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WWE Raw Reax #3: " Vince is giving away a million every week. End show. Wow, thanks for making me stay tuned."
May 27, 2008 - 12:49:03 PM


Maynard Damon of St. Louis, MO (5.0). Best Match: Jericho vs. Michaels. Worst Match: Vince's announcement to end the show. I was on the fence whether or not to buy the PPV, and this final Raw before ONS did not convince me to buy it. There were some good moments on this show, like the HHH-Orton exchange and an intriguing HBK-Y2J contest, but the bulk of show was just dull. Vince's annoucement to end the night did not live up to the hype he gave it throughout the show. It wll be curious to see if Vince listens to his own words now. He clearly stated that what the fans want are fresh rivalries and fresh talent. Hopefully Vince is beginning to realize that having Triple H, Undertaker, and Kane as champions is not exactly "fresh."

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (7.0): Best: Orton-Triple H face off; Michaels vs. Jericho. Worst: Kennedy vs. Carlito. Tonight's show wasn't bad, but as a go-home show, it was very flat. Despite the hot face-off between Orton and Triple H at the beginning at Michaels-Jericho at the end, the show seemed to be centered around a seemingly face Vince McMahon with six days to a PPV. There was exposure (verbal and/or visual) for the Raw related matches, with the out-of-nowhere addition of the Beth-Melina I Quit match. I would have rather heard more shout outs from the troops than another installment of the Piper-Santino saga (since it was the most irrelvant segment of the night). Good mic work coming in all night, which means more often than not that the wrestling suffered. It did. Jillian-Melina could have been worth something given more time. Londrick vs. Holly & Rhodes was also too short and was more spotfest than match. Seems kind of surreal that John Cena isn't in the main event and hasn't had a title of any kind around his waist in four month, doesn't it? Didn't hear much in the way of booing related to him. It may be wise of WWE to keep him on the down low for a little while longer. Kennedy almost seemed to be a man without a feud with Regal's departure - just seemed that he couldn't get an even break But that was fittingly answered with Burchill. That stomp of Burchill's is a vicious move and it made sense to move the Burchills in with their ties to Regal. (Methinks Regal will come back to the fold after becoming two-time member of KMAC.) Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho have done better, but this match wasn't meant to be super-caliber, and the double count-out was about as good a result you'd get with Shawn going to the PPV and Jericho... not(?) Jericho's taking a frustrating road to Heel Lane, and I like the direction he's going. He's got plenty of baggage to take with him on his journey just since he's come back. The whole Michaels-Batista-Jericho triangle has more holes than swiss cheese, but some character development is happening with it, so I'm not fussing much right now. The draft has been due, but I'm hoping the timing is for after Night of Champions and not before.

Adam Riemer of Miami, Fla. (6.0): Best:HBK/Jericho. Worst:McMahon's announcement. First off, this show had some very entertaining and interesting aspects. The opening segment with Triple H and Orton was one of the better "pre-pay-per-view main event" promos the WWE has done in a long time. The fact that both Orton and Triple H brought up everything relevant to their respective characters from the past was well done. The HBK reference and the "truth" about how Hunter reacts when someone else grabs the spotlight was great. The fact that Hunter talked about the majority of Orton's career as a heel was well done as well. The other great aspect of Raw was Jericho and HBK. While I still don't see HBK as the face here still, they are doing an awesome job selling these two in what could only be considered a high-profile match coming up at Summerslam. It seems WWE is taking a page out of their book on how to be successful, and are really building this feud. I still think the IC Title should somehow get involved here since its a feud between two of the best wrestlers the WWE has ever had both in ring and on the mic. Now onto the bad. I guess the Carlito/Santino tag team is over with. The whole building up the feud with Holly/Rhodes really meant nothing here. Why does every past superstar's son look the same? I mean, DiBiase Jr. is a clone of Orton