By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Kennedy - Burchill: Week #2 of Mr. Kennedy vs. Paul Burchill went well. Kennedy gave a good pre-match promo about making William Regal cry. Burchill was solid in bowing out of the match to have Umaga face Kennedy instead. His post-match attack on Kennedy worked well to get him over as a heel who would jump someone from behind and then run away. It was also good to see Kennedy get some revenge later in the show when he attacked Burchill as he celebrated with Katie Lea. WWE is doing a good job thus far of building this new rivalry, building Burchill, and making the fans want to see Kennedy get his revenge.

Rhodes - Holly - DiBiase: This was a nice short scene to advance a storyline. I liked the tension between Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly. They have a rookie/veteran dynamic that was used when they first started teaming, but seldom since, and it was good to see it return with Holly upset at Rhodes for not filling him in on Rowdy Roddy Piper’s appearance. Ted DiBiase Jr. had a nice appearance as well. This advanced his story of looking for a partner and coming after the Tag Team Champions.

Jericho’s Development: I enjoyed Chris Jericho’s interview with the announcers. It was hard to tell whether or not he was being sincere in his words about Shawn Michaels. He is playing his part perfectly right now. For the second week in a row, he had the chance to do some major damage with a chair, but decided not to. It was interesting to hear the crowd’s reaction to him. He was cheered during the match, but booed when he didn’t bash John Bradshaw Layfield with the chair. Everything that Jericho has done lately has been gold, and I continue to look forward to seeing his character develop and to find out where his story is going.

Divas: Suddenly, WWE is treating the Divas on Raw with respect. They have done a great job in building Melina vs. Beth Phoenix. Melina was great in her intense desire to get her hands on Phoenix. It was interesting how she ignored a chance to tag in to fight Katie Lea, but as soon as Phoenix was in the match, she demanded a tag. She played her part very well. At the same time, WWE did a good job of focusing on Katie Lea’s first match (other than the handicap matches she’s had with her brother). They made it seem like a big deal. The tag match was solid, but too short to be anything special, but it was very intense while it lasted. It is good to see WWE taking the Divas seriously for a change.

Main Event: John Cena and Jeff Hardy had a very good t.v. Main Event in their first ever match. There was very good back and forth action throughout the match. It never dragged and was exciting from start to finish (at least once the match was restarted after the idiot jumped into the ring). The match was particularly strong after the commercial break with a series of counters and near falls. Hardy was totally believable in having such a strong showing against Cena. That is a testament to how well he was performing before his suspension. A year ago, you would not have expected to see Hardy wrestling Cena in the Main Event of Raw, let alone almost getting the win on a number of occasions. This was a very good match, but I am just not thrilled with Cena as the #1 contender. I understand not giving the shot to Hardy so soon after his suspension, and there isn’t another great choice on Raw right now (which is WWE’s own fault). So, I guess Cena vs. Triple H is o.k. for now.

Selling the PPV: WWE did a good job of selling the brutal effects of One Night Stand. They hyped Randy Orton’s injury. Jeff Hardy sold the effects of his match by walking gingerly to the ring. Umaga had his ribs tapped and lost to Kennedy partly because of that injury. Shawn Michaels was home recovering from his match vs. Batista. JBL sold the effects of having a chain wrapped around his neck causing him to cough up blood. JBL vs. Y2 J was well booked to have Jericho capitalize on the injury, focusing on JBL’s throat, culminating in the accidental chair to this throat, causing him to cough up more blood. It was a needlessly dangerous PPV during which many wrestlers took crazy bumps and sustained legit injuries, so it was good that WWE didn’t ignore the obvious. It does not excuse taking excessive risks, but at least those risks weren’t ignored the next night.

RAW MISSES

Opening Segment: This was a good Raw, but it didn’t start out very good at all. As Triple H cut his promo about defeating and injuring Randy Orton, all I could think about was how many times he has started the Raw after a PPV the same way over the years. I know it has been awhile since he was champion, but it brought back bad memories. I correctly predicted that John Cena would come out to challenge Triple H. Cena’s promo was poorly scripted. He over-hyped the possibility of Cena vs. Triple H. He was much more excited about the possibility than I was. My wife then correctly predicted that Jeff Hardy would come out. He isn’t great on the mic, but at least he kept it short. I’m not sure what to think about Vince McMahon’s appearance. He is trying to play nice with the crowd, but I don’t know how to read his bizarre behavior announcing Cena vs. Hardy as if it were his idea. The whole thing was just weird to me. In the end, there was a lot of talk, no action, and a match that I was looking forward to, but a long term program (Cena vs. Triple H) that I was not looking forward to.

Million Dollar Mania: This segment was too long. I suppose it is important to give the fans the details of the giveaway, but it could have been done in a shorter way. After giving the brief details, McMahon then went into pep talk mode. He went on and on about the money, Bakersfield, Americana, Raw, the fans, and elitist snobs. The whole thing seemed out of place and out of character for Mr. McMahon. Transferring the money from one clear box into another took forever and got boring. Having Cryme Tyme come out just to look at the box was totally pointless. The announcers had to talk about the money throughout the show which distracted them a few times from talking about the matches. It was amusing that the money had its own theme music, although it was just recycled from Donald Trump’s theme music last year (but considering that Trump, Shane McMahon and Ted DiBiase all have music with the repeated use of the word “money” in it, it makes sense to use one of them and not come up with a fourth). The other bad thing about the giveaway is that it starts next week and is only for the fans watching at home, and I will be watching live in the arena and won’t be able to participate!

Cena and Mickie: This was a stupid scene that was supposed to get laughs, but the humor didn’t work. I am not into this relationship at all. My main problem with the scene is that it took place right before the Main Event. Instead of preparing himself to face Hardy, Cena was flirting with Mickie James and drinking JBL’s magic love tonic (or whatever it is). He had a huge match up next, but wasn’t thinking about it. If he’s not taking it seriously, why should we?

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.

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