By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Set Up For the 6 Man: I enjoyed the interplay between the six men leading to their brawl, before William Regal came out to set up the 6 Man tag match. Shawn Michaels got things off to a nice start with his good promo about being sick of coming in second. Chris Jericho was good as well in playing up his past as both a show stealer with Michaels at WrestleMania 19 (my vote for Match of the Year by the way), as well as a WrestleMania headliner. Jeff Hardy came out to a bigger sounding pop then the others and had a nice short promo about wanting to get to where Michaels and Jericho have already been. John Bradshaw Layfield was good in his role, particularly in his line about Umaga not speaking English and his hints at buying the Samoan Bulldozer off. I could have done without Snitsky’s involvement, but there wasn’t really another choice. All in all, it was a fun segment to set up the “Main Event.”

Mr. Kennedy: Mr. Kennedy had a good night. I liked his squash of Super Crazy as he focused on Crazy’s knee and used a leg lock for the finish. It was good foreshadowing for his plan for his match vs. Ric Flair at No Way Out. His post-match promo, including the footage from Smackdown was very strong. It underscored what he had done in his match. I particularly liked when he suggested that Flair simply show up on Raw next week and forfeit the match. His understated “woo” at the end was a great way to end a great promo.

Set Up for Tag Title Match: It was nice to see WWE set up a Tag Team Title feud in a way other than the typical way of having a new challenger win several non-title matches against the Champions. We saw that way too many times during London & Kendrick’s long title run on Smackdown. It looked like WWE was going that route recently with Carlito getting some wins in one on one matches against Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes. They have been building a feud between the two, but Holly got some one on one victories as well, so it hasn’t been one sided the way it might have been. This week I liked that both teams got strong victories over established, former Tag Team Champions. I would have preferred seeing both matches go longer, but my guess is that Paul London and Lance Cade are not really ready to return to action full time after their injuries, and their involvement in these matches had to be limited. Either way, it was good to see Carlito & Santino get a strong victory over a good tag team, and Holly & Rhodes get a strong victory over a good tag team. The tag team situation is still not strong, but at least in this case, both teams are looking strong going into their eventual Title match.

6 Man Tag: The set up to this match was fun, as was the match itself. The early faced paced action before the commercial was good. I liked the triple plancha to the outside by Michaels, Hardy and Jericho. After the break, things slowed down with the three on one beat down on Jericho. But, Jericho did a good job of showing fire and attempting to make come backs multiple times. That keeps things from getting too dull. I was happily surprised to see Hardy get the hot tag. The reaction the fans gave him shows that he still has strong fan support. It seemed stronger than last week, so maybe the disappointment at his loss to Randy Orton has worn off. The fact that he got the win shows that WWE is still interested in giving him a push. Obviously, with John Cena back and taking up the final segment of the show, WWE isn’t going to have Hardy the center of the show. But, signs are stronger than last week than he will still be a major player. I highly doubt he will win the Elimination Chamber, but maybe Money in the Bank at WrestleMania to get him back in the title picture (with a jump to Smackdown perhaps?).

RAW MISSES

Contract Signing: My regular readers should know that I don’t like contract signings in wrestling. This one was o.k. It was kept short which was good, and had the good ending with the sneak attack RKO. My problem is with the concept in general. It is just too inconsistent as to when matches (title and otherwise) have to have contract signings. There wasn’t a contract signing for Orton vs. Hardy at the last PPV. Why does Orton have the power to make Cena sign this contract? Shouldn’t William Regal or Vince McMahon have that power? It is a lazy way to get Champion and challenger in the ring at the same time, and most of them stink.

McMahon’s Ass: I am so tired of Vince McMahon’s fascination with his own ass. I don’t recall ever being entertained by a Kiss My Ass Club segment. This one went on too long. McMahon tells Hornswoggle to kiss his ass, Hornswoggle looks sad. Repeat. Repeat again. Finlay interrupts. Repeat. Finlay might have to kiss it too. Repeat. Finlay stops Hornswoggle and has him bite McMahon. Hilarious. I have been a huge fan of this storyline. But on Raw, with the focus on Vince’s ass, the storyline hit a major pot hole.

Final Segment: I am not a fan of arm wrestling in pro wrestling. They are usually boring and predictable. That was true in this case. Mark Henry did the usual heel stalling. John Cena did the usual babyface comeback. Randy Orton did the usual run-in to break things up. It was very predictable. I liked a few parts, particularly when Henry slammed Cena’s arm to the table early. That was a nice tease to play into the injury angle. John Cena’s FU on Henry was certainly an impressive moment. But, considering that I’ve seen him do the same to The Big Show (including live at No Way Out 2004), it wasn’t that impressive. Plus, I was turned off by the sheer testosterone on display. For right or wrong, every muscular WWE performer has the steroid cloud hanging over his head. John Cena falls into that category. The fact that he returned from a major injury months early, coupled with major athlete stars like Andy Pettite admitting to using HGH to return from injuries quickly, adds to any steroid speculation regarding Cena. I’m not saying any of that is fair, but it is reality. It seems like WWE is aware of that speculation, but instead of trying to dispel the innuendo, they are rubbing Cena’s super human strength in our faces. Not only was he about to beat the World’s Strongest man in arm wrestling, but he easily picked up the 400 pound monster and dumped him on the ground. It was like they were saying, “Cena might be on steroids, but who cares? Look at the amazing feat of strength he is capable of!” That bothered me, along with the boring and predictable nature of the segment before that.

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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