By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Jericho vs. MVP: After the horribly silly start to Raw, things picked up nicely with this actual wrestling match between Chris Jericho and Montel Vontavious Porter. This was a rematch of their match last week and this was better. It went 11 minutes and was fun to watch. They did a great job of countering each other's moves and teasing the fans with some nice nearfalls. It was good to see MVP picking up the win this week after losing last. He won with a leverage pin which helps Jericho save face since he didn't take MVP's finisher. It was a good match.

Rhodes vs. Cena: I really liked this match. Before hand, Cody Rhodes delivered a good promo about what happened with Randy Orton and his father last week. This wasn't the great follow up that I was hoping for, but it will suffice. Rhodes seemed confident on the mic. He also seemed confident in the ring with John Cena. This was probably Rhodes' best singles match on WWE tv so far. It was very well booked, especially the way that Rhodes was trying to get Cena to tap out, foreshadowing and (even) hyping the submission format for Breaking Point. The wrestling action was crisp and well executed. The announcers did a nice job of talking about the use of submissions and Jerry Lawler sounded like a real color commentator by critiquing Rhodes' application of an arm bar. The ending was predictable with Orton's run in, but it was still a good match.

End of Raw: After a solid tag main event of DX vs. Orton and Chris Masters (did I just say "main event" and "Chris Masters" in the same sentence?), Raw had a very strong finish, just like last week. I am intrigued by very little in the Breaking Point card, with the exception of the submissions count anywhere gimmick for DX vs. Legacy. That got a nice tease by having the two teams brawl through the arena to the parking lot. Then came a good promo by Orton and his fight with John Cena. It was good to see Orton standing tall by simply getting the better of Cena. It wasn't a match, but you could see that series of moves in a match. The RKO on the chair looked brutal and was a good final sell for their PPV match on Sunday.

RAW MISSES

The Price is Raw: I give WWE credit for going all out with their Price is Raw theme for the show. I give Bob Barker credit for a good performance (with one glaring exception). However, it was all way too silly. Chris Jericho should not have been involved with this silliness. He did his best to perform under the circumstances, but it was ridiculous that he would agree to participate (totally out of character) and that he would actually get upset at Barker telling him what his bid was. The whole set up for the matches was lame. It was all too staged and too convenient. There were a few funny moments between Barker and DX, but it didn't make sense to only do the spinning wheel to determine an opponent once. If you are going to the trouble in the first place, you might as well do it a few times (at least it felt less staged than the "surprise" opponents like MVP for Jericho). I could have done without the AJ Pierzynski appearance (no loyal SF Giants fan wants to see him on our tv screen). I also could have done without the long interview with Josh Mathews and Barker. I also could have done without Barker beating up Chavo Guerrero. Next week I am really looking forward to seeing a former WWE star, Trish Stratus, as the guest host for a change.

Bodyslam Challenge: I could put this under the previous Miss, but I wanted to single it out. It didn't make sense to punish a babyface Santino Marella by having him in a bodyslam challenge against the Big Show. Then came the worst part of the show as Bob Barker spent what seemed like ten minutes (I know it wasn't that long) trying to figure out if Santino had lost or what had happened. That was really bad tv. It was all just a set up for the second bodyslam challenge between Show and Mark Henry, but it was a lot of crap leading up to that challenge. The challenge itself was just kind of boring.

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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