wasn't great, but it was still pretty good.

Royal Rumble Qualifiers: I have never been clear as to why some wrestlers just get to declare themselves in the Royal Rumble match, while others have to win qualifying matches. There have been times in the past when it was very inconsistent. Someone in power really should be naming the participants, whether on their own merit, or setting up the qualifying matches. Why doesn't Heath Slater just name himself? This year that has been an issue, but at least the few qualifying matches that did happen had a storyline justification to them as opposed to the randomness that has happened at times in the past. If you are going to have them, then put them into a context that makes sense, like The Authority forcing the three rehired wrestlers to compete to earn a spot. I do question the opponents for Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback as these are three potential PPV opponents and they will need to fill out a Fast Lane (I think that's what it is called) card in February. I understand that the three opponents had to be on a pretty high level. The Authority wouldn't send Slater out to face Ryback in this situation. But, they were doing a good job of building towards Ryback vs. Rusev and throwing it out on a Smackdown like this seems to cheapen it. I did appreciate the fact that not all of the babyfaces were successful in their qualifiers. It was realistic that at least one of them would lose and Rowan was the right choice. That also created some doubt about whether Bryan would be successful against Kane.

Reigns' Interview: This was a good short interview for Roman Reigns. The scripting was so much better than so many of his other interviews and promos. He came across as calm and cool, the way a lot of fans hoped he would when he broke away from The Shield. The script was good. The delivery was strong. It felt like the right length as it didn't go on too long which could have exposed some of Reigns' weaknesses on the mic.

Ryback vs. Rusev: I do have reservations about the fact that this match happened. But, it was good. I think WWE could have (maybe should have? Time will tell.) saved this feud for WrestleMania. The way they've built up Ryback vs. Rusev, I think it could have felt like a WM worthy match. The fans seem to be behind Ryback and Rusev and Lana make a very good heel duo. And if they had put this match on at WM with 3-4 more minutes and gave it a clean finish (with either as the winner), it would have been a good mid-card addition to the card. I do wish that Rusev wouldn't lose as often via count out and disqualification. In this singular case, it worked well.

Usos and Mizdow: I said awhile ago that my prediction is that The Miz will get eliminated from the Rumble and that Damian Mizdow would start to eliminate himself only to change his mind and turn babyface to a big pop. That was certainly strongly hinted at when The Usos talked to Mizdow in the back about being a star on his own. This was a good short segment, following Miz telling Mizdow that he is the real star. It nicely planted the seed for what might happen during the Rumble match.

SMACKDOWN MISSES

Barrett Loses Again: This was Wade Barrett's third tv loss in four tv matches since winning the Intercontinental Championship. As I said above, I was fine with having these qualifying matches, but WWE should protect Barrett better than this. If he wasn't the IC Champion, then I wouldn't care so much as it gave Ziggler a strong win to qualify for the Rumble. And it was a pretty good match. But it is such a shame that the IC Title is such a joke at this point.

Byron Saxton: I have never been impressed with Saxton from his early days doing commentary, to being a contestant on one of the competition seasons of NXT, to doing commentary or interviews on the current version of NXT or on Raw and Smackdown. I just don't think he's very good. And having him with zero background or credibility or credentials doing color commentary doesn't make sense. What qualifies him to analyze wrestling? So, his role this week is basically to kiss The Authority's ass. Now, I guess he is good in that role, but it is a role that I wish didn't exist. I really want to see WWE going back to a two man announce team (like the vast majority of real sports broadcasts have for instance Troy Aikman and Joe Buck doing the NFC Championship game). Have a play-by-play guy and a former wrestler who can talk (preferably a recent retiree who has experience with a lot of the current wrestlers on the roster like Christian) doing the color commentary and actually analyzing it as if it were a real sport. Having Saxton on just to say over and over again that The Authority can do whatever they want doesn't add anything of quality to the show.

Naomi vs. Brie Bella: This Miss isn't for the work being done in the ring by Naomi and Brie Bella. The match was too short and the entire focus was on the announcers with Natalya and Paige doing guest commentary. And it was a mess. In fact, this whole storyline based loosely on Total Divas has been a mess. If they are trying to sell Paige and Natalya as friends like they seemed to be doing before this episode of Smackdown, then they certainly failed here as they basically said they aren't friends. They didn't make me care about them as a team or their upcoming match against the Bellas. I know Brie won, but I can't really remember any details of the match. It was so far in the background and what was in the foreground wasn't any good.

Show Closing Brawl: Kane vs. Bryan was a solid no-DQ main event. It was a bit too gimmicky with the constant interference from J&J Security, so I won't quite give it a Hit, but it wasn't a Miss. I am giving the show closing brawl a Miss just for being so redundant. This is the same way every final Smackdown before the Rumble ends every year (at least it seems like it). I am glad that they didn't just end with the brawl going on and it got down to the main wrestlers at the end to focus on Bryan, Ryback, Ziggler, Reigns, Ambrose, Kane and Big Show. That was better than when the show goes off the air with the brawl still going. My problem is that I don't think the hectic craziness is the best feature of the Royal Rumble. So, I don't agree that having that image be the final is the best way to hype the Rumble. The focus should be on WrestleMania and the few top wrestlers in the Rumble who might headline WrestleMania, not just on a bunch of random lower card wrestlers running to the ring for no reason at all.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw and Smackdown each week. Email him at his NEW email address - jmezz_torch@yahoo.com.

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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