James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (8.0)

WWE delivered a very good final episode of Raw leading to the Backlash PPV on the strength of two excellent singles matches featuring the two World champions in the company. Cena vs. Jericho was right on par with their series of excellent matches over the past three years, and Triple H vs. Randy Orton was all about redemption using the gimmicks and tools in the toolbox after their botched WrestleMania main event.

Cena vs. Jericho, with Edge's involvement, shifted the focus of the Backlash hype onto Cena vs. Edge after it was taking a back-seat to McMahon Family Drama for the past few weeks. The end of the show was still focused on Orton vs. McMahon Family, but Edge's great "count to ten" after interfering in Cena vs. Jericho was right-on to sell the title match at Backlash. Well done.

Orton and Triple H worked with their tools in a No DQ match and used an Attitude-era, interference-filled TV main event to build tension for Backlash when Hunter's title is in jeopardy thanks to the hot-headedness of his partners in crime. Good set-up for the expected main event of the PPV, perhaps good enough to convince some fence-sitters to order the PPV. Although, Backlash being the third PPV of the month (following a $54.95 WrestleMania price tag) puts WWE in a tough spot of trying to convince folks to order Sunday's event in this economy.

The undercard of the show ranged from frustrating to head-scratching. Rey squashed in two minutes? Huh? The frustrating aspect of the show was the lack of Brand Split follow-up. WWE took the "finish up business" idea too far on last week's Smackdown and this week's Raw before they officially hit the reset button on next week's Raw following the PPV.

Bruce Mitchell, Torch Columnist (6.5)

Again, WWE had too much going on. Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Melina, C.M. Punk, and Kane all had to say goodbye for some reason before heading off to Smackdown until the week someone impulsively slaps them back on Raw for a few weeks. Melina, Punk, and Kane said goodbye with bad matches. John Cena and Chris Jericho provided some good re-run action, even if Ricky Steanboat was a little flat in his verbal showdown with Y2J. Triple H and Randy Orton has a good main event, but I Hope The Good Guys don't Get Disqualified build-up for Backlash is less than inspiring. Santina/Santino was a little long on everything except the laughs this week.

Brian Hoops, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

A couple of strong matches and effective angles made Raw a decent show. The John Cena-Chris Jericho match was a good match, that had an acceptable ending with Edge interfering and laying out Cena. This was a very strong build up to their Backlash match and even though they have met many times before, it made me want to see their match again. Steamboat confronting Jericho and accepting his challenge also played out well. The Triple H - Orton match was very good, much better than their WrestleMania match, and I liked the fact Orton was given the win over Triple H here. In my opinion, this Raw was a better build to Backlash than the Raw's that led up to WrestleMania.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

Aside from two good-to-very-good matches, this was a completely forgettable show. There wasn't much to hype for Backlash, since only five matches are announced. Cena vs. Jericho was a solid bout, but it was tough to fully get into the match knowing that WWE's Golden Boy John Cena wouldn't lose cleanly there. The attack by Edge was well done. Triple H vs. Orton was fine, but I'm struggling to get into Triple H's in-ring work at this point. I don't know if he and Orton are just not a good match, but something is missing these days.

Not a lot to say other than that. Jericho vs. Steamboat could be good, but it doesn't feel genuine after a week of not acknowledging Steamboat last week (even though it was the draft). The Santino and Santina soap opera was just OK this week. Beth vs. Melina had its moments. Punk vs. Kane wasn't entertaining, neither was Show vs. Rey. I don't know why they had Show win so quickly either.

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