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Dan Congrave of Stockton, Calif. (6.5): Best Match: The beginning of the Regal-Kennedy match. Worst Match: Maria vs. Beth Phoenix. I understand why the WWE felt they needed to hotshot William Regal getting his comeuppance, but they're dead wrong. Ratings are down because the NBA Playoffs have been ridiculously good. Sure, some of the storylines are getting stale, but why eliminate the best one? When did Raw become Nitro circa 1998? Oh no, ratings are down, let's book a PPV caliber match with almost no buildup to see if we can get a ratings spike. Unless Regal somehow comes back into power, this was easily the most frustrating Raw I've watched in a long time. Which is saying a lot. If you're going to have a No DQ Loser Leaves Town match, why not save it for WCW Uncensor... I mean One Night Stand, which is going to be a card full of stagnant rematches anyways.

Michael Moore of Casper, Wy. (5.0): Best Match: Kennedy vs. Regal (until the ending). Worst Match: Beth vs. Maria. I haven't watched any WWE programming in about a month, and usually just keep up with what goes on by reading the Torch. Maybe that's why I'm a little confused. WWE asked its fans to spend $40 on a PPV last night featuring Cena vs. JBL, Orton vs. Triple H, and Undertaker vs. Edge, and in just two weeks, they're going to expect fans to spend another $40 on the exact same matches? I don't get it. Batista vs. Jericho was okay, but it's a good thing they were fighting over something important, like who gets to wrestle Shawn Michaels in a stretcher match. We wouldn't want a match over something as meaningless as, say, the Intercontinental Title. Seriously, when was the last time that belt meant anything? William Regal and Mr. Kennedy had a good match and really great intensity. Not a resthold to be found, and they actually looked like they wanted to, you know, hurt each other. The screwy finish ruined the match, though. Things like the brass knuckles the guy at ringside conveniently was holding and Regal suddenly making it no-DQ were the kinds of cheap tricks that made me turn off Raw in the first place about six years ago. Oh well, maybe I'll check in in another month or so, and see if the same three or four guys are still wrestling for the belt.

SUPER-SPECTACULAR BONUS SMACKDOWN READER REAX

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (9.0): Best: opening segment Worst: Batista promo. Smackdown only had one match to promote at Judgment Day. Kinda weird considering that Judgment Day was once a Smackdown-only PPV. For all the trading off between Smackdown and ECW, only Punk as there to represent the WWE Tag Title match (where all four involved are ECW), which was totally absurd. It left Smackdown in the unenviable position of being a filler show going into Sunday. The filler wasn't too bad; even Kozlov seems to be growing on me somewhat (though I feel there should be more to his finisher). For everything regarding the World Heavyweight Title, the build tonight was nice. Chinks are appearing in the Familia's armor, and the issues regarding the title strip, the Vickie-Edge relationship, and Vickie as G.M. were addressed. The main event (which I will assume ended in a countout) was well done for what needed to be told. It will be curious to see how technical the storyline gets as Vickie didn't actually wrestle and did change the match as booked by the Board of Directors. The only other thing that stuck out was the Black Hole known as Michaels-Batista-Jericho. Batista blew off Michaels right before their match at Backlash when a title opportunity came to be, with Shawn reminding him that their issues were unresolved. Batista would then make the statement that if Shawn was faking it that he would pay for it. If Batista had not been in last week's title challenge, this storyline would be somewhat fine. But Batista made NO complaints of his own over being screwed by Edge for the title shot at Judgment Day; all his other opponents did. Michael Cole and Mick Foley can't put it over enough what the World Title supposedly means to him and yet he says nothing about the screwjob and everything about Shawn faking an injury. Shawn was booed just once during Batista's entire promo and it was before the replay where Shawn fessed up. Shawn should be a heel for lying and neither crowds for Raw or Smackdown are buying it, Mick said something to the effect that when Batista talks, Shawn Michaels should listen. Mick, when Batista talks, you should listen... for the crowd Batista just lost because they're seeing through this awful storyline that continues to do nothing for no one..

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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