By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Opening Segment: Raw got off to a good start with the appearance by the new World Heavyweight Champion Edge. This is a case where mingling the brands makes sense, but the impact of having a Smackdown wrestler on Raw wasn't as powerful as it could have been if we didn't see guys from various brands on other shows all the time. I for one did not like how Edge was able to get into Raw's Elimination Chamber at No Way Out. I don't understand why a bigger deal hasn't been made out of the stupidity of the booking, and how bad the referees looked for allowing Edge into the match. I also didn't like the lame explanation from Vickie Guerrero about making the decision and the board of directors allowing it. That all took away from the opening segment. But, Edge and John Cena's performances made it a Hit. They made me look past the bad booking and started what has the chance to be a fun build to a match at WrestleMania. Edge was great on the mic. I am starting to love his "wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong ..." gimmick. Cena was better than usual too. These two have worked really well together in the past, both in the ring and out. This was the case here. It was a strong verbal confrontation.

Jericho - Piper: This was a good, though not great verbal exchange. It started off well with Chris Jericho keeping Mickey Rourke's name in the conversation as he talked about what would happen if Rourke wins the Oscar for Best Actor. Rowdy Roddy Piper made a nice surprise appearance. It made sense given the real life friendship that has developed between him and Rourke, as well as the long time friendship between him and Ric Flair. Piper sounded more coherent than in some of his other promos from the last few years. He looks healthy. I could have done without some of the lines like when he said he was going to shoot with Jericho and for saying that old school is cool. Those were lame lines. But, the promo on the whole was good. Jericho got to continue looking like a huge ass for attacking Piper in the end. I'm still not totally clear on where this is going, but hopefully it will lead to something special for WrestleMania.

JBL - HBK: I am happy to see that the Shawn Michaels vs. John Bradshaw Layfield feud is finally coming to a close. I am also happy that the feud got better over time and that the resolution has been pretty fun to watch. I found it interesting how JBL moved on from his loss to Michaels. He gave a good promo getting his heat back by pointing out how rich he still is despite making Michaels rich too. His promo was well written, to move on from a possible Title match, to something even bigger. The Undertaker's undefeated streak was treated like a huge deal. JBL ending it would cement his legacy in a way that being in a Title match would not. His talk about destiny was good. Michaels was great in his interruption. He played his part of the freed slave well. He was back to being the Heart Break Kid. I loved how he turned the tables on JBL by repeatedly poking him in the chest. Obviously, I am thrilled about the prospects of seeing Undertaker vs. Michaels at WrestleMania 25. That is a match many of us have been waiting to see since the Royal Rumble two years ago.

End of Raw: I did not like how Shane McMahon looked like he was much stronger than Randy Orton in their fight (more later), but I did like how Raw ended, starting with Orton's punt to Shane's head. Once again, WWE has done a great job selling the punt as a killer move. In order to keep moving the program forward, Orton had to punt Shane, so that was good. It was also good how he hit Stephanie with and RKO. It was well done and Orton's acting afterwards was very good. It was predictable that Triple H was the one Stephanie was talking to earlier in the show and that he would show up, but it worked well. After a very unpredictable PPV, I am totally fine with that. It made sense. WWE has never officially recognized that Triple H is married to Stephanie, but everyone knows it and they have done plenty of tongue in cheek references to it in the past. Triple H did get a huge babyface pop and the crowd seemed hot to see him get his hands on Orton. Triple H vs. Orton does feel WrestleMania 25 worthy, considering their history. I think Cena vs. Orton and Triple H vs. Edge would have been good, but this will be too. And yes, Triple H was a bit cartoonish in his shaking, but it wasn't that bad.

RAW MISSES

WrestleMania 9 Video: I understand showing a video on every WrestleMania, but I could have done without having to be subjected to "highlights" of the worst WrestleMania ever. I could do a very long Miss list for that PPV, but I will be brief here and say I never want to be forced to remember things that I have been trying to block from my memory for the last 16 years.

Orton - McMahon Video: On a show with very little wrestling (more later), why did WWE present such a long video package on the history of the Randy Orton vs. McMahon family feud? I understand that it is a big angle, but we've seen Orton punt Vince McMahon way too many times to count. We've seen his attempt to punt Stephanie too many times to count. We've seen much of this footage over and over again. It is overkill. Sure, some of the more recent stuff, like the PPV footage was newer, but over all it was still too much that we've seen enough times. There were multiple other videos too, but they seemed more needed than this.

Little Wrestling Action: Very little wrestling actually aired on Raw. The first match was a 7 minute 6 man tag, with a commercial interruption. That meant that only about 4 minutes actually aired. The second match, which came about 55 minutes into the show only lasted 16 seconds as Kane destroyed Jamie Noble (I thought he was on ECW). The bit with Noble was amusing, but it meant that in the first half of the show less than 5 minutes of wrestling aired. The second half of the show was better, but not great. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox was 8 minutes, but again it was interrupted by a commercial, meaning only 5 minutes aired. The Women's Championship match was only 3 minutes. It was good while it lasted, but only brought the total up to about 13 minutes. Since Orton vs. McMahon was a fight, that was only 13 minutes of wrestling on the entire show. Even the fight didn't last that long.

Shane "vs" Orton: The brawl between Shane and Orton was fine in and of itself. The problem is all about context. Orton is being positioned as the top heel on Raw. But, he keeps having trouble dealing with a non-wrestler. Having Orton be destroyed by Shane undercuts his credibility. After having made such a big deal about not needing Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes, he needed them. I know he is a heel and cheating and not being a man of his word are normal for heels. But, as the top heel he should have more legit credibility than this. As I said above, the very end of the show worked well. I just wish WWE could have gotten there in a way that made Orton look like a physical threat to Triple H.

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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