By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Opening Segment: Raw got off to a good start with the promos between John Cena and Randy Orton. Cena is again proving that he gets some of the biggest reactions from the live crowd. His opening promo was solid. He explained his return, and managed to get the Cena haters to cheer by announcing he wanted his WrestleMania Title shot right away on Raw. Orton was good in his role, putting himself over as a dominant champion who had defeated Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Jeff Hardy. He got heat by saying he would only defend the WWE Title at a PPV, which set up Cena vs. Orton at No Way Out.

Triple H and Michaels: I’m guessing that I’m in the minority, but I enjoyed the brief backstage segment with Triple H and Shawn Michaels. They put over their disappointment at not winning the Rumble, while looking ahead to their opportunity in the Elimination Chamber. At the same time, they foreshadowed possible tension as they would have to fight each other in that match. All of that was good. They transitioned to Triple H needing a tag team partner. I have to admit to being amused at the quick wardrobe change for Michaels and Triple H. I liked hearing them acknowledge Michael Buffer’s ring announcing. Their tongue in cheek line about him committing gimmick infringement was fun as we all know that Triple H’s “Let’s get ready to Suck It!” was a parody of Buffer’s famous line, not the other way around. I also can’t help but think that it was a shot at TNA for Shark Boy’s Steve Austin gimmick infringement.

Orton and JBL: I enjoyed the backstage encounter between Randy Orton and John Bradshaw Layfield. It was a nice meeting of the minds, helping to hype Orton vs. Cena, and the Elimination Chamber. I liked the tease of tension between them. That fit their personalities. It also set up JBL’s abandoning Orton at the end of the show, which was well done.

McMahon and Hornswoggle: This was a great Raw if you just look at the various conversations between Superstars, whether it be Orton and Cena, Triple H and Michaels, Orton and JBL, or in this case, Vince McMahon and Hornswoggle. The McMahon - Hornswoggle storyline needed to develop past the whole tough love thing. It has been moving along nicely with the hints at a deal between McMahon and Finlay, but McMahon’s view of Hornswoggle had continued to be ambiguous. That was good to see McMahon verbally berate Hornswoggle for being a loser in the Rumble. Every recent time when McMahon has shown anger towards his son, he always has backed off at the end, until tonight which was a good development.

Mr. Kennedy: I was intrigued at the Rumble when Mr. Kennedy started to challenge Ric Flair. I was happy to see that continue when we found out that he had gone to William Regal to get his match against Flair at No Way Out. His brief match with Brian Kendrick was a decent, high energy squash. His post-match promo was good. It is interesting that he would rather end Flair’s career than participate in the Elimination Chamber. Flair’s brief cameo was fun. I’m sure we will get more from him in the next few weeks.

Santino: Santino didn’t get a long time to talk on the mic, but in his brief rant about the fans looking at Maria’s bikini bottoms, he managed to slip in a few good lines (Jim Ross erecting a monument in his pants and barfing in the Liberty Bell), while also getting in one great line (cursing the Japanese for the HD technology). He continues to make me laugh every week.

Jericho’s New Attitude: I enjoyed Chris Jericho’s interview with Todd Grisham. He seems to be embracing this new attitude. It was good to hear him list some of his classic catch phrases. I think it would be a mistake to take all of his goofy personality out of his character. You have to play to your strengths, and coming up with hilarious lines has always been one of them. The idea that JBL has awoken a sinister side to his personality is very interesting. It was good that he mentioned this change and talked about getting to know the new Jericho better.

RAW MISSES

Mike Ademle: I read he was hired by WWE shortly before the PPV. If that is true, he hadn’t been in the company for long before debuting at a major PPV. I gave him a Miss in my Royal Rumble Hitlist, and I have to give him a Miss again. WWE shouldn’t put a new announcer on t.v. until they have watched at least a month of WWE programming. Ademle doesn’t seem familiar with the wrestlers or storylines. He might be a good announcer, but without a strong knowledge of the product, he is going to sound bad, which is how he has sounded so far.

Hardy’s Future: After losing to Orton at the PPV, Jeff Hardy’s future looked to be in the mid-card. After Raw I still see that as his future. Hardy looked dejected. His promo about this being the beginning of his run, not the end was well written, but wasn’t delivered with any fire, almost like Hardy himself didn’t believe the words he was speaking. He got a good reaction from the crowd, but it didn’t sound to me like it was as good as he was getting in the build up to the Rumble. Maybe his fans were deflated by his loss, just as he appeared to be. His involvement in the Main Event was almost nonexistent. He hardly did any offense at all, before being taken out of the match. The announcers tried to put over how close he came to winning the WWE Title, but it fell flat in the face of the fact that he never got any close near falls on Orton and lost clean in the middle of the ring. I assume his inclusion in the Elimination Chamber will only be to do some crazy high spots, before being eliminated. I hate to sound over dramatic, but I just don’t see Hardy ever getting back into the Main Event picture (at least not on Raw, though I believe Edge needs an opponent for WrestleMania).

In Ring Action: This was a thumbs up show from the stand point of interviews, promos and verbal exchanges. It was a thumbs down show in terms of quality wrestling. None of the matches were terrible, but none of them were good. The women's matches were what you would expect. They were kept short, and they had decent to bad action. I was glad that Ashley didn’t get to wrestle, but her tag match wasn’t very good. The two tag matches were o.k. DX vs. Snitsky & Umaga had solid action, but was way too formulaic. Just once I would like to see Triple H get the beat down and have to hot tag Michaels. The Main Event was probably the best match of the night, but it wasn’t very good. It wasn’t bad, just not very good.

Direction Going Forward: I’m not thrilled with Cena vs. Orton at No Way Out. It takes away from the Royal Rumble when the winner doesn’t face the Champ at WrestleMania. WWE better not do that again for several years. All signs point to Triple H vs. John Cena at WrestleMania, which isn’t great. They faced two years ago in a good Main Event, so they can deliver, but we’ve seen it before. A triple threat might be in order, but that doesn’t sound great either. With only three weeks to promote No Way Out, everything felt rushed. Three major matches were announced with little back story. If Regal was so hell bent on keeping Triple H out of the Royal Rumble, then why did he name him one of the combatants in the Elimination Chamber? This rushed feel is one of the reasons why WWE should get rid of No Way Out, and have no PPV between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. They could have 8 full weeks to build to the biggest event of the year. That would be so much better, and they wouldn’t have to try stunts like the Elimination Chamber to try to pop a buy rate on an in between PPV.

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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