By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Opening Segment: This was a better Raw than we've been seeing lately (although that doesn't mean much). It got off to a very good start. I liked the promo from Legacy inside the Steel Cage. It reinforced the Extreme Rules main event, while also hyping an upcoming Raw match. The coin flip was silly, but that is a minor complaint. Cody Rhodes delivered a solid promo about his family legacy inside the Cage. Ric Flair then interrupted and it was very fun to watch him call Randy Orton a punk numerous times. This also set up the parking lot fight for later in the show. This opening should have gotten the fans excited to see the rest of the show.

Kelly & James vs. Phoenix & Maryse: This is a marginal Hit, because I enjoyed the match while it lasted. It featured good wrestling action. All four of these women have talent in the ring. Obviously, Beth Phoenix and Mickie James stand out as two of the best Divas in WWE right now, but Kelly Kelly and Maryse have shown plenty of skill as well. They all looked good in small doses here. The small doses is why this is just a marginal Hit. The match went just under 3 minutes which is a shame. This could easily have gone twice as long and it would have been twice as good. I honestly believe these four can put on a good match that lasts 6 or even 8 minutes without a problem (or longer). It is a shame that WWE doesn't feel the same.

Miz's Promo: The Miz cut a great promo on John Cena. He is playing his role to perfection right now. He is that cocky arrogant bastard that everyone is going to want to see get beat up in the end. Of course, sometimes the truth can hurt. Miz is not pulling any punches. We've seen him make fun of Cena's movies and their box office performances. We've seen him make fun of Cena's rapping. Now, he is making fun of Cena's 9 year old fan base. It reminds me a bit (in content, not in tone) of Chris Jericho's mic work before WrestleMania. Much of what Jericho said about the legends was true, and much of what Miz is saying about Cena is as well.

Kingston vs. MVP: I liked everything about this match, including what happened before (the backstage interview with Kofi Kingston and Montel Vontavious Porter) as well as after (the US Title victory celebration from Kingston). Oh yeah, the match itself was very good too. I liked the early feeling out process, as it built to Kingston getting some quick near falls. The match continued on very nicely after the commercial. It went back and forth and built very well to the end. I honestly didn't have a gut prediction of who was going to win. That added to the enjoyment as there was some suspense. I could see WWE going either direction. The final few moments of the match were the strongest. I like that this match was 11 minutes, but I would have preferred if they were given 15+ instead. Why not? They aren't on the PPV. There was plenty of other time on Raw allotted to PPV hype. Why not throw in a 17 or 18 minute match?

Edge vs. Hardy Video: It was good to see some footage from Smackdown on Raw, especially quality footage like the video highlighting the Edge vs. Jeff Hardy feud. This was very well done, capturing the history between these two, focusing on their previous ladder matches, while hyping the fact that this is the first ever one on one ladder match between them.

Closing Segment: This is a marginal Hit. There was plenty to like about the final segment of Raw, but there was some stuff that didn't work that brought the quality down. The parking lot brawl was well done. It makes sense that Ric Flair could get the upper hand on Orton by jumping him from behind. It continued nicely as the fight moved to the arena and the entrance ramp as Orton rightfully took control of Flair. It was nice to see Flair regain the upper hand with a classic low blow. But, at that point the scene took a turn for the worse as Flair dominated Orton. It wasn't as bad as watching Shane McMahon do the same, as Flair is a legend who only had to fight one man, while Shane isn't a legend, but had to fight three men. But, it does hurt Orton's credibility that he would have so much trouble with Flair. There is a reason that 60 year olds from real sports aren't still active at this point in their lives. Joe Montana is the greatest quarter back in NFL history, yet at age 53 I wouldn't bet on him to out perform Peyton Manning in a 2009 game. Mike Schmidt had 548 (presumably steroid free) career home runs. He turns 60 in September. If he had to face Tim Lincecum, or Johan Santana, or Roy Halladay. would he fare well? I think not. He would strike out every time. But in wrestling, a 60 year old can compete with a World Champion in his prime. Looking beyond that, the actual fight was very physical and memorable. However, it took forever for Batista to come to Flair's aid. His acting at ringside, showing anger and fear over what was happening in the cage was very well done. But, he looked like a fool for not climbing the cage to help Flair. WWE wanted to sell the notion that the cage on Sunday will keep Priceless out of the match, but by doing that they made Batista look bad. That is why this is a Marginal Hit. There was so much going on that there was much to talk about. I liked a majority of what happened, but there were things to dislike as well.

