It was good that they didn't have CM Punk cash in the MITB because he would have won the title two years in a row by pinning a motionless Edge. This time he has to earn it.

It's about time Melina came back on TV. It was good to see her version of the Petey Williams Canadian Destroyer back as well.

Completely agree on Morrison's new finisher. I was very impressed with it from the first time he hit it on Jericho on Superstars.

My only complaint with the ending, though, is that with the babyfaces reigning supreme at the end if the episode, it seems unlikely for any of them to come away with the win on Sunday.

The opening match had more wrestling action than the entire episode of Raw, five days ago. Thank you, Smackdown, for proving that the cure for boredom need not include transvestites, necrophilia, men rolling in feces, or genital talk ad nauseum. Solid in-ring action goes a long way toward making things interesting.

I don't know about anyone else, but I needed subtitles during that Cryme Tyme segment.

It appears they may actually be thinking of giving JH another run with the title, but is it going to be short lived AGAIN with Punk cashing in??? Question Kevin, where has 'Taker been? Is he injured again or can they just not get a program together with him?

I think it's interesting how quickly and easily everyone accepted John Morrison as a face. And it happened with seemingly no story to back it - he just showed up on Smackdown - made some remarks to Jericho - and boom - face. I agree he was a little too polite in his commentary on Superstars but it's still nice to see that he's not having to do a whole singles heel run - I don't think he could've maintained heel heat on his own beyond a mid/lower mid-card level - but if he keeps going with this cocky face persona I think he'll be main eventing in a year or 2.

Of course my original prediction was that he'd be heel on SD for quite awhile before turning face and that happened far sooner than I thought - maybe he'll be main eventing sooner than that too...here's hoping...

I think Morrison and Ziggler could have a great program sometime this year.

Smackdown has really benefited from the draft and has made for a very wrestling heavy show. Hopefully this will be a sign of things to come and a return to the format of SD's best years, 2002-04. When Johnny Ace booked Smackdown they had guys like Guerrero, Benoit, Angle, Lesnar and Mysterio and put on some great matches. With the current crop of solid workers (i.e. Jericho, Benjamin, Morrison, Punk, Jeff, Edge, Mysterio, RTruth and even Haas.) the potential is there to make for some unbelievable matches.
I've always thought SD should go down the line of 'The Wrestling Show' because I think it's important that there is a noticeable difference between brands. Raw - Angle heavy, SD - Wrestling heavy, ECW - developmental/'extreme'. That way WWE is ticking all the boxes somewhere in it's programming.
I'd love to see a guy like Bryan Danielson get a start in WWE and the new look smackdown could be an ideal place for a technical guy like that.

Hey Kevin, I'm willing to bet money that the original Smackdown main event was another pre-ppv tag match with Rey and Punk facing Edge and Jericho. Needless to say, Edge and Jericho put on a great match and the big brawl at the end was good. Also, I loved the Rey and Shelton match from Superstars. It kind of had an Indy feel to it. I don't know. I felt like they had a lot of the freedom and really stole the show.

Smackdowns where its at atm such a good group of talent and some storylines that are starting to pick up steam, another great show.

They should just have SD's writers move to Raw, they would do a better job of getting that group of talent over.

Now that I think about Kev you are right, the show was pretty good.

I actually like the R-Truth win and really liked the Punk/Morrison team. Loved the Benjiman/Hass team. I wanna go further back to TEAM ANGLE days...loved that team.

Was it me or did it seem pretty quiet during the Jericho vs. Edge match? Maybe the fans were sorta indifferent about the match.

i dont really get into brand differentiation, but the gulf between the blue team and the red team is just too big to not notice.

smackdown has become the show where real wrestling happens. it's not even a contest. the lineup of edge, jeff hardy, jericho, punk, mysterio, shelton, morrison, r truth, umaga, haas, and zigler provides smackdown with a plethora of options for feuds that will contain great wrestling. it's nice that wwe gave 'taker a break so as to push other talent on smackdown.

the punk-umaga feud has the makings of a great feud similar to punk - samoa joe back during their days together. the athleticism of mysterio, morrison, rtruth, shelton, and ziggler should complement the ring savvy of veterans like edge, jericho, and even 'taker.

compared to the raw lineup, with tired old acts, and all the immobile big guys in the lineup, all you have a bunch of names (though they ARE brand names, that have reached their oversaturation levels)... cena, batista, show, hunter. i feel bad for mvp and kofi. a little buried now.

if you want to see old dudes crawl around the ring, and a little bit of santino comedy, watch wrestling on mondays, but if you want to see quality wrestling for two hours, watch smackdown.

I only watched SmackDown today, but that was by far the best wrestling program for the week.

The other big two promotions take tag team wrestling more seriously than the WWE, but the World's Greatest Tag Team (Benjamin and Haas) are probably the best in the business and put on the best tag match that I've seen in a while.

The only weird thing was seeing Punk and Morrison being friendly considering their feud from a while back in ECW...

The Natural beat me to the punch just above, but yeah, I think one of the bookers learned a little about indy wrestling, and so now the Samoan Smashing Machine is going to fight CM Punk. I expect Edge and Umaga have formed an alliance.

I totally agree about the "A" grade thing. I just didn't liked one thing. They should have saved a match like jericho vs. Edge for some big ppv. Though, I am happy that nobody got a clean pinfall or submission.
Smackdown is a must watch for every wrestling fan now. And I am just waiting for Undertaker to return. That would spice up things.