Jon Mezzera's 2009 Hits and Misses

Jon Mezzera who writes on PWTorch recently put up his 2009 WWE hits and misses column, and I thought it could make a nice little thread:



Hit
Michelle McCool: McCool turned heel in late 2008 and it was a good thing. Her run as a heel on Smackdown has been one of the few (if only) consistencies among the Divas in all WWE in 2009. She plays a good heel. She has done a nice job with a series of different partners (Layla playing the most recent). An injury slowed her down in the middle of the year and at the end she is being hampered by the Piggie James stuff. However, her performance as she grew into a good heel should be commended.

Misses
Divas on Raw: This was a bad year for the Divas on Raw. The year started off well enough with the continuation of the Glamarella team with the addition of Rosa Mendes. However, things went down hill with Santina Marella's debut. I was never a big fan of Santino's alter ego even though it did provide for some amusing moments. Early in the year, there was a very short 18 Divas battle royale that was part of the hype for a 25 Divas battle royale at WrestleMania. It also served as a precursor for much of Raw's problems with the women wrestlers in 2009. It was a short match that featured too many Divas at the same time. That became a theme for this year in my Hits & Misses. I complained about it so many times that I can't even count the number. There were way too many 6 Divas tag matches that lasted 3 minutes or less. None of the Divas stood out. WWE gave more time to a man in drag during the first half of the year than to any other Diva on the brand. I should probably give Santina vs. Beth Phoenix a Miss in and of itself.

Gail Kim: I was really looking forward to the return of Gail Kim. However, she has not had a good year in WWE after spending the last few years carrying the good Knockouts Division in TNA. This isn't really her fault as she hasn't been given a chance to stand out. Her talent has been totally underutilized this year. She has shown flashes of what makes her such a good in ring performer, but has been totally lost in the shuffle which is a shame.

Eve vs. Layla: I've been picking on the Raw Divas, so now I have to pick some on some Smackdown Divas as well. The feud in May between Eve Torres and Layla was lame. We saw them in a series of competitions like dance contests and arm wrestling matches. These segments were boring and predictable. There was plenty of lazy writing to go around. Eve showed improvement in the ring as the year has progressed and Layla has had some nice moments with Michelle McCool. But working together was not good.

Ryder and Mendes: I gave Zack Ryder a Hit for his new persona and good quality wrestling matches this year. However, I have to give him a Miss for his goofy love affair with Rosa Mendes. Really, this Miss is because of the first few weeks of their budding romance, as we saw cheesy point of view shots of Ryder looking at Mendes, or fantasy sequences with them skipping down the hall way. Those were terrible and her early interaction with him at ring side during his matches was bad too. Things have gotten better as the fantasy elements have gone away and she isn't focused on as much in his matches. His poem to her on The Abraham Washington Show was great. But, the relationship was still a Miss on the whole.

That last part on Ryder and Mendes:

Sometimes I wonder why I don't watch WWE anymore, then I read about some shit like that and then I remember why.

Eve/Layla was certainly a miss, Eve nor Layla where at the point where they were ready enough to have their own feud.
Layla and Kelly worked cos it was legitimately a TnA feud. But WWE were trying to Eve/Layla as an actual more wrestling based feud