RAW MISSES

Steel Cage Squash: I understand wanting to make Batista look dominant going into the PPV. But, I don't understand having it come at the expense of Cody Rhodes. I am not as high on Rhodes as I am on Ted DiBiase, but at the same time he is part of the faction with the top heel on Raw. He should look better than this. Batista should have won, but I question having him squash Rhodes so easily. That doesn't do much for Rhodes' credibility, especially coming off of his promo about how Cage matches are in his blood.

Wasting Primo: Hardy & Regal vs. Carlito & Primo has potential. It is interesting to see Matt Hardy and William Regal working together and trying to cash in on helping Vickie Guerrero in the past. However, it was a mistake to ground Primo for the entire match. He can be very exciting to watch. He brings energy to his matches that many others on the roster don't. So, why have him take the prolonged beating? I am fine with him being isolated instead of Carlito, but at least give him a chance to do some fun things in the ring. This seemed to be him taking a beating the entire match and never getting a chance to show what makes him special as a wrestler.

Vickie Squeals: I like Vickie Guerrero in certain circumstances. She has instant heat with her "excuse me!" line. I also like how she is playing up a princess role with her title of Miss WrestleMania. However, I don't like how they are having her play into the squealing pig persona that Santino Marella is giving her. We've seen her called fat too many times by Triple H, John Cena and Marella. I don't need to hear her oink like a pig and play into the stereotype that women who are a bit heavy are pigs. I didn't really enjoy the pig slop later in the show either.

Learn a New Submission Already!: I have mixed feelings about Cena & Guerrero vs. Big Show & Miz. Part of me liked it, part of me didn't. I liked the interplay between Big Show and Miz. I didn't like how easily Cena got the upper hand on Miz after Miz tagged himself in (evidence for what many have said that once we get Miz vs. Cena it will be a disappointing squash). It was interesting to see a heel got a tag behind the referee's back that wasn't allowed, a nice change of pace from the norm as it happens to babyfaces all the time. But, I didn't like the ending as I didn't understand Chavo Guerrero's motivation. By getting the win for his team, isn't he just going to anger Show? So, the match itself gets some analysis, but no Hit or Miss. But, I have to give a Miss to Cena for once attempting the STF on Show. Before you leave a comment let me say that I fully understand the reason. WWE wants to paint a picture for the audience that there is no way that Cena can put Big Show in the STF. They want him to appear hopeless going into their submission match, so that when he inevitably wins, the fans will think Cena a god. But, we get it already. This didn't prove anything except that Cena is an idiot for even attempting the STF. Everyone other than Cena knows that he has to do something else. I know they want to save it for the PPV, which makes sense. I would have had Cena not attempt the STF when he had the chance. This is where the value of announcers comes into play. Have them make a HUGE deal about the fact that Cena had Show set up for the STF, but didn't even try it. That would have been much better.

PPV Run Down: I may be in the minority here, but I don't like the in ring PPV run downs. It makes sense to give the PPV line ups a larger sense of importance by moving the announcement from the table to the ring. However, for some reason it just doesn't work for me. In this case, the crowd was dead. They didn't seem to pop for any of the announcements. I assume a positive crowd response is part of the reason WWE has switched to this format, but it didn't work this week and it made the PPV matches seem less important by the apathetic crowd reaction. Also, why can't they mention the ECW Championship match?

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars 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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