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Ryan Nichols of Indianapolis, Ind. (8.0): Best Match: DX vs. Umaga & Snitsky. Worst Match: McMahon and Hornswoggle segment. I thought, overall, Raw was very good and did a good job following up on the Royal Rumble. WWE, in continuing its tradition of not giving the fans what they want seems to be ready to force another long Cena title run on us. He may sell a lot of t-shirts, but he certainly does not deserve the main push. You have to wonder what the outcome of the title match at the Royal Rumble would have been if Cena did not come back early from his injury. Jeff Hardy continued to be very good on the mic last night and very good in his match. The hints that Jeff Hardy's push is over were certainly there. Jericho and Hardy could not get a win over JBL and Orton, but Cena, still recovering from an injury, scares JBL away and destroys Orton with one move. John Cena is not Steve Austin; they should really quit pushing him like he is. Santino was again brilliant on the microphone. Melina vs. Maria was good for what is was. Jericho also deserves mention for his microphone time. He is doing a really good job of putting over his anger towards JBL. If only that would translate in the ring, they might really have something. The setting up of the No Way Out match between Orton and Cena was nice, but it seems like a desperate move to get Cena in the main event at WrestleMania. The Elimination Chamber match is also going to be good, as they always are, but we all know Triple H is walking away with the win there. That's not a bad thing, it is just very predictable.

Ryan of Hugo, Minn.: Best Match: The Main Event. Worst Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Carlito (Can't stand Cody Rhodes right now, but he does have potential). Cena must feel like Boy Band member. The only pops he gets are from teenie boppers. He did shock the world yesterday, but it seemed like the crowd was back to treating like they did prior to his injury. I still think they might as well turn him heel. If the new Stone Cold DVD does well, can Shark Boy take credit? That could be a great buy, though. Is it just me, or does Mike Adamle give some credibility to the Raw interview guy position. He doesn't make me wanna stick nails in my ears. Nice change of pace. I really wish they'd get rid of that spinner belt. It matches up with Cena, but other than that, it really has lost its appeal. I am looking forward to the Elimination Chamber, even though it seems highly likely that Triple H will be the eventual winner. Kinda like how Regal has stuck with the Umanga thing. I wonder how long it will take Cody Rhodes to "get with the program" have the "look" of the other major stars. Gotta have a DX appearence in a while to sell some shirt. Seriously, how do they get Snitsky's teeth that yellow and does he have to maintain acne for his gimmick? With Hornswoggle so over, I am curious to see where this angle continues to go. It's too bad the powers at be weren't willing to put the WWE strap on Hardy. He's seemed to have earned it... and he seems to be the most OVER guy on Raw. Oh, and the IC Title belt... hate it... looks like a woman's title. The Jericho-JBL feud has so much potential. Two great guys on the mic and two great wrestlers. Does the limo thing still work on Raw? I mean it drives like two feet. I have no idea how the two teams switched corners. Is that even "legal"? Or maybe they started out that way and I wasn't paying attention. But not a bad match. We kinda have an idea of where they are headed with WrestleMania plans. Still don't know whose gonna retire Flair. I was kinda wishing to see Big Show, just to see how much weight he's lost and to see what direction he'll be headed in. I love this time a year. The "playoffs" going into WrestleMania!

Bryant Mooney of Stamford, Conn. (5.0): Best Match: JBL/Orton vs. Hardy/Jericho Worst Match: Carlito vs. Cody Rhodes. I thought last night was a very average show. I thought that John Cena coming back so soon would hurt the Raw brand in which I thought that Raw has been good without him, but it was not that bad. He went through with the story and it drew out very well. This is what I don't understand. Why is it that John Cena gets his WWE Championship shot before WrestleMania while most of the previous winners of the Royal Rumble Match had to wait until WrestleMania, but since he's John Cena he gets his shot early? I don't think that's right. The opening match between Ashley/Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix/Jillian Hall was a pretty basic but decent divas match. There was great sequences including Beth Phoenix mocking Mickie in the beginning by fake crying and also that Mickie refused to tag Ashley which I thought was great because I didn't really want to see her wrestle and it was great for the storyline that Mickie is unsuccessful in her quest to beat Beth. I thought the announcing of the Elimination Chamber was very anti-climatic because I was expecting a Beat The Clock type of sprint to determine the six contenders instead of just announcing the competitors in the match, but when you have three weeks to promote the PPV maybe it was for the best. Carlito vs. Cody Rhodes was just plain uninteresting and I was actually trying to get into the match, but I just couldn't. The finshing move being missed by the camera made it even worse. It just didn't click with me. DX vs. Snitsky/Umaga was a very typical type of match. It was a way to get the crowd hyped and into the show. Shawn Michaels gets beat down most of the match while Triple H comes in and cleans house. The beginning with Triple H asking for a toothbrush and gum was hilarious. Mr. Kennedy vs. Brian Kendrick was a better squash than their previous meeting a few months back where Kendrick got absolutely no offense in. After the match when Ric Flair appeared, I thought we would've got a much longer promo from Flair but him telling Kennedy "Good Luck" and "Whooo" was alright, but I expected more. When Maria vs. Melina started, I initially thought we didn't need another divas match for the night, but I thought that for the time that it was given that Maria was shockingly impressive. I'm not saying by WrestleMania she should face Beth Phoenix, but she tried to make it work. The ending was very off and I feel bad that a good diva like Melina who can wrestle got easily done in by Maria, but Melina is not the one doing Playboy so go figure. The main event was a pretty decent main event, but not very memorable. It was the best match by default. It was good to see that Randy Orton didn't botch the RKO like four years ago during that same spot. John Cena coming in at the end was a typical sequence: he comes in, attacks his opponent, nails the FU (Orton sold the move very well), and he closes the show. They did good by not showing too much John Cena and focusing on the show, but the show over all was less than satisfying.

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