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Eric Gall of Bridgeport, Conn. (4.5): Best Match: Santino & the guy with the "Hulkamania is Dead!" sign. Worst Match: Triple H. Another formulaic Raw tonight, and another show where I needed to multi-task to get through it. Big thanks to the Kansas Jayhawks and Memphis Tigers for keeping this night moving. I really hate when wrestlers somehow get already booked title matches changed just because they come to the ring and cry about it. If JBL is the no. 1 contender and has a title shot, that's it. No amount of bitching and moaning in any sport would change a championship game, so why should this be allowed to happen in wrestling on a regular basis? I can see if there was a controversial finish, but this is just a way for Triple H to be in the title picture continuously and still say, "Hey, I didn't go over at WrestleMania, did I?" Do Trips and Cena have to be in every main event for a PPV? The company could have gone outside the box and went with a heel vs. heel title match for Backlash. Since we're in the "Age of Orton" anyway, nobody thinks JBL has a shot of winning the belt now, so just go with it and continue trying to build Orton as a strong champ. As far as everything else goes, nice to see Santino being Santino, but not much else was given a chance to be anything other than filler. Raw needs to move beyond the Main Event Same Guy Shuffle if it wants to become must-see-TV again.

Leonard Tripodi, Kenilworth, N.J. (3.5): Best: HBK-Batista confrontation. Worst: Beth vs. Maria. Here we go again; just a week removed from easily one of the more memorable three day stretches in WWE since the end of the Attitude Era, Raw goes back to the reality basement. The WWE Title dogs and Texas hogs completely took over the show. Did we really need to have two qualifying matches within an hour to assure us of the inevitable? The fatal four-way was never in doubt after Triple H defeated Orton & JBL, followed by Cena coming down to the ring to remind us he's alive and still in the title picture. Cena's babbling about how he beat each one of them and then saying who beat who doesn't matter before making propositions to include him in the title mix was a complete waste of time. Why not have the four of them in tag matches for the next couple of weeks taking turns screwing each other over? That would have been predictable too, but at least they could have teased the tension between them. Triple H pinning Orton clean doesn't do Orton any justice either. He was playing the cool heel to perfection, but it's not like the fans have a solid face to root for anyway. He gets over by default. And JBL is just another pompous, fat hog taking up a spot in the top tier that could have gone to somebody else. I loved how he got absolutely no crowd reaction when confronting Orton. HBK had great fire and intensity in confronting Batista, who is definitely going to be a strong heel in their feud. Everything else was just there; Cryme Tyme is back to the same old and tired gimmick, Maria is still receiving a Playboy push and got in way too much sloppy offense against Beth in a loss, Santino is awkward and limited in the ring, Cena made some lame references about Orton and Ross beating off, and yet another Umaga squash over a guy who has been jobbing for the last seven years. The only stuff I really liked on this show was Mickie's involvement and victory, Lillian Garcia's sexy outfit, and the HBK-Batista confrontation. Otherwise, plenty of predictable matches and results, redundant flashbacks, and rambling on the mic. This is going to get old real quick...

Mikey Metz of Albany, N.Y. (5.0): Best Match: Cena vs. Triple H vs. JBL. Worst Match: Maria vs. Beth Phoenix. Hey guys, I'm a new PWTorch subscriber and was sitting front row for tonight's Raw in Albany. If anyone saw the "Hacksaw for Governor" or the "What a Maneuver" signs, that was me. Anyway, this was a really lackluster show. It was as if Heat didn't end until about 10 p.m. WWE had been doing a fine job padding their roster during the build-up to WrestleMania, but Raw's depleted talent pool was pretty exposed tonight. That's what happens when your four top guys are in the main event, I guess. The crowd seemed pretty hot for the whole show, and there was a lot of anti-Cena sentiment during the main event (which I hope got across TV). There was not one memorable moment during the whole show really, but I forgive the E because both WrestleMania and last week's Raw were fantastic. In the end, it was pretty entertaining to be there live, but I'm biased because I had never sat so close to the action before.

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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