Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (5.0): Best: Highlight Reel Worst: Having to wait to get to the Highlight Reel. If it wasn't for the Highlight Reel (the sole reason for my score), I would be asking myself what the hell I was watching. After last week's ultra classy sendoff to Ric Flair, Raw had an extreme brain fart and forgot what it was--a wrestling show that entertains. Maybe it's just me, but the crowd didn't seem all that entertained and showed itself. If they weren't dead, they were giving go away heat. Umaga is back to doing squashes again and seems to have fallen way down the food chain. Mickie James coming out to Ashley's music is criminal. Did Mickie piss someone off? Cade blows a good part of the finish of the Cade/Murdoch-London/Kendrick, and yet chews out Murdoch? The ref completely screwed up the Carlito/Santino-Holly/Rhodes match; enough said. Can someone please tell me how JBL is #1 Contender again? And why Cena and Triple H are now in a four-way? Oh, that's right...because of ridiculous finishes that the crowd didn't like, particularly Cena's win. There was some interesting things to take note of: subtle focus on Kendrick with what looks like heel demeanor on him, Ross pointing out first match between Triple H and JBL (something long hinted at Wrestlemania 21), and Lawler pointing out the flaws in JBL's sleeper hold on Triple H. BUt one segment not related to a classy sendoff cannot a show save. Here is your best story told right here, and it's not going to be the main event at a PPV... again. Shawn and Batista teeing off on each other was passionate, emotional, and spot on on each side, with just enough tease to give the crowd something to chew on going into either Smackdown on Friday or Raw next week. Now they need to take a breather from each other for a bit to further establish Shawn's conflict and Batista's bitterness. If only the rest of the show were anywhere near as good as The Highlight Reel, I wouldn't be feeling such a crash from last week.

Mike Hautamaki of Virginia, Minn. (3.0): Best Match: Main Event. Worst Match: Divas Tag Team. Not a whole lot made sense on this show. Beth vs. Maria and Umaga vs. Val Venis were both a waste of time. Santino & Carlito wrestled the tag champs again for no apparent reason. Triple H and Randy Orton both helped Cena win his handicap match, even though it worsens their odds of winning at Backlash. And finally, we had another HBK-Batista showdown. Am I the only one not into this? Ric Flair's retirement gives them the basis for a decent feud, but Batista's just coming across like a ten-year-old kid who lost his dog. It's too easy to see Michaels's point of view and impossible to see Batista's.

SUPER-BONUS SMACKDOWN REAX

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (8.0): Best: Hardy vs. MVP; Michaels-Batista promo Worst: Kozlov vs. Bentley After a horrible night of TV (a/k/a TNA) it was nice to get back on track with Smackdown. While Raw focused more on saying goodbye to Ric Flair (though giving subtle nudges toward what would come Tuesday and Friday), ECW and Smackdown did their best to serve as the jumping points toward Backlash. Taker-Edge and Kane-Chavo rematches were expected, though the term "rematch clause" was oddly not in the vocabulary. Tonight's score could have better had it not been for the too short match of Miz/Morrison vs. Yang/Moore (especially considering the they four have had previously), the pathetic attempt to rectify calling Kane-Chavo the second-fastest Wrestlemania match when the announcers clearly put their feet in their mouths, and the atrocious Kozlov-Bentley match. You would think that the guys who made the motorcycle, most likely knowing that Michelle had won the diva contest, would have built the bike to fit her. SHe looked like she was on a tricycle. Kane-Undertaker was an entertaining match; it never really got on a higher gear, but the looks on both their faces with the simultaneous sit-ups were priceless. The Michaels-Batista promo was excellent. Shawn had a good point about finding closure when Flair hugged him. I had been guessing that Batista would be bitter about "friend and mentor" Flair retiring. HIs attire coming out to the ring and noticeable fire in his eyes suggested the turn that was to come. Batista's side of the promo played quite well to Edge's WrestleMania promo about the bubble bursting when seeing our heroes lose. While I question Batista shooting about Shawn not doing jobs - especially when Shawn's WrestleMania record is 6-9 - the crowd finally got its reason to turn 2-1 Batista heel, going with the flow with how the crowd responded to him in his matches with Undertaker and Umaga. Very well played out with lots of potential ahead.

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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