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By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Six Man Tag: Wow, that was an action packed fast paced match! The only problem was that it was too short. But I really can’t complain too much as I loved it while it lasted. It is too bad that they didn’t appear to have a better camera angle for Paul London’s standing shooting star press off the apron onto Shelton Benjamin because that was a great spot. It was also nice to see London & Kendrick teaming up with a very popular Raw Superstar (Jeff Hardy) who did not feel the need to destroy them after the match.

Nice Follow Ups: That match was a nice follow up to the developing feuds of London & Kendrick vs. Cade & Murdoch, and Hardy vs. Benjamin. William Regal’s encounter backstage with the Highlanders was a nice follow up up to their actions last week. Cody Rhodes vs. Hardcore Holly was a nice follow up on their first match and is the foundation for what could be an interesting program. Hornswoggle’s distraction of Melina was a nice follow up from last week. With the exception of not following up on Santino Marella walking out on his match against Ron Simmons last week, WWE did a good job of advancing these storylines this week.

Triple H - Umaga: The physical confrontation between Triple H and Umaga was exactly what it needed to be. As opposed to so many post-match attacks, this one was actually back and forth, instead of one sided. It was very physical and intense. And most importantly, it was a great tease to their match at the PPV. WWE has not done a good job of building to this match, partly because Umaga has been off of t.v., due to his suspension, but also partly because they announced the match on wwe.com a few weeks ago, but not on Raw. So here, at the last possible moment, they at least did a good final sell for their No Mercy match.

Marella at the Movies: Once again, Santino Marella had a good week. Marella at the Movies could grow into a recurring segment, but obviously they are only using it as a way to build towards the inevitable Stone Cold Stunner. But at least it was an enjoyable segment this week. Santino had one of the best lines of the year when responding to the fans’ chants for Austin saying, “you are just like my uncle Jesepe’s trained monkey.” His own version of “The Condemned” was funny. I was surprised to see Val Venis come out, but he was funny too. Marella attacking him in the end was great as he had a chance to be physical and not just goofy.

Cena’s Intensity: John Cena’s promo with Todd Grisham started out poor (more later), but as usual, it got much better once he dropped the silliness and got serious. The end of the promo was very intense, well written and very well delivered. It really drove home the point that Cena would take whatever Randy Orton would dish out, and even if covered in blood, he would still get up. It shows what he can do in the right type of promo.

Cena Beat Down: Raw had a very strong ending with the “surprise” post-Main Event attack on Cena by Randy Orton. It was predictable that Orton was just pretending to be in Chicago via satellite earlier in the show. WWE (and TNA also) uses this angle too often when a heel is supposedly not in the building, only to have it be a swerve on the babyface and the fans who weren’t smart enough to predict it. That being said, it was still a great beat down. After destroying Cena with an RKO, and shots to the head with the ring side steps and a monitor, Orton really drove home the point with the RKO on the table. Even though the table didn’t break, it was still a memorable moment. I was thinking to myself, “the only thing that could make this better is if Orton counts Cena out.” And then Orton granted my wish and counted to 10 right on top of Cena’s fallen body which was the perfect way to end the beat down.

PPV Hype: All in all, Raw did a good job of hyping No Mercy after weeks of not doing such a good job. I already discussed the hype for Umaga vs. Triple H and Orton vs. Cena. Beth Phoenix’s promo and confrontation with Lillian Garcia followed by the save from Candice Michelle was a nice segment that hyped the Women’s Title Match. And if they want to add a match at the last minute, at least they have a few options with possible Title Matches, either the Intercontinental or the Tag Team Championships.

RAW MISSES

Opening Segment: While good on the whole, Raw did not get off to a good start. When I saw the three guys standing in the ring, I was hoping that each one was named “H” and that collectively they were “Triple H” and that Vince McMahon would destroy them and not have to face the real Triple H later. Instead we got this lame introduction of each, followed by their destruction by Umaga. It was better than other recent long talking segments to start Raw as it at least had some physicality and didn’t last that long. But it was still boring and did not hook me and make me want to watch the rest of the show. WWE should really consider changing things up a bit and actually start Raw with a match.

McMahon vs. Triple H: With Carlito as the special guest referee, this match could have been booked so much better. Instead, it ended after the third time Triple H did something that he could get disqualified for. Carlito looked the other way after getting shoved and after Triple H low blowed McMahon. But after the third infraction he disqualified The Game, much to The Game’s surprise. Why not keep cheating for McMahon to physically hurt Triple H? Wouldn’t getting pinned by McMahon be more humiliating than getting disqualified? It was lame booking. Also, after taking a Back Cracker, Triple H kicked out even with Carlito’s fast count. If memory serves, not that long ago, John Cena was pinned by Carlito after the same move. Am I reading too much into this? Either way, this match could have been a fun Sports Entertainment match, as they can’t deliver a good wrestling match, but they didn’t even deliver that.

Cena’s Silliness: As I mentioned before, Cena’s promo started off bad, because it started off too silly. Of course, he had to make a Todd Grisham is gay joke. He had a series of rhymes which were not funny (not even sure they were supposed to be). Until he turned serious it was a bad promo, and again it shows what Cena can do in the wrong type of promo.

Main Event: I was very surprised at the beginning of Raw when they announced the Main Event of Cena vs. Mr. Kennedy for the first time ever. It was a mistake to have the first match between the WWE Champion and an up and coming rising star be a non-hyped random match on Raw. Cena vs. Kennedy could be a great feud down the line, but Kennedy needs to continue to rise on Raw and it needs to be done right. Not only was it a mistake to have the match, but to have Kennedy lose clean in such an easy manner seems like a bigger mistake. I was shocked when Cena slapped on the STFU in the middle of the ring. I thought for sure Orton would attack Cena at that point, but instead, Kennedy tapped out. And the match wasn’t particularly good up until that point.

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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