-- 12/14 WWE Raw Reax

Luke Fleeman of Tulare, Calif., Grad Student (1.5): Best Match: Cena vs. Orton. Worst Match: Cena vs. Punk. This show was awful. It could have been called, "ways to ruin a wrestling show." First, Dennis Miller was not funny, and it just reminds us of how irrelevant he now is. The Slammy presentations made the whole show feel disjointed and bumpy. It was slow, punctuated with dreadful moments of poor comedy. The action seemed completely de-emphasized. They also didn't really do a great job of selling Sheamus as champion, we had to endure the great Khali, and C.M. Punk, a top heel, was jobbed out in a minute-and-a-half. Again, DX won the Slammy for most insecure wrestler and least funny gimmick. Fighting with Hornswoggle, still? Really? More merch pushing? Really? And now they have the whole Smackdown locker room dressing like DX fans? I am surprised that Triple H doesn't make other wrestlers wear the DX gear as street clothes, and they couldn't barely be bothered to carry the tag belts, as if they are some kind of burden. A boring, plodding, sad spectacle. And now I have to watch DX on Fridays too.

M. Swindley of Kingston, Ont., lawyer (7.5): Best: Dennis Miller. Worst: DX Skit. [1] I guess I was the only one who actually thought Dennis Miller made this show. I'll agree that his humor was a bit over-the-head of most of the Corpus Christi crowd (and indeed, many of the other Raw Reax'ers), but I thought he was spot on, and one of the more comfortable guest hosts in a long while. [2] Was it just me, or was there a whole bunch of "straying from the script" last night? Between Vince's admonishment of the crowd, and Matt Striker's one-liners on commentary, it felt like it was an off the cuff show for the most part. To me, when Raw feels less robotic (as it did last night), it's generally more entertaining. [3] Disallow DX from participating in any backstage skits. Ever. [4] Enough with the fat jokes. Santino's slight against Vickie Guerrero last night was one of the more over-the-line things I've heard on WWE TV in quite some time. [5] Why did Big Show just leave after the DQ finish? Between his absence when Jericho was tossed off Raw, and his face-ish humor over the past couple weeks (e.g. kibitzing with Verne Troyer; his acceptance speech last night), I can see a potential Jericho-Show program leading into Edge's return at WrestleMania. [6] Cena pulls a "Swagger" by promising not to lose a match until he can regain the WWE Title. That's fine, but why didn't he simply invoke his "mandatory" rematch clause? Is he "saving" it? [7] Kudos to Christian for the next-night selling of his TLC injuries. I think it's about time he's brought over to Raw or Smackdown.

Adam of Edmonton, Alb. (-1.0): Best match: None. Worst match: The entire episode. This week's Raw was the perfect example of how to misuse talented performers and alienate viewers. Dennis Miller was not a good host. He flubbed lines and didn't seem interested in the wrestling aspect, which I guess we should come to expect from the guest hosts. JeriShow hands down deserved to win Tag Team of the Year. They revitalized the Tag Team Championships and brought a respect back to the belts that has been gone since I can remember. Of course, DX did a wonderful job of undoing six months worth of work in one segment using a bogus DQ retention strategy to "get Jericho off Raw" while paying no respect to the Championships. The matches on Raw were tough to watch, as none of the in-ring action stood out whatsoever. The focus was obviously elsewhere with the Superstar of the Year tournament, the other Slammy's, and the barrage of crappy comedy skits. I legitimately laughed this week maybe twice. WWE needs to realize they are not a comedy show. Overall, anything with any kind of momentum was completely killed with this episode. Kofi Kingston had a hot campaign going with Randy Orton and now he’s back in the mid-card not battling Orton, but Orton's cronies. Sheamus was featured for all of five minutes, which reminded me of TNA not realizing A.J. Styles is their World Champion until two minutes before airtime. I thought they could use Sheamus's title win as a launch for a John Cena heel turn, which could culminate with a match with Undertaker at WrestleMania. But HBK's challenge was a nice swerve, and I would pay $55 to watch the WrestleMania 25 match. It disappointed me that WWE did not give Sheamus more attention. The entire angle was "Oh my God, Cena lost a match!" and he's "really sorry he let us all down." Not, "Wow, we have this WWE Champion who broke a couple of historical records (some of which actually got the WWE mainstream headlines over in Europe) that we could focus on." No, it was focused on Cena. The throwaway match with C.M. Punk basically foreshadowed Punk's permanent descent to the mid-card. I feel bad for Punk because he deserves so much better than jobbing to "Very Angry" John Cena in under two minutes. It was nice to see ECW get a little bit of love, even though we know the end is near. My biggest pet peeve on Raw was Santino Marella's comments about Vickie Guerrero's weight. I am sick and tired of the mixed messages being sent by WWE lately. Blood and low-blows are bad, but demeaning women who aren't Playboy models is okay? This is a good PG message? I am truly fed up with the lackluster effort being put into writing my favorite Monday night program. With WWE waiting a couple of weeks to start hyping the Royal Rumble, I think now might be a good time for them to truly sit down and figure out some long-term direction.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE Raw Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click here.

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