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A.A Norman of Tulsa, Okla. (7.0): Best Moment: Santino vs. Piper; Worst Moment: Realizing that either Kennedy or Regal violated the substance abuse policy. Why is it that every time a wrestler gets the biggest push of his career or a lot of mic/air time, he screws it up by violating policy and getting suspended? This has divebombed rising star Ken Kennedy (Mr. McMahon's original bastard son), Booker T (who sent himself to TNA rather than sit out 60 days), and others before, so why did Jeff Hardy (becoming Orton's rival for the main title) and Regal (becoming another McMahon-like character) have to be suspended now? Rather, why did they have to not follow rules that would result in their suspension? Well, in any event, that was the greatest match of the night and would have been the greatest part of the show it if weren't for the hilarious antics of Raw MVP Santino Marella. While that Kimmel segment probably ran too long (and twice), he continues to be the reason to tune in each week, because it sure isn't "Will Y2J, HBK, and Batista stare each other down more?" or "Will Triple H bury the entire roster at his disposal?" or "Will I still hate Orton's new music?" or "Will the fans boo or cheer Cena?" Okay, so the last one is kind of funny, so scratch that. Other than that, it was all about watching the Spurs and Hornets, and what a pleasant surprise to see Ric Flair and the "Wooo!" still alive and well. Weird thought of the night: If Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli had a kid, it would be Santino Marella.

Jimmy Tide of New York, N.Y. (5.0): Best Match: Santino segments, Y2J and Batista; Worst: Women's. After this Raw, I feel like I could get the replay of Judgement Day and One Night Stand and not notice the difference. Three pay-per-views in six weeks is a disastrous schedule. Anyway, Jeff Hardy is looking good, but I can't help but wonder why is interested in the IC title again rather than the World Title, I mean Y2J has the IC and it really isn't even mentioned anymore. Glamazon is gaining my interest as of late; but if she is not wrestling Melina or Mickie, women's matches are unwatchable... everyone else just stinks THAT bad. Kennedy had a great showing, but his in-ring skills are still a little raw yet, and Regal couldn't make up for it the way that HBK can. Y2J and Batista put together a great match, but Y2J looked physically tired near the end, especially with the clothesline off the top rope... he ran out of gas half way down. But Batista has stepped up his in-ring nicely, and I can see why he is on Raw again. Santino is awesome, I don't think there is anyone who would dispute that. Best Santino quote of the night, "I never heard of that Jiminy Camel," in reference to Jimmy Kimmel. And the main event? What is this, a repeat? WWE Creative figured out a way to use all their talent and make them boring. Congrats!

Zach Madel (Age 13) of Waseca, Minn. (4.0): Best Match: Batista vs. Chris Jericho. Worst Match: Maria vs. Beth Phoenix. The Batista-Jericho match proved what WWE Raw can be, but also showed us what it isn't. The match was carried well by both wrestlers until the middle of the match where everything seemed to be the same. Jericho put the Walls of Jericho on Batista, Batista escaped, Jericho put the move back on him. The ending surprised me, but seemed to interfere with Jericho's roll. After all, he is the Intercontinental Champion and so far, he's on a two-match losing streak. The women's match was a squash match, with Phoenix having control throughout the whole match up. Basically, it was just a match scheduled to continue with the Phoenix-Melina feud.
 
Clay Tonic of Richmond, Va. (7.5): Best Match: Chris Jericho vs. Batista. Worst Match: Beth Phoenix vs. Maria. This was one of the more entertaining episodes of Raw I've seen in a while. I think the segment with Santino, as usual, was awesome... even the "little boys" joke. It might have been in bad taste, but let's face it, after the borderline-insulting-our-intelligence, cartoonish humor that seems to permeate Raw as of late, anything even remotely shocking/edgy/unexpected is good. The Batista-Jericho encounter alone was worth the two hours I invested into watching the show. The tag main event was just icing on the cake. I have to disagree with the people who say WWE threw away a PPV-worthy encounter with the Loser Leaves Town match - I think WWE knows no casual fans are going to spend $80 a month on PPVs anyway, and I'm happy to have seen the match for free. It did seem weird to pull the rug out from under Regal after he had so much momentum going, but it makes me want to tune in next week.  And that's what WWE needs to be shooting for right now. Oh, and I think the Women's Division still sucks. 

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