Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 12/12
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Overall Score - 6.5

While the end of Raw didn't do anything to sell PPVs, you have to admit that the end with Kane was pretty cool, and definitely a surprise. Could it have waited to next week? Sure, but I don't think the main event would have done anything to sell the PPV if they just had a fluky finish. The new look/attitude of Kane is much better than I expected, even if I'm not sure what role he's actually going to have on TV right now. After a match with Cena, heels have already filled the World Title scene. A feud with Sheamus, perhaps? But, I digress.

Before I continue, let me state that the first hour of this show was pretty terrible. The opening segment was nothing short of groan-inducing, and the awards seemed so meaningless. That being said, I thought the final two hours of the show did an overall good job of selling TLC, mainly with the WWE Title match. They were finally successful in making the heels seem to be at least somewhat credible threats, and their post-match attack, along with the clean pin on Punk, made them look smart, yet dangerous. Good job. At the same time, Orton-Barrett, Henry-Show, and Triple H-Nash all had their own respective segments to hype their matches, and, for the most part, it worked. Triple H switching topics from Nash to Undertaker was odd, but, by the end, it worked in setting the stage for his match with Nash on Sunday.

Most of the show did suffer from little wrestling, but, by the end of Raw, there was a solid tag match and a good fatal four-way with some fantastic nearfalls. The match also succeeded in hyping Ziggler-Ryder for TLC, and I must say I'm impressed. WWE has been doing a good job lately of slowly elevating Ryder so that the fans can get behind him without shoving him down their throats (except for last week, of course), and this feud has become one of the better rivalries of the fall/winter season.

Cena's promo about The Rock was also fairly effective, and if this was a two-hour show, I would have given it fairly high remarks. However, the first hour tonight was completely unnecessary. By the end, though, TLC ended up with some solid hype across the board, even if the return of Kane may have diminished it the slightest bit.

Brodus, where art thou?

Questions, comments, reactions yourself? Follow me on Twitter at BTuckerTorch or email me at btuckertorch@aol.com!

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