By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Jericho Pickets Raw: I really enjoyed these segments with Chris Jericho trying to get back on Raw by attempting to get fans to sign a petition and then by picketing the show. I particularly liked how he continued to call the fans hypocrites and parasites despite the fact that he was trying to get their help. I also loved the bromance scene between him and Big Show as they talked about their team coming to an end as it is now a long distance relationship which never works. It made me laugh.

Cena - Sheamus: Raw got off to a good start this week. In addition to the fun scene at the very beginning with Jericho, it continued very nicely with the in ring confrontation between John Cena and WWE Champion Sheamus. Cena gave a solid promo to start things off. Sheamus was good in answering Cena's challenge. So often in these situations, a heel champion can look weak for backing down from a challenge. In this case though, Sheamus did a good job of looking strong while not accepting. He made a good point about wanting to pin Cena this time and about wanting to end the year standing over Cena's body in the main event, as opposed to wrestling him right then and there. The leap over the table and subsequent AA through the table was well done too. Sheamus got some heat back later by jumping Cena as he was interviewed. Their match was short and ended in a cheesy disqualification. I understand going that route, but it wasn't great. However, the execution was good in how it wasn't totally apparent that Sheamus disqualified himself on purpose. The announcers did a nice job in covering that angle as well. Also, the show had the strong final image of Sheamus standing tall just as he had predicted.

Orton Tests Legacy: I like the idea that Randy Orton tested Legacy. He made good points about the fact that none of them are Champions and that he wants to be associated with winners, not failures. It was a good verbal exchange as he set up their matches, and threatened to not only kick them out of the group, but also beat the hell out of them. It wasn't perfect as it seemed to come out of nowhere, but on the whole it was still pretty good. I like how Orton sat at ring side to watch Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes in their matches. He did a nice job of not responding to what he was seeing so you couldn't tell what he was thinking. On a side note, that leaping huracanrana that Evan Bourne did from the mat to DiBiase on the top turnbuckle was probably Hit worthy in and of itself. Back to Orton, he did a very good job of selling mixed feelings after Rhodes got his win. Was he happy and proud? Or, was he secretly disappointed? Or both? I may be reading too much into this, but was a renewed confidence in Rhodes & DiBiase what led to him rekindling his feud with Kofi Kingston later in the show?

Hyping Next Week's Raw: I can only assume that TNA has gotten WWE's attention. Many fans are hoping for a new Monday Night War to ignite a fire under WWE's ass to have better quality shows on Monday nights. Their case was made stronger by how heavily WWE hyped next week's show which will be up against the special Monday night Impact. Without that head to head competition, I doubt that WWE would have done such a good job of focusing on next week's show. Obviously, the main attraction will be the return of Bret "the Hitman" Hart to Raw for the first time in 12 years. That alone is huge news. However, they also hyped a big final match between Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston as well as the final rematch between JeriShow and DX. That is a huge guest host and two pretty big matches to look forward to all week long.

RAW MISSES

McMahon - Michaels: There was certainly good in this segment, but in the end it just went on forever and had too many problems to not get a Miss. Vince McMahon was fine in the beginning setting the stage. I liked the fact that WWE acknowledged that younger fans don't know anything about Bret Hart, so the video was a good idea. The segment was already starting to feel overly long when Shawn Michaels came out. Part of my problem here is that it is nearly impossible to take anything Michaels says seriously while wearing the ridiculous DX gear. Based on what he said to Triple H earlier in the night, his initial comments to McMahon about Undertaker seemed totally out of place. He couldn't have talked to McMahon about Undertaker last week? It was kind of odd. It was forced in a way that makes me think that Hart will be somehow involved in the build up to Michaels vs. Undertaker II, possibly as the guest referee. There were things to like here, but it seemed unfocused and too long to me.

DX vs. Show & Guerrero: Chavo Guerrero? Really? I like Chavo and would be fine seeing his character rehabilitated after his "worst feud of the year" in 2009 with Hornswoggle (which will undoubtedly end up as a Miss in my upcoming WWE Hits & Misses of 2009 article - cheap plug). However, that rehabilitation has to come before he is picked as Big Show's new partner and before he is able to get in this much offense against someone like Shawn Michaels. The choice just seemed terrible. The match itself was ok for the most part, but I don't like seeing Hornswoggle involved in DX's matches. This worked ok as a set up for the big Tag Title match next week, but wasn't good other than that.

Too Much Happening: In the end, Raw felt way too hectic and crammed with content. There were seven matches, but they were all short. There was so much content packed into this show. After the first commercial, there was the scene in the back with Timbaland and some Divas and Josh Mathews. Then came the scene with Orton challenging Legacy. Then came a shot of Jericho picketing. Then came Orton to the ring to watch DiBiase vs. Bourne. Then came another commercial. That was a lot of short bits stuffed between commercial breaks. After that commercial, we got another scene of Jericho picketing, then as DiBiase came to the ring, they showed a video on "The Marine 2" in the middle of his ring entrance. That alone stands out as strong evidence that WWE was attempting to out Impact Impact with this style of production. Even after the long and very important segment with Vince McMahon finally announcing Bret Hart as the guest host next week, instead of cutting to a commercial to let that sink in, they cut to an interview with John Cena. This all led to the main event starting after 11:00. There was just too much happening.

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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