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Opening Segment: The post-WrestleMania Raw got off to a good start. Randy Orton gave a strong promo to start the show and to sell his win over Triple H and John Cena the night before. I kept wondering who would come out to interrupt him first, but instead of either of them, John Bradshaw Layfield came out, which was a nice surprise. I had a feeling that his feud with Finlay would be over and he would be moving on to something bigger, but a shot at the WWE Title was not what I was thinking about. JBL was great on the mic. He gave two of my favorite wrestling lines so far this year. The first was when he said that he had passed on the torch, but that he wanted his damn torch back. The other was when he told Orton that the fans don’t like Orton as champ, but they are going to hate him. That was a great confrontation, with Orton’s angered response. It was another surprise to see Matt Hardy attack Orton from behind. It got me excited about the show which is what an opening should do. I am assuming Backlash will be a fatal four way with Orton, Cena, Triple H and JBL which has some promise.
HBK vs Batista?: I am intrigued by the notion of a Batista vs. Shawn Michaels feud. Michaels was great in his emotional in ring promo. Then there was a very good scene in the back with Michaels feeling guilty and talking to William Regal. After Regal left, the camera panned to show Batista angrily staring at Michaels. I thought it was a nice touch, but didn’t think too much of it at the time. Then, during the Flair Farewell, the only worked moment was Batista glaring at Michaels when he came out to thank the Nature Boy. It is an interesting direction to go in and I look forward to seeing it develop.
London & Kendrick Win: I was surprised to see Paul London and Brian Kendrick on, let alone defeating the Tag Team Champions. I hope that this goes somewhere, either to a push in the tag division, or at least a break up after getting back to relevance. Breaking up a team that nobody cares about isn’t going to do anything for their singles careers, so if WWE does want to break them up, it is a good idea to give them one last good run in the tag division. Then again, they might not even be on for the next few weeks.
Jericho vs. Punk: Chris Jericho and CM Punk deserved the night off after Money in the Bank, but I will selfishly say that I am glad that they wrestled, as they put together a very good t.v. match. The match only went 7 minutes and certainly could have gone on longer, but it was very good while it lasted and the shorter length may have helped as they were able to be very physical and not pace themselves for a longer match. They worked really well together in the ring and the crowd ate it up. They were very hot for the match, seemingly evenly split for both guys. If I had been there I would have been chanting for both Punk and Jericho, so I understand the crowd response. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these two in the ring.
Orton vs. Hardy: I would not have been surprised a few months back if I had learned that Orton vs. Hardy would take place the night after WrestleMania. But, I would have been surprised to learn that it was Matt Hardy facing Orton and not Jeff. Hardy looked strong for most of the match. He really took it to Orton and looked good doing it. The action was intense as Hardy wanted revenge and Orton seemed a bit shell shocked after the initial onslaught by Hardy. Like Punk vs. Jericho, the match never got dull. They went all out to give the fans a good match. There were some very nice spots, particularly hard hitting spots like when Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on the outside.
Flair Farewell: WWE proves a few times a year (like Christmas in Iraq) that they know how to do classy. They proved it once again with the moving Farewell to Ric Flair. I enjoyed seeing the videos of some classic Flair wins. I would have loved to see more of them. The moving words from Shawn Michaels and Dusty Rhodes were great. Flair was classy in his farewell to the fans. The fans were great in their response as well. I really enjoyed seeing the all time greats come out, along with Flair’s family and current members of the roster to pay their respects to Flair. It was very moving and heart felt. It was one of the most sincere moments in wrestling history. I wish that Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan had been able to make it. They both played big parts in Flair’s career and life. Obviously that isn’t a complaint, just an observation that I thought of. Nothing could really take away from this Farewell.
RAW MISSES
Punk Loses: Despite how much I enjoyed the match, I was a bit taken back by Punk losing clean. He just won Money in the Bank and then he lost. I am worried that his Money in the Bank win isn’t going to lead anywhere special for him. If he can’t beat the Intercontinental Champion, why should we want to see him take on one of the World Champions? When Rey Mysterio won the World Championship at WrestleMania 22, WWE cut the legs out from under his title run by having him lose too often in non-title matches. The Money in the Bank briefcase isn’t as important as the World Championship, but it is important, and the winner should be kept strong in anticipation of him cashing in the title shot.
Hardy Loses: Again, I liked the match, but not the outcome. I would not suggest that Matt Hardy should defeat Randy Orton. Orton just beat Triple H and John Cena. He is the WWE Champ and needs to continue to look strong. However, after the great surprise return at WrestleMania, then the surprise attack earlier in the show, Hardy had some major momentum that came to a screeching halt after Orton hit the quick RKO. I am not sure what I would have done differently. Maybe I would have Orton win in a more underhanded way to protect Hardy more. Or have Hardy get himself disqualified as he didn’t care about the outcome, only getting revenge. He will move on to MVP on Smackdown and I anticipate that feud, but he will not have the same type of momentum going into it. It was like when he returned to WWE to get revenge on Edge a few years back. He kept attacking Edge and the crowd would pop, but then Edge would win every match that they had. WWE wants to use Hardy because he is popular, but they don’t want to push him to the next level.
Maria vs. Santino: I liked the brief scene in the back between Santino Marella and Maria. Santino was his usual great self. But, the whole Divas vs. Santino situation did nothing for me. I guess it is supposed to make the Divas look empowered, but I just didn’t care. It was a waste of time and something could have been done instead to actually get the fans excited about the women’s division for a change.
Note: This will be my last Hits & Misses article for a few weeks. I will be on vacation. In the mean time, Torch Contributor Mike Roe will be filling in for me. Make sure you check out Mike’s Hits & Misses while I am gone.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.
For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here. Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
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