By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

MIB Qualifier: This was a good triple threat between CM Punk, John Morrison and The Miz. I was disappointed when this match was announced, as I was hoping that both Miz & Morrison would be in Money in the Bank. I was also disappointed that Punk won (more later). But, the match itself was good. It told a nice story as the Tag Team Champs double teamed Punk, who tried to divide and conquer. There were some very nice spots, like when Punk hit his high knee in the corner on Morrison, only to turn around and take Miz's leaping clothesline. Miz & Morrison found their finishing move when Morrison did his trademark spring board spin kick onto Punk who was on Miz's shoulders. That was great. The end was very cool as Punk spun Morrison's legs into Miz, knocking him out of the ring, then delivered the GTS for the win.

JBL vs. HBK: This was another good (but not great) match between these two. It went 11 minutes and had some good wrestling action. It was a bit slow at times with two long possible count outs. But, they had some nice spots as well. John Bradshaw Layfield looked good in how he was able to one up Shawn Michaels a few times during the match. Just when you thought Michaels was going to hit Sweet Chin Music, JBL avoided it to take control again. Just when you thought Michaels was going to get the advantage by skinning the cat back into the ring, JBL met him with a big boot to regain control. This led to the nice ending sequence as JBL got too cocky and took too much time allowing Michaels to Super Kick him as he came to deliver the Clothesline from Hell. Afterwards, Vladimir Kozlov's appearance helped to hype his match next week with Michaels. I have to say that I don't like the WWE fans for chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A" at Kozlov just because he is Russian. Has he ever made a disparaging remark about America? He doesn't play the evil foreign heel. He plays the strong tough heel who puts down his competition for being inferior, not for being American.

Steamboat - Jericho: Once again, the Chris Jericho vs. wrestling legend segment was one of the highlights of Raw. It was nice to see Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat announced as a Hall of Fame inductee, and that Ric Flair would be inducting him. Jericho was his usual great self on the mic. One of the things that makes him so good as a heel right now is that he often tells the truth, and the truth can hurt. What he said about Steamboat's career sounded plausible. An argument could be made that he was playing into racial stereotypes with his WWF gimmick. Steamboat was never known for his mic skills, but he did a very good job of turning the tables on Jericho by talking about his history. It was a very well written exchange, leading to what could be the heart of the matter with Jericho being jealous of the Hall of Famers because he might never be one himself. The brief physicality worked well too. I still wonder where this will lead. Who will Jericho face at WrestleMania? During Michaels vs. JBL, Jerry "the King" Lawler said he couldn't imagine having a match at WrestleMania, reminding us all that he never has. Maybe he was trying to put his name out there as a Hall of Famer who can still wrestle? I'm just saying. I don't think it would be great, but they need someone without Mickey Rourke.

RAW MISSES

Vickie as Interim GM: I agree with John Cena. Of all the possible people to hire as the interim General Manager of Raw, why go with Vickie Guerrero? Considering her track record as the GM of Smackdown, it makes little sense. There is also the question of a conflict of interest with her in charge of both shows. After the board of directors backed up her decision to allow Edge into the World Heavyweight Title Elimination Chamber match, I start to question the sanity of the board. Maybe she has something on them. This isn't a critique of Vickie as a performer. I loved her thanking the crowd for their support. She does a good job. But, there still has to be a better explanation as to why the board would make this decision. On a side note, clearly WWE wants to totally get rid of the brand split to fully hype their multiple inter-brand matches. So, we get five Smackdown wrestlers (plus one GM) on a show with two ECW wrestlers. I can look past that as smart hype for the biggest PPV of the year if I didn't know that WWE was planning a draft a few weeks later.

Punk in MIB: I was hoping to see Punk defend the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. I am hoping for the same thing from Shelton Benjamin as US Champion on Smackdown (I don't want to see in MIB again). Get some new people in. Punk won it last year and has a chance to have a singles match this year. With guys like Miz & Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, possibly a returning Evan Bourne or Mr. Kennedy, even a guy like Umaga for a change of pace, they could put on a good ladder match with plenty of star power without Punk. I did a bit of research and it looks to me that the IC Title hasn't been defended at WrestleMania, since WrestleMania 18 when Rob Van Dam faced William Regal (did I miss one?). Every year the IC Champ is in MIB. How about trying something different?

Cena vs. Guerrero: This was a classic bait and switch as most fans had to assume that Cena would be facing The Big Show in the main event, not Chavo Guerrero. I understand from a backstage point of view of not giving away that match (not that we haven't seen it many times before including at WrestleMania 20). But, why wouldn't Vickie want Show to take out Cena? I would if I were her. No offense to Chavo, but Vickie couldn't have expected him to deliver the same type of punishment as Show would have. Plus, Chavo is getting a push on Smackdown as a possible US Championship challenger, and here he gets pinned in 1 minute. That doesn't help his credibility. The whole thing was weak.

Final Segment: This was well on its way to the Hit column for awhile. I enjoyed Randy Orton's promo. He gave a very intense delivery. His mic work has greatly improved over the last year. I also liked the tense moments as Triple H started to enter the ring. But, I have to question Triple H's timing. He showed up right when Raw usually goes off the air. Maybe I am thinking too much here, but if Randy Orton had RKO'd my wife, I wouldn't have waited until the end of the show to arrive. What if Orton was gone already? What if the show had finished at the regularly scheduled time? I would have been there right when the show started to get my hands on Orton. Then, it was too convenient that he would happen to have a second sledgehammer hidden on his back in case Orton asked him to drop the first. Does he always have a concealed sledgehammer on his person? The chase through the halls was too cartoonish. It made Orton look way too weak and cowardly. It didn't make sense why there would just happen to be a camera in the room that Orton and Ted DiBiase just happened to duck into. When they ran away again, they picked up weapons. I was glad as it looked like the segment was going to turn around again. Instead of making a stand, they dropped the weapons and kept running like cowards. It is disappointing how weak Orton has looked ever since punting Vince McMahon.

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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