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MORE RAW REAX

Steve Sutcliffe, New York, NY: (3.0) Best Match: Kennedy-Cena. Worst Match: Big Show-That Boxer Guy, Umaga-Super Crazy. The limp to WrestleMania continues - the latest episode of Raw lacked the sizzle, spark, and all the other intangibles that are usually present in the weeks leading up to what should be the biggest sports entertainment event of the year. The show kicked off with one of the flatest segments in recent memory as Big Show squashed a jobber, then engaged in a "war of words" with an obviously pre-taped Floyd Moneyweather, whose unlikeability is immeasurable. Isn't he supposed to be the face? Way to win over the fans by insulting good ol' J.R. and The King and spouting the same cliche-ridden rhetoric over and over again. After a hot start at the No Way Out PPV, this program has hit a brick wall as nobody seems to care, except for the people who wrote all those zeros on Mayweather's check. The Cena as General Manager added very little to the stale threeway formula as this feud continues on its cruise control trajectory. Nothing has changed in the dichotomy since the match was first announced, except a different wrestler hitting their finisher at the end of Raw. Instead of feeding Kennedy to Cena, the focus should have been on Kennedy cashing in his Money in the Bank title opportunity after the triple threat match at Mania. Hardy's twist-of-fate on Jericho was unexpected although it goes against his underdog persona and seemed unnecessary. Carlito's match against Cody Rhodes in a perfect world would be important but since WWE has done such a great job of ripping the heart out of the tag team division, nobody cared. At least we'll get to see Carlito do at least one big spot at Mania, instead of being featured on the DVD-only match. The Vince-JBL-Finlay confrontation seemed forced and yet again, nobody cared. Notice a pattern here? The only intrigue the entire night was the HBK-Flair segment, although the match is all but inevitable at this point. Unfortunately, WWE has given us very few reasons to get excited for this year's WrestleMania.

Clay Tonic of Richmond, Va. - Call Center Operator (3.0): Best Match: Carlito vs Cody Rhodes. Worst Match: Flair/Michaels vs. Cade/Murdoch. You gotta love Ric Flair, but I just can't take it anymore. The dude can't even really bend over; he's either standing straight up or flat on his back. Maybe I'm a little too young to have an emotional/nostalgic attachment to Flair or whatever, but I just don't find it entertaining. Randy Orton trying to grab his belt and leave was a nice touch to an otherwise predictable main event. WWE really botched everything leading up to WrestleMania. No one cares about Hornswaggle. No one cares about JBL or Finlay. No one cares about Floyd Mayweather. Maybe it's just me, but Jericho is the least entertaining he's ever been. They might as well bring back freakin' Dr. Issac Yankem or Doink The Clown, the WWE is turning into a big cartoon anyway (although I read somewhere they've had their most profitable year ever?!). I guess these stupid storylines translate better in a global market. I hate to harp on a cliche, but back in the '90s when Vince Russo would have World Title matches halfway up the card and end every single match in an overbooking, not to mention the sex and violence and language, people paid attention. The storylines were interesting, everybody on the card had something to do, some of the wrestlers actually seemed "cool" - it almost seemed like a big party every Monday night... there was beer, there were "ho"s, there were weed jokes...BUT I can see how that would make NO sense to someone in another part of the world. There's nothing to lose in translation now: the bad cowboy guy beating up a midget and making the good Irish guy mad is much easier to follow, even if it does make me want to gouge my eyes out. I guess Vince and company know what they're doing, but that doesn't change the fact that American wrestling fans, the core audience, hate it.

3/4 ECW REAX

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (3.0): Best: Chavo vs. Punk Worst: Benjamin vs. Richards (and it shouldn't have been); not replaying the more worthwhile Raw stuff Like last night, WrestleMania is coming, but it's still getting the "oh, by the way..." treatment here. Granted, Shelton Benjamin represents ECW in the MITB match, but the ECW Title doesn't appear to be up for grabs come March 30, and with Punk's clean loss, there isn't time to build a proper program for the belt come then. Has Punk forgotten how to use the Anaconda Vice? The move has left him since bringing in the GTS, which he can't use on all opponents. Colin Delaney is doing very well for what he's got to work with, but now I think they may be rushing things. It made sense for the announcers to put over that Colin may have introduced the chair into the match because he had had enough of the beatings since his arrival, but taking this to an Extreme Rules match next week? That's too fast for my taste. Palumbo facing Kane on Smackdown on Friday is random enough considering the triangle Chuck's in, but introducing it here without much of anything messed it up. What beef does Palumbo have with Kane, who's been nowhere near the Palumbo-Noble-McCool story? Cannot stand Shelton's new music even if maybe the idea is a more heel version, and his match with Steven Richards met with a fair amount of disdain from the crowd. The fact that restholds accounted for most of the match didn't help. Why were they even in a match in the first place, other than maybe parallel streaks (though technically Richards had no losses of any kind going into the match). The crowd seemed to be glad their match was over and so was I; it shouldn't have felt like that. And WWE insists on filling time with replays Raw; fine with me, I guess. We should have seen the build for the WWE title triple-threat, since a title is on the line (which could segue into something meaningful about the ECW Title). We should have seen Shawn's promo to Ric Flair reiterating Shawn's not wanting the match with the stip in play and warning him that unleashing The Showstopper might not be a good thing. Flair's career is on the line there, and the announcers haven't said a thing about him since his guest appearance a couple of weeks ago. They had opinions about the Show-Mayweather mess (which came across even worse in replay) and the fun-but-filler Maria in Playboy thing, but not a word about the serious WWE-focused matches? What gives with that? A match can build itself only so much.

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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