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Adam J. Grammas of Westchester, Ill. (4.5): Best: Continued elevation of Hardy & Kennedy. Worst: “Trading Places” match. That high score (for me) is for the continued pushes for Kennedy and Hardy. It’s great seeing Kennedy getting so much in on HBK. I’d love for this to lead Kennedy vs. Hardy being the main event feud in WWE, but I know what’ll really happen: Shawn will get to soundly defeat Kennedy as the closer of their feud. The Trading Places match was absolutely pointless. If this happened in TNA, everyone would be ripping it to shreds. How is putting on a wig a match stipulation? And if this wheel spinning was supposedly happening spur of the moment, how did they happen to have the wigs and each wrestlers trunks that would fit the other guy? Not even from a humorous standpoint was it good, as in funny impersonations (i.e., DX spoofing The Nation). Maria screwed up when Vince was talking to her and first by delivering her first line in her non-ditzy voice. And then the obligatory sexual innuendos (the same thing TNA gets blasted for). Shouldn’t Ashley’s return have been a bigger deal? It’s great with all the praise the Knockouts matches are getting that the WWE has a match like this. Regal gets destroyed on TV again. Remember when he left WCW because he wouldn’t job to their biggest babyface? The cage match was very good, and I actually thought Hardy was going to leap onto Orton to win the match. The Whisper in the Wind was a nice surprise. The crowd popped huge. A big complaint about wrestlers who get pushed but then drop out of the title picture is “they weren’t over with the fans.” That’s because they are never given the chance to. Giving Hardy a clean victory over the “unstoppable” Umaga was very smart. One of the better Raws recently.

Steve Feinberg of Cleveland, Ohio (6.0): Best: Hardy-Umaga cage match/ Worst: Hornswoggle & Mr Sluggish vs. The Highlanders. A decent Raw, but just too many shortcomings for anything other than a qualified thumbs up. Mrs Foley's baby boy looked about as ring ready as Mae Young - with about half the rasslin repertoire. As Wade mentioned, the time for a Foley main event slot is a thing of the oh so distant past. While I enjoyed the dirty diva dance-a-thon, how sweet would it have been for Beth Phoenix to storm the ring (black leather lingerie clad of course, but that's just MY digression) and just pummel everyone except Mickie James? Intimidation by exclusion, if you will. On a better note, Jeff Hardy 's pops are not only earned, but expected at this point. What's not getting props? How about Triple H, who is "that damn good" but can't manage to blade William Regal on national television without it being blatantly obvious to everyone. Everyone that is but Ross and Lawler who were apparently too busy brainstorming whisper in the wind hosanas to maybe mention that Hunter wanted the match so badly he was willing to rip at Regal's scalp with "his fingernail" (or whatever).

Bryant Mooney of Stamford, Conn. (7.0): Best: Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy. Worst: Hornswoggle/Foley vs. The Highlanders. I was expecting this edition of Raw to be a gimmick type of show and that's what I got. The opening match was a great way to further the Michaels-Kennedy storyline which, is going very well. I was wondering during the break who they were going to face and when I saw Charlie Haas and Trevor Murdoch, my interest in the match just fell flat and I just wanted to see how Kennedy and Michaels will co-exist or if that is even possible at this point. Kennedy was looking very orange to me last night. I thought the Trading Places match was pretty funny and it was hilarious to see Hardcore Holly with a huge afro. Another short match but wasn't that bad. The lingerie pillow fight was good for what it's worth. Kinda surprised to see Ashley return on Raw. I expected the faces to go against the heels in was basically a three-on-two handicap match. Mickie and Melina were looking great, I must say. Back to the business at hand, the Triple H vs. William Regal match was a good first blood match for TV where nobody has to pay for it. It was a unique way to bust Regal open with his fists instead of nailing him with a chair or another object like most first blood matches end, just for example. I had a feeling that the handicap match would just turn into another JBL-Chris Jericho confrontation without a match. I thought the JBL and Jericho feud was raised to another level. When JBL had the cord around Jericho's neck, it quickly gave me a Chris Benoit type of reference which startled me a little bit. Not saying that it was of bad taste, but it was a good way to get JBL heat. The Hornswoggle/Foley vs. Highlanders match was another example of how dead the tag team division really is. It was just another way for Foley to get back into another match. The entire Hornswoggle angle really is getting flat in my eyes. Now to the match of the night. Jeff Hardy and Umaga had another great match. It's like every time these two face off there is an amazing ending. Randy Orton played a good role on the outside of the cage so Hardy can't escape. The Whisper in the Wind off the steel cage was amazing! J.R. was on the money when he called that move. I even yelled "Good Lord!" The announcing in ths match was just as good as the match was. Jeff Hardy is further solidifying his spot as a legitimate main eventer. The way Hardy has been wrestling over the past few months, he certainly deserves his shot at the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Over the past month or so, Raw has been delivering very good main events and last night was no exception. Overall, not a so-so show wrestling-wise minus the main event which was spectacular, but it sure was entertaining.

1/4 SMACKDOWN REAX

Terrie Neilson of La s Vegas, Nev. (4.0): Best: MVP vs. Finlay Worst: Overbooking the Beat The Clock Challenge. I was actually dumbfounded by two straight nights of overdone gimmick matches. Beat The Clock was a great concept the first time it was used as it was portrayed from start-to-finish that everything about it was random, giving a very nice surprise in London vs. Kendrick. One thing done right this time was at least trying to give the impression the potential that anyone could become the Number One Contender. Then the bottom started falling out. MVP vs. Finlay was a very solid mat match. That said, MVP-Rey seems inexplicably over, as MVP goes next to challenge Ric Flair and not ask for a rematch from Finlay considering the shillelagh shenanigans. And what was the reason for Vince being there? There was no followup at all. From there I'm playing Sherlock Holmes and deducing what comes next, not the attitude I should be having. I knew neither MVP nor Finlay were going to win in the end. I'm already getting paranoia that Matt Hardy's return will affect the MVP-Flair match somehow. Palumbo's heel turn is evolving nicely; I like that it's comeing in steps and not all at once. Chavo-Funaki turned out okay on all accounts, but I knew they weren't going to win, either, due to importance. Batista-Edgeheads was a foregone conclusion. MVP was on the phone discussing the challenge to Flair, presumably to his manager; shouldn't he have talked to Vince, who is in the building? Deuce/Domino vs. Moore/Yang provided an interesting moment that added to Yang's southern gentleman and Domino's protective brother. Striker took forever to show his colors as referee as he was neutral through most of the match (what few pin counts there were were even), only showing his heel side on a couple of rope counts until his screwjob finish of refusing to count the three. Henry's shoulders were clearly down. He threatens to sic Big Daddy V on Undertaker for referee roughage when all the Dead Man did was run him off. The promo itself was redundant. The main event killed the Beat The Clock concept dead and, I hate to say it, a lot of Rey's credibilty. Rey won a triple threat match at WrestleMania 22 with no help from anyone, yet here it's Undertaker and Batista to the rescue. The two capitalize on the loophole that while they can't touch Edge in fear of losing title opportunities, they can go after the EdgeHeads. Yawn. Been there, seen that. Smackdown was doing so well. What just happened?

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