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RAW HITS

Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin: This was clearly the best match of the night. In fact, it may have been the only match of the night as I don’t recall too much in ring action. It was a good match and it was nice to see Jeff Hardy get the win after getting destroyed last week. This should have been a non-Title match as Benjamin certainly had not earned a Title shot, but that is my only real complaint here. Both guys showed great athleticism. It started out a bit slow, but the arm drags and other arm moves were different for Hardy and played into the storyline that he might not be 100% and able to fly around the ring like usual. The second half of the match was very good after the commercial break. Benjamin looked great here showing why he should get more of a push. Hardy did a good job selling and then in his attempted comebacks. All in all it was an enjoyable match and more matches like it is what Raw needs now.

McMahon and Hornswoggle: As much as I would prefer more wrestling and less skits, I have to admit to being entertained by most of the skits this week. While it can’t last forever (the Triple H jokes were hit or miss and even the funny ones will soon ware thin), I am enjoying the storyline of Vince McMahon and Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle has always made me laugh on Smackdown, and while I wish this storyline was advanced there instead of Raw, he continues to make me laugh. The first scene in the limo was very funny. The scene in Vince’s office was less funny, but decent. And I did enjoy the in ring segment where Vince tried to put Hornswoggle up for adoption. I know it makes no logical sense, but this storyline has been lacking in logic from the beginning. It was fun and I laughed a lot, so it gets a Hit. It was also a Hit as despite the multiple scenes, it took a back seat to the Randy Orton vs. John Cena feud.

Santino and Jillian Hall: Another good skit in the back was when Santino Marella came looking for Maria only to have Jillian Hall tell him that she doesn’t want to talk to him. There is something to this pairing as we saw them achieve some very good comedy when they interrupted Maria and Ron Simmon’s date a few weeks back, and they were funny here too. Santino’s humor continues to be a highlight of the show, and Jillian’s horrible singing is too. Put them together and you get a pretty funny scene.

RAW MISSES

Cena as a Face: The fans’ booing John Cena and chanting at him that “You Can’t Wrestle” while he cradled his injured father shows that WWE has failed to rally fans behind him. The women and children still cheer for him, and he may sell more merchandise than anyone else, but I am sick and tired of the boos. This is not a referendum on the crowd. They have spoken whether you agree with them or not. WWE is being so stubborn in keeping Cena a face. His promo to start the show was not enjoyable partially because of the boos. Cena’s delivery and the writing were problems too. In fact, that type of writing and delivery is partly why fans boo him. But when he says, “I’m feeling great,” and the fans boo, it might be a sign that he should turn heel. It won’t happen as he is in the middle of this long feud with Randy Orton which has turned personal. But Orton beating up Cena’s dad didn’t make the fans cheer for him. The fans should want to see Cena kick Orton’s ass in their last man standing match, but they don’t.

Flag Match: This was a head scratching match for me. It was so random. I don’t understand what the point of this match was other than to fill time with the slimmed down roster. But they haven’t been playing up the fact that Daivari is anit-America (he is from Detroit after all). There was no feud or involvement between him and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. It made no sense and really didn’t add anything to the show. What was the point?

Triple H vs. Tag Team Division: This was disappointing, but predictable. As soon as the announcers said that Triple H would be in a handicap match against Cade & Murdoch, I cringed. We are right back to where we were a year ago as Degeneration X buried the rest of the Raw roster, especially the tag team division. In this case it was worse as Triple H did it without Shawn Michaels. There was nothing redeemable about this match. Triple H barely sold for the Tag Team Champions (I repeat, the Tag Team Champions!), and then beat Lance Cade with a spine buster. A spine buster which hasn’t gotten Triple H a victory ever (as far as I can recall) was enough to defeat a Tag Team Champion. Pathetic. It was nice to see London & Kendrick come to Triple H’s aid, and the crowd seemed to pop for them. But instead of doing the normal thing of setting up a six man tag match next week, Triple H destroyed them as well. The crowd popped for that as well, so it will be justified in the minds of the McMahons and Triple H.

Lack of Wrestling: Once again, Raw had a total lack of quality in ring action. The show got off to a good start with the Hardy vs. Benjamin match. But it went way downhill from there. After a lot of talking, they had the Flag Match which was only 2 minutes. Then a lot more talking and then the handicap match which I already complained about. Then came a tag team women’s match which was decent but very short. Then more talking, and finally came the two Main Events for the night, John Cena vs. Santino Marella and Randy Orton vs. Cena’s Daddy. From a storyline perspective it was o.k. as it built towards the next PPV, but it certainly wasn’t quality wrestling. And the whole deal where Coach just keeps changing the rules is so old and played out, I really hope when William Regal comes back from suspension that he plays the GM role more neutral then straight heel because I am tired of it.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hitlist Specialist, providing his point of view in the Torch's hitlist format for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

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