By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Kofi Wins: When Kofi Kingston came out for an Elimination Chamber qualifying match, I knew he was going to lose. I had a suspicion that Kane was going to be his opponent. Before I could say it, my wife said it first. There was no way that Kingston was going to be in the Elimination Chamber, and after defeating Kane in the first round of the Intercontinental #1 contenders tournament, there was no way that he was going to upset Kane again. I was pleased to be so wrong. This was a big surprise. A bit of unpredictability is a nice change of pace.

Jericho: Chris Jericho gave a good performance on the mic in addressing the Mickey Rourke situation. Rourke's "challenge" of Jericho from the red carpet seemed to come out of nowhere. But, Jericho's response was strong. It got the situation introduced to the casual Raw viewers who may not have heard about it. Rourke's involvement in WrestleMania 25 should get a huge amount of main stream press (more so than Floyd Mayweahter last year). It has gotten off to a bit of a shaky start, but Jericho's cold, angry delivery stood out as a positive.

Michaels' Explanation: I did not like the advancement of the Shawn Michaels and John Bradshaw Layfield storyline at the Rumble itself. I called Michaels' actions during JBL vs. John Cena "wishy washy." I stand by that assessment as in the moment that's what it seemed to be. But, I am glad that Michaels gave a good explanation for his actions to JBL. He had a reason why he kicked JBL before kicking Cena. He had a reason why he left the ringside area. It all made sense and was a good way to cover up the lame moment from the PPV.

Michaels vs. Cena: This was a good 13 minute match. It wasn't great. It was far from the quality of their match from two weeks ago, but it was still Hit worthy. I liked how it started off with the intense punches and slaps. I was thrilled to see Michaels actually counter Cena's ridiculous "you can't see me" routine. Michaels' crossface looked vicious. Michaels had to over sell his injured back early in the match. That brought the quality down. But, it had good hard hitting action, and built nicely to the ending with JBL getting angry at Michaels' tactics.

Glamarella: Santino Marella was great on guest commentary during Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall vs. Melina & Kelly Kelly. He had the line of the night when he said to Michael Cole, "Have you been working out JR? I didn't recognize you without your hat." That was comedy gold. After Phoenix's loss to Melina at the PPV, without any type of advancement in her angle with Rosa Mendez, it was good to see Rosa again on Raw. It was an interesting development to see Phoenix tell Santino that they can keep her.

RAW MISSES

Orton - McMahon Replays: Raw started with a long replay of Randy Orton's confrontation with Vince McMahon last week. Later in the show, WWE showed parts of that video again, with the added video replay of Orton's threats and "apology" from the opening segment of this week's show (after Kingston vs. Kane). Then they showed the footage again (after Michaels vs. Cena). Then they showed it again (after Punk vs. Jericho). That's four replays of basically the same thing on one show. We aren't idiots.

Opening Segment: This was not a good way to follow up on either Randy Orton punting McMahon, or on his Royal Rumble victory. It was all quite boring. It got very tedious hearing Orton read about IED or whatever. Orton was actually good in his delivery, particularly when reading his apology. But, he had nothing to work with. It was mind-numbing. It made him look weak to hide behind his lawyers. I don't mind threatening the law suit, or threatening to quit with the rest of Legacy. But, the writing was so poor. They had such a hot angle from last week and with Orton winning the Rumble, but this cooled it off.

"Most Reprehensible Moment": Jerry Lawler called Orton's punt of McMahon the most reprehensible moment he's ever witnessed in WWE. In fact, he said it more than once during the show. I hate to nitpick, but off the top my head I thought of Kane's tombstone on Linda McMahon on the steel stage, and when Kane lit Jim Ross on fire. If I thought about it, I could think of more moments like that. I know they want to sell the punt, and I know that hyperbole is part of WWE's culture. But, clearly those examples are more reprehensible. I just get tired of the exaggerations some times, and this is one of those times.

Elimination Chamber: I wasn't thrilled last year when both Raw and Smackdown had Elimination Chamber matches at No Way Out. I am not thrilled this year to find out that they doing it again. This is not a good yearly tradition. It isn't a good idea to do two in one PPV. But, I am also concerned with each of the first three PPVs of the year having an annual tradition. The Royal Rumble is great (in general, not necessarily every year) and Money in the Bank has become a good annual WrestleMania tradition. But, do we need another similar match tradition at the inbetween PPV every year? It seems like over kill.

Quick Qualifying Matches: Kingston vs. Kane was 2 minutes. By comparison, Rey Mysterio vs. William Regal seemed like an epic at 4 minutes. They split the difference with CM Punk vs. Jericho at 3 minutes. All three matches got off to good starts, but then were over before they really could get going. I was enjoying Mysterio vs. Regal. They could put on a very good match if given the time. Considering that Cole talked about the rivalry between Punk and Jericho and brought up a World Title steel cage match between the two last year, the 3 minute match was particularly disappointing. In addition, most of the other matches were pretty quick too.

Shane > Legacy: The closing segment got off to a good start. After the disappointing start to the show, the angle seemed back on track with the verbal exchange between Orton and Stephanie McMahon. Orton introduced a new idea by threatening to shut down WrestleMania itself. That was interesting, as was the way the locker room came out in response to Orton's threat. I loved Orton's performance as he challenged Stephanie to fire him. It was all going well. I even liked how Shane McMahon came out to fight Orton. I am fine with that. The problem was that Shane was able to easily beat up Orton with Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes with him. Shane was better that all three members of Legacy put together. Watching Orton get helped away from the ring after a few spears and some weak punches was not a good sight. A set up for Shane vs. Orton could have been done much better. They had the roster there. Why not have them clear out DiBiase and Rhodes? Why not have Shane use a weapon to even the odds? This also should not have been the plan. Stephanie should have been about to make a proclamation against Orton (with a mystery as to what she was about to do) and be interrupted by Shane wanting a piece of Orton. Stephanie should have been surprised to see her brother. I find it hard to believe that Shane beating up Orton was their plan, and even harder to believe that it worked!

Raw or Impact?: Once again, Raw had that old school Impact feel where there was too much happening. I complained about the short matches and the many replays of McMahon and Orton. That was part of the problem. But, they also had an Elimination Chamber video, a WrestleMania history video, a WrestleMania moment video, and the "12 Rounds" trailer. Put those together with the four Orton videos and that is a lot of videos on one show. That added to the crammed feel of the show. Take away some of those videos and give more time to some of the matches. JBL's anger over Michaels losing was totally wiped away because WWE cut right away to another Orton replay. That is right out of TNA's booking philosophy.

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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