Email This Article- Contact Us - VIP Sign-Up - Back to Home Page

|

Anthony Moseley of Saraland, Ala. (6.5): Best: Jeff Hardy's return and William Regal. Worst: John Cena's return. The show itself wasn't too bad, but I really hope that I'm not the only one who changed the channel when John Cena's entrance music started playing at the beginning of the show. Cena is just so stale now, and his character is just so bland that it's hard to even watch when he's on TV. Either turn him heel, or change his gimmick. William Regal is currently the best heel on the show; I really enjoyed his opening promo. I really hope he gets a World Title reign somewhere down the line. I was disappointed that Carlito and Santino didn't win the tag titles, as I see no point in keeping the titles on Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes. That being said, I really hope the Santino vs. Piper feud continues as I think that it could be very entertaining. The women's division is starting to improve with better storylines, although I'm not sure if Melina would work well as a face, though. The HBK-Y2J feud just isn't clicking with me. Normally I love both guys, but the feud is just boring to me and I'd much rather just watch them put on a great match, which I'm sure they will. Jeff Hardy's return was very well received, but I'm not sure why they had to bury Umaga. Surely they could have found some undercard heel to fill Umaga's spot. Umaga was once an unbeatable monster and now he loses to a guy who wasn't even dressed to wrestle in two minutes? I like Jeff Hardy and all, but come on. Lance Cade turning on Trevor Murdoch is a long time coming and I am interested to see where they go with Cade after this, as he is due for a push. The main event was nothing we haven't seen before and I am so sick and tired of seeing Cena and Triple H get their asses kicked only to magically jump back up like nothing ever happened. It's the reason half the crowd hates Cena, and it won't be long before Triple H starts getting the Cena treatment. Lastly, I really don't know why everyone hated Randy Orton's old entrance music. It was very catchy and you immediately recognized it when it started playing. His new music is just generic, and doesn't have the same kick his old music did.

Leonard Tripodi of Kenilworth, N.J. (8.5): Best: Jeff Hardy's return, main event. Worst: Kennedy-Snitsky by default. This show was a major improvement over last week. Everything on Raw meant something heading into the PPV on Sunday. The advancing of storylines on this show will be beneficial to Raw beyond Judgment Day, which means they are planning for the immediate future. There was nice surprise element to this show with the return of Hardy and his climatic victory over Umaga; Cena's strong babyface reaction in the opening segment and throughout, including his involvement with Mickie; and the heated start of a Beth-Melina feud which could be very intense and change things up a bit in the seemingly mundane women's division. Also, Regal's power trip and actions were kept to a minimum and worked well within the confines of the show without upsetting the crowd. Regal gets heat simply by being a pompous, arrogant G.M. who shows utter disdain towards the wrestlers and fans. And speaking of pompous, JBL was much more tolerable in his limited role during the main event. All of the matches were either solid or pretty decent, and even the Kennedy-Snitsky match served its purpose. The three tag matches were better than usual, but succeeded in furthering the angles with Piper-Santino, Cade-Murdoch, and surprisingly, Beth-Melina. Michaels is quite possibly the only superstar in WWE who could openly admit he was faking an injury, which is normally heel-like in nature, but other than land a devastating superkick and still getting a solid crowd pop. I wasn't going to order Judgment Day this Sunday, but they did an impressive job of hyping and creating a buzz which has been missing from Raw since the incredible Ric Flair retirement and tribute show. The main event was hot, even with the anticipated interference from JBL and the equally expected save from Triple H. I didn't mind the lowering of the steel cage since it was done to give the WWE Title match more significance. When WWE can put on a very solid and entertaining show like this, it makes you wonder why they can't do this more consistently and on a regular basis. They already have a loyal fanbase with a patient group of us readers just hanging in the balance every week. This was a solid Raw heading into what looks to be a now intriguing PPV..

Jeremy Quist. Lynchburg, Va.: (6.5) Best Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga. Worst Match: Womens Tag Match. This show was better than the last couple of weeks. After Regal lied to Cena about changing his ways, what assurance do PPV buyers have that he won't turn off the lights at Judgement Day? I just cannot spend $40 with a chance of foolishness like that happening and I'm sure that I'm not the only one. They needed Cena back, but he headlined the show. Triple H is the co-main event face of the PPV, and he was given a mere run-in at the end of the show to help promote the PPV. HBK is playing his part well, but the whole angle is lame. Why did HBK continue to fake the injury? If it was to irritate Jericho, then why? No one buys Shawn being afraid of Batista. I just get the feeling that they have no clue where they are going with the angle. Maybe they are turning HBK heel, and he loved ending Ric Flair's career. They need another major heel, and Shawn would be perfect. Jeff Hardy came back and the fans are still behind him. I'm a big fan of Jeff's, but can Vince McMahon push him back into top tier when Hardy is one strike away from never returning. The loss of RVD was a major setback because it occured at the peak of his career. Hardy is the most popular active roster wrestler that Vince has after being gone for 60 days. Hardy mentioned the IC Title tonight. Vince can set him back like that, but as long as he is there fans will want him on top. Santino showed great emotion tonight with Piper. Snitsky is off whatever he was taking, and will be off television soon with that look. The King hit one out of the park tonight when he asked J.R. if he ever went up to people like Kennedy and said his name was good ole J.R.... J.R. That was just classic. His line about Cryme Time was great as well. He said these are guys that rob Peter (dramatic pause) and then rob Paul. I had fun with the show overall tonight. It was great to see less jabronis. Triple H and HBK must be given more time, though. They are the top two most over stars easily, outside of Jeff Hardy. Lastly, intro music changes are usually a bad idea. Orton's new music isn't terrible, but he is greatly identified with that old music. His character just looked weird posing to the new intro. Jeff Hardy's music is not brand new, but it takes too long to get going. If they were dead set on changing his music then they should have gone with the "Rooftops" song from his video in January. That song really captured him.

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.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA, ROH
visit our affiliate: JASON POWELL'S PROWRESTLING.NET

For UFC AND MMA NEWS & BLOGS
visit our affiliate: MMATORCH.COM - now featuring Jamie Penick's MMATorch Daily Audio Updates!

REACT TO THIS STORY IN OUR FREE PWTORCH FORUM

PWTORCH VIP SIGN-UP INFO - NO ADS, EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

|