Wade Keller, Torch Editor (7.0)

It delivered what it needed to. The matches were all short, but everyone seemed rejuvenated after the WrestleMania hangover. The draft included some solid drama and the expected major names shifting. It'd be nice if they explained a little more how it worked - such as saying that only top names are included in the draft or something like that. It seems a little suspicious that so many top names were moved, while nobody on the bottom half of the card came up in the random draft. Not a huge deal, but it'd be nice if they tied up that loose end.

The main event hype was good. I won't further belabor the point I made a couple times in the Raw report regarding Shane McMahon other than saying he's really embarrassing himself by either pushing for or allowing himself to be portrayed as somehow even a smidgen credible enough to fight actual top level wrestlers in the ring. The concept of Shane, Batista, and Triple H all having issues with Orton and wanting him one-on-one made sense and was set up nicely. The interplay between them was also strong during the match. Rhodes and DiBiase continue to play their roles as Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson well, taking bumps and doing jobs.

Nothing about the show was great, but it came together as feeling like a major show. At least there felt like there was enough content and news to justify three hours.

James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (7.0)

Three hours went by quickly and in good fashion on Monday night. The emphasis on wrestling matches was a welcome sight for Raw, highlighted by the John Cena vs. Jack Swagger match. Nice to see WWE re-focus on Swagger as a major star in this company after he nearly drifted into obscurity during March. As for the Storyline of All Storylines in WWELand, they way over-complicated the McMahon vs. Legacy storyline to arrive at the destination point of Triple H wanting another piece of Randy Orton. Didn't Hunter already prove his point at WrestleMania? We know the match was horrible, even to the point where WWE apparently wants to completely forget about the match where Hunter got the final word, but it did happen. In any event, Hunter and Orton get a mulligan on their Mania match with Shawn Michaels apparently completely removed from key WWE storylines. "Michaels can't ruin this match now!" declareth Hunter.

The Draft flowed well in and out of the wrestling matches and delivered some intriguing storylines going forward. I agree with the Torch readers that Chris Jericho moving to Smackdown was the best draft pick. Jericho ran through potential main event programs on Raw, did his best with the Legends deal at WrestleMania, and now can work a main event program on Smackdown. Only problem is that Smackdown doesn't have a World champion right now. Rey Mysterio is the highest-ranking champion on the brand and he holds a virtually worthless title belt. Jericho vs. Undertaker is one of those "don't need a title belt" programs that could work well at the main event level, but WWE has some sorting out to do with the Friday night show.

Bruce Mitchell, Torch Columnist (5.0)

This show serves two purposes – the normal hyping and advancing of characters, matches, and storylines – and moving the chess pieces to better advantage. Let's start with those chess pieces. Triple H back to Raw, Rey Mysterio back to Smackdown, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker stay put? There's not much there. The biggest thing would be C.M. Punk with the same old briefcase on a new (for him) show.

On the other hand, the major storyline pushed on the show, The McMahon Family versus Legacy, was clumsily executed. The babyfaces were dumber and more selfish than the heels, while Vickie Guerrero made some clunky decisions. It's beginning to look like acknowledging out-front that Triple H is married to Stephanie McMahon has hurt his tough guy aura.

I thought Jack Swagger helped himself with his credible performance against John Cena.

Brian Hoops, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

The show's entire purpose was to promote the draft and give some talent and television programs a fresh look. For the most part, WWE was able to accomplish that task. The timing of the draft, coming a week after WrestleMania where talent have not respected the brand boundaries and wrestled on any show they wanted, hurts the purpose of the draft. There were a couple of good matches, with Bourne vs. Rey decent but too short, Swagger vs. Cena being a potential PPV main event in a couple of years, Kofi vs. The Miz and Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin. With a lot of attention on the draft, they skits were limited and the only real feud that was furthered was Batista/McMahon/Triple H vs. Legacy. The booking pattern remains a limiting factor for WWE as the attention to detail is lacking that used to be a strength of WWE.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

The matches were fine, the draft served its purpose, but there was something intangible missing on this show. It just didn't "feel" like past Draft Lottery shows have felt- that excitement just wasn't in the air. I don't know if the novelty has worn off or if it's because WWE plays so fast and loose with the brands anyway it doesn't feel like a big deal for someone to switch brands anymore. But it felt more like a normal Raw than I expected.

Some of the matches seemed to whet the appetite for fans to see longer matches between the competitors (Bourne vs. Rey, Swagger vs. Cena) and others were just get-in-get-out (Khali vs. Santino, Kane vs. Kendrick, The Divas). I didn't expect Miz to turn on Morrison- I thought it'd be the other way around, but I did like how Morrison cost them their bromance by interfering. The battle royal, which went more than 20 minutes last year, was just over five minutes worth of action this year. Of course, last year's was also more star-studded.

The crowd really ran out of gas as the show progressed as well, which brought the final couple draft matches down a notch. I have no real complaints about the draft picks- they all made sense and I'm sure the championship situation, or lack thereof, on Smackdown will be addressed soon. The Legacy vs. McMahons feud got more complicated and I continue to fear that Rhodes and Dibiase will become the next Spirit Squad.

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