James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (4.5)

This was an under-performing show outside of the MVP and Miz talking segment in the middle of the second hour. MVP-Miz felt like one of those Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho segments from 2008 that was so good and seemed so real that it didn't seem to fit with Raw's bland, sterile, predictable, Michael Cole Raw.

Vince McMahon's "retribution" related to Bret Hart was underwhelming. The build-up to WrestleMania doesn't have to be amazing every week, but McMahon's three-minute promo fell flat, especially one week after the start of a major WrestleMania angle.

Mike Tyson's involvement on the show was good, but the ending with Tyson turning on Jericho and aligning with DX to have his "moment in the sun dancing with DX" was another example of the anti-climatic, predictable programming WWE has offered in the guest hosting era. WWE isn't building anticipation for their top storylines from week-to-week and the weekly inclusions of guest hosts has hurt WWE's ability to build storylines that mean anything of consequence or have substance.

The three-way match with Kofi, Orton, and Cena was off from beginning to end. The run-in bit at the end was messed up, leading to Kofi standing up at the wrong time to take the RKO. Meanwhile, WWE is either foreshadowing or throwing out red herrings on a Randy Orton babyface turn, especially now that he's booked against heel champion Sheamus at the Royal Rumble. At the end of the day, WWE will probably just play up Orton like John Cena - expecting some fans to cheer Orton, but keeping him heel with his Viper character.

Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

As far as this edition of Raw went, I got two words for ya: mixed feelings. While the show certainly wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, I felt as though it had potential to be better. When you look at the 6.5 rating that I gave the show, you are probably asking, how is that "mixed feelings"? I'll tell ya why. First off, as I stated, Raw was pretty good overall. Mike Tyson was a good host for the show. He's not particularly good on the mic, but you could tell he was excited to be there and knew the product. Plus, his athletic and in-ring (even if it's not wrestling) background is an added plus. Ironically, I believe that the biggest plus of the night came from the mid-card! The promo with The Miz and MVP was something that had you drawn into every hanging moment. Both of these guys delivered big time. They made themselves and the US Title look better. The opening segment was also a solid way to start the show. Sheamus continues to get better as WWE Champion but I don't see him holding on the title after the Royal Rumble.

As far as what killed the potential for a better show, here goes nothing. The Triple Threat match for the #1 Contendership was a decent match. However, the burial of Kofi Kingston may now be complete. After "Bragging Rights" and "Survivor Series", Kofi was red hot, bordering on white hot. For whatever reason his push seems to have come to a screeching halt. Another match that got ruined by the finish was the main event tag match. I think everyone foresaw Tyson turning on Chris Jericho. But, and I know this is getting to be redundant in the internet wrestling community, I am just so sick and tired of Hornswoggle (not to mention the involvement with DX). I don't know what Vince McMahon's fascination is with him, but I just don't want to see him on the show anymore. I understand that the project is PG, but the fact that he's treated like a kid is almost as annoying as his character itself.

Moving on, the segment where Vince announced that Bret Hart would never be on in the WWE again fell just a little bit flat. Not much, but just a little. Some type of tease for Bret showing up next week would've made it okay, but we didn't get that. There are rumors swirling that Bret will be on Raw next Monday. If that's the case, that's something that should definitely be advertised a week in advance. I'm hoping WWE didn't drop the ball on that. A few more little things: Santino beating Jack Swagger does nothing for either guy. No one expects Santino to win the Royal Rumble. Swagger is a major underdog too, but you could at least do something like this weekly until the Rumble to help elevate him a little. The Divas tourney matches were okay at best, but no real complaints. Maryse was great on commentary, which is good for getting her over. The teased Legacy breakup continued nicely with the promo before their tag match. I'm still intrigued by where they go with the trio and how quickly they will break up and multiples teases over the past 3-6 months.

As I said, there were just a bunch of little things that hurt this shows final rating and from hitting it's full potential. Overall, it was an entertaining show that should have been better. Here's hoping that the past 2 Raw episodes are the start of a trend with as little silly comedy as possible. It's been a nice change the past 2 shows not having our intelligence insulted.

Greg Parks, Torch Columnist (4.0)

The things I liked: Mike Tyson as guest host, and the Miz vs. MVP confrontation that did more for their characters in one segment than WWE has done in three-to-six months. And that's it. Everything else was pretty harmless, but nothing really got me excited for next week, or even the Royal Rumble. Orton vs. Sheamus should be interesting, and we got to see the short fuse that Orton has again in the finish of the three-way. As soon as Tyson made the match of him and Jericho against DX, you could see that finish coming a mile away.

The Divas tournament puts some focus on the ladies, but they didn't really impress in the ring last night. I think that was Katie Lea's first singles Diva match in forever. There really isn't a whole lot else to say about the show. Sorry Wade, but the crowd was awful. And not just silent awful, like, actively cheering against things and starting counter-productive chants. Oh, and Vince's promo, which the fact that I could barely remember it can't be a good sign.

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