Jay Gilkay of Milwaukee, Wisc. (7.5): While I do agree that such a dangerous spot should have been saved for PPV, it does show why WWE's production and execution blows TNA out of the water. I can only imagine how obnoxious the TNA commentators would have been after that spot. Screaming and carrying on like someone shot the President. Or, it would have been used as a good reason to go to commercial a la Awesome Kong and Gail Kim last week. This show had a slow build that kept me wanting to watch with a great payoff at the end. It's also nice to see less comedy and more serious angles. Even the midget rumble ended on a fairly serious note with Finlay's surprise attack. I have not purchased a WWE PPV in quite some time, but this episode has got me thinking hard about getting the Rumble.

Greg Livengood of Chapel Hill, N.C. (7.5): The hype for the Royal Rumble continued tonight in full strength. It's so refreshing to be excited about a PPV because of the main event and not some hotshot gimmick. The Rumble is actually shaping up to be a good show and all of the big angles got hit tonight for better or for worse. The ''worse'' part was the ''Mini Royal Rumble'' that took up time that Ric Flair and William Regal could have used to put on a solid match and, also, it just wasn't all that funny. The Finlay/Vince story does intrigue me though as the mystery behind their deal is brought up. Another miss was Mickie James taking the pin from Beth Phoenix again. I really hope they aren't going to give the belt back to Candice for a return angle; she still needs to improve more to be worthy of that. Finally, there was just too much pyro tonight. Between the goofy explosions from behind the mini-screen (because Triple H is Superman) to JBL filling the arena with fog, it was just an overkill. The ''better'' of the night was Ric Flair getting some TV time and having them acknowledge the timeline of the angle. JBL delivered some strong mic work to further his angle and is coming off as a good killer heel despite his time away. The Hardy-Orton angle continues to be incredibly strong as the crowd is into both of these guys and their interactions. Vince should really consider extending this program to WrestleMania, because people want to see these two guys butt heads and continue doing so until there is a decisive win. The end angle was quite the spectacle and is a good reason to not have these guys wrestle next week. If they can drive it home with a couple of promos next Monday, it will cap one of the best PPV hypes WWE has done in a long time.

Jennifer Stevens of New York, N.Y. (4.0): I try to give Raw the benefit of the doubt whenever possible, but this was not a strong show for me overall due to the lack of a good match. Shawn Michaels and Trevor Murdoch followed by the great Kennedy promo was probably the best bit of the night, but everything else fell into one of four categories: never really got going (Triple H vs. Snitsky), too short (Flair vs. Regal), comedy, or divas match (‘nuff said). Santino was missed, as was Umaga. Vince’s act is getting tired and he’s past due for a long vacation. He needs to wrap up this illegitimate son storyline and take a break as an on-air character so his appearances mean something again. Of course, the crowd was popping pretty good for Horny tonight, so that’ll probably go on for at least a few more months. What is WWE’s fascination with midgets? They went pretty far with that Royal Rumble parody tonight. Good for laughs, but I’ve have traded it all to see ten minutes of London & Kendrick vs. tag team champs Holly & Rhodes (remember them?). I was intrigued by the idea of Hardy facing Orton for the IC Title, though I figured it wouldn’t happen. The instant DQ felt like a cop-out at first, but the brawl and subsequent Swanton by Hardy was a major payoff. Great way of illustrating just how much these two hate each other. If they follow through with this storyline properly, Hardy and Orton will still be selling this finish next week and should be recovered just in time to lay it all down at the Rumble. The announcers going silent, even through the replays, was extremely effective. If Hardy and Orton can top this at the pay-per-view, it will be a can’t-miss show.

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for a "Raw Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click here.

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