James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (6.5)

Good, solid show with an eye on January 4, but a two-minute, DQ-finish title match in the main event wasn't the right way to close the year. It was fitting to close the year based on how inconsistent Raw was in 2009, but the ending left most viewers with a bad taste in their mouths. At least the bad taste will be irrelevant picking up on January 4 when Bret Hart appears on WWE TV in the flesh for the first time in 12 years.

Shawn Michaels returning to form as one of the masters of verbal psychology in the promo exchange with Vince McMahon was a breath of fresh air after having to sit through DX comedy for too many months. There are plenty of balls in the air for Jan. 4 with Hart having history with McMahon, Hart, and Hunter, plus DX has a tag title defense against JeriShow. WWE desperately wants to keep Jericho on Raw, which is the perfect set-up for Hart helping Jericho win the titles to create an issue with Michaels, who may really be looking to help Hart and not hurt him while trying to stick it to McMahon in the storylines. Oh yeah, it's complicated, but establishing and playing up possible "miscommunication" between Hart and Michaels with some big names involved could make for some solid TV leading to WrestleMania. This could be good stuff over the next three months.

Meanwhile, Randy Orton was back to form as a top heel WWE needs in 2010. The program with Kofi Kingston and the potential Legacy split have been victimized by the start/stop nature of WWE's booking, so the impact has been lessened for Jan. 4, but Orton can make it right with an expected solid performance to go with the other star power on the show. I would take a Hart-Orton confrontation in a heartbeat even if that's not the direction WWE is going.

Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

I had high hopes for Raw this week and I'd say that it did deliver on most levels. I didn't even mind the silly DX segment with Hornswoggle and Jillian. Segments like that, that are done in moderation and not overkill (see the last 2 Raws) do get a chuckle out of people. But, it also served some purpose by showing that Shawn Michaels was aware of the Bret Hart situation and it was nice to see him acknowledge it. There were some lulls in the first hour but to say that it was a bad first hour would really be nit-picking. I wouldn't be surprised if Ted DiBiase is "kicked out" of Legacy soon despite his win over Evan Bourne. Is that predictable? Yes. However, things don't always have to be surprising to be considered the right thing to do. Keeping on The Legacy theme, it's nice to see them pick the Randy Orton-Kofi Kingston feud back up. Here's hoping that Kofi gets his big one on one win next week against Orton in a match that won't feature a quick count or 3-on-1 odds.

The WWE Title feud was strong throughout the show as well. The main event definitely left us desiring more, but it could be worse. John Cena could have won in less than 5 minutes, completely setting Sheamus back light years. Timbaland as guest host was kept to a minimum, which would actually be a "hit" of mine if I were doing a "Hit and Miss" column. He's not the most charismatic guy, despite being a rapper. WWE should use that formula for the entire run of it's "guest host" concept. If a host isn't very charismatic, keep his/her role limited.

Oh yeah, there was also the whole Bret Hart returning segment! That segment totally worked for me. It appealed to the long time WWF(E) fans that remember Bret and gave a nice synopsis of his career to the younger fans that don't know much about him. I know there will be those that complained that they also covered the "Montreal Screwjob" on Raw. To those people, I say, it was done for a reason! I don't believe that Vince added that to the end of the video to stroke his own ego, at least not this time.

HBK's involvement in this, although maybe premature, was necessary. Between Raw and Smackdown, later this week, this would be the last time he could talk about Bret to Vince without Bret being around. This segment was also huge in that it could send HBK, and DX for that matter, in so many directions going forward. We got another HBK-Undertaker tease. We have the obvious Bret-Shawn/DX showdown. They could also incorporate The Hart Dynasty into that. The tag title rematch next week could give a sign of where things may go from here. There are even more options that I won't go into, as this review has been long winded enough. All things considered, I don't see how you could not rate this edition of Raw a good one.

Greg Parks, Torch Columnist (6.5)

I think WWE did the best they could with the explanation of Bret Hart coming in. They painted themselves into a corner by having Vince McMahon being against it...and since he's the supreme boss, and has a huge ego, HBK was able to work that angle to get him to OK Bret's appearance. It was fine, not the best way to go, but certainly passable. Hopefully, we see more of the Shawn Michaels we saw in the segment with McMahon rather than the HBK that has been the caddy for Triple H the last few months.

Again, disappointed with most of the match lengths, but that's what we're getting now on Raw, so that's what we have to accept. DiBiase vs. Bourne was fine, as was Cena vs. Sheamus, but I wasn't a fan of the finish. WWE at this point has to address that kind of finish now. The opening segment was short (relatively speaking) and to the point, making it the best opening segment in some time. Timbaland didn't do much as guest host and for a fan, he didn't seem that interested.

The Legacy deal, I hope there is follow-up with. Whether this is finally the time DiBiase leaves Legacy and turns face or not, there needs to be some advancement in this angle, because Orton was right, they're stale at this point. I don't care how PG WWE is, at least they allow Maryse to keep that awesome pin of hers. That almost makes up for it. Miz vs. Kofi was a promising idea, but the execution, again due to time constraints, was disappointing.

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