By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

This was a strange night for professional wrestling with appearances by legendary wrestlers on both Impact and Raw. Before I get to the Raw Hits & Misses, I have to make a few comments here about the big head to head night. The Bret Hart - Shawn Michaels face off felt bigger to me than the nWo reunion. Maybe its because despite the crappy DX crap (more later), Shawn Michaels is still a relevant present-day wrestler and Bret Hart hasn't been seen on a major wrestling show in years (absence makes the heart grow fonder). Unlike Michaels, Hogan, Hall, Nash, Waltman and Bischoff are not current relevant wrestling stars (sorry, I just don't count Nash as relevant unlike other TNA stars like Styles or Angle). And unlike Hart, it hasn't been long enough since we've seen the others to really want to see them again (and memories of Hall's problems and no-showing a PPV are too strong). Plus, you lessen the impact of Jeff Hardy's appearance at the start of the show when you don't separate that huge moment with appearances by has beens and in some cases never weres like Val Venis, the Nasty Boys and Orlando Jordan (I mean seriously, Orlando Jordan?). Plus the "This is bullshit" chant inducing opening match was a terrible way to start and left fans with a bad taste in their mouths before Hardy's appearance. Ok, enough about that. On to what I'm actually supposed to be covering:

RAW HITS

Opening Segment: I already mentioned how the Shawn Michaels - Bret Hart face off felt like a big deal. WWE did a good job with this. Hart himself was good in his performance. He was never a great talker, but did well here. I liked his opening line about how hell had frozen over. Hart coming back to WWE is a big deal. But, dwelling too much on the screw job would not be a good idea. They seemed to strike a good balance in the opening. They talked about it, but also about other parts of their history together, specifically WrestleMania 12. There were some really good moments. I particularly liked after their handshake when Michaels moved himself into position for a superkick. That was an awesome tease. The hug felt a bit forced, but was important to set up what would later transpire between Hart and Vince McMahon.

DX vs. JeriShow: This was a good Tag Team Championship match. It went 12 minutes and everyone played their parts well. It built nicely with Triple H taking the beating leading to the eventual hot tag to Michaels. I liked the series of flying forearms followed by kip-ups from Michaels. The match really quickened and got exciting at the end with near falls being broken up and multiple finishing moves being hit. The final sequence as Michaels hit Jericho with a superkick as he was attempting to put The Game in the Walls of Jericho leading to the win for DX was strong. I also liked how Big Show left Jericho in the ring after the loss.

Legacy Dissension: I should probably give a Hit to the backstage confrontation between Randy Orton and Vince McMahon that preceded the scene between Orton and the rest of Legacy. I liked how WWE brought up the recent history between McMahon and Orton and how Orton tried to do business with McMahon. So often, when a babyface turns heel, he will work with a former foe just because they are both heels and it always seems like lazy writing. Here, despite being a heel again, McMahon didn't settle his issue with the heel Orton. That was good. It was also good early Royal Rumble hype in having Orton attempt to be awarded the #30 spot in the Rumble. But, this Hit is for what happened next when Orton ran into Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. I loved how Rhodes & DiBiase turned the tail on Orton by threatening him the way he threatened them last week. Not only would they kick him out of Legacy if he lost to Kofi Kingston, but they would beat the hell out of him. The announcers once again did a good job in adding to this angle by talking about what might be going through all three of their heads at different points during the match.

Kingston vs. Orton: This was a pretty good, but not great match. I was hoping for more in what appeared to be the blow off for this feud between Orton and Kingston, but it was a good match and therefore it gets a marginal Hit. It went a good length and had nice quality wrestling action. Kingston hit some of his signature high flying and exciting offense which elevated the quality of the match. He really does some unique things in the ring, but he can do more than just crazy moves. He is capable of putting his style into a good match which is why he deserves the push and the feud with the top heel in the company. The ending was good as Orton blocked the Trouble in Paradise and hit the RKO for the win. I am curious to see where Legacy goes from here as well as to see what WWE does with Kingston now that this feud is over.

Closing Segment: The closing segment with Vince McMahon and Bret Hart made for a good bookend with the opening segment. It was odd and very insider (which can be said for much of the night on both shows). Part of me wants to see the whole issue put to rest once and for all, but then the angle would be over and there would be no reason to have Hart on for the next few months. Obviously, Vince's kick to the groin to end the segment was WWE's way of keeping it going which worked well. I would have liked a stronger connection to what was said between Michaels and McMahon last week and this week's show. As I will talk about later, I would have liked to have some connection between Hart and the possible Undertaker vs. Michaels WrestleMania rematch. But, it was still a very memorable and even historic moment that set up some intriguing possibilities moving forward.

RAW MISSES

DX - Hornswoggle: This was actually my favorite skit with DX and Hornswoggle. I liked that Michaels asked Triple H why he talks to Hornswoggle like he's a child, pointing out in a humorous way that he has a beard. I liked Santino Marella's Jericho impression. However, it still was way too silly with the lame Mattel toy plug. The idea that Hornswoggle is a child who can be ordered around and treated like a dog really bothers me. Give a midget a treat and he'll do whatever you want. Great. The only light at the end of the tunnel is the impression that Michaels seemed annoyed by Hunter's antics. When Michaels and Hart talked about not wanting to be remembered for Montreal, I kept hoping Hart would say something to the effect of not wanting to remember Shawn for hanging out with a leprechaun, but for his epic match against Undertaker. Perhaps I'm being too optimistic in hoping that Hart's presence on Raw will bring out HBK's serious side and put an end to the silly DX stuff.

Use of Sheamus: "Use of Sheamus" is a bit miss leading of a title for this Miss, but I was having trouble thinking of what to call it. I liked Sheamus' promo about being finished with John Cena. I liked the idea of him wanting a new challenge. I liked the surprise of Evan Bourne coming out to challenge him. The match was short, but effective in giving the crowd some excitement with Bourne's flashy style and getting a near fall on the WWE Champion, while at the same time being a strong win for that Champion. My problem here is that WWE is still dropping the ball on focusing on the WWE Champion. This was a pretty brief appearance for the man who is supposedly the top wrestler on Raw on a historic episode. If you are trying to pop a rating with Bret Hart's appearance and heavily hyping two big matches, why not take better advantage of that possible large audience? Sheamus was only on once in the second half of the show. An earlier appearance of some type, possibly with Hart in the back would have been good. By the way, on a side note did anyone notice that John Cena was absent? We knew he would be, but did it effect the quality of the show? I gave Cena a Hit for his work in 2009, but I didn't really miss him here.

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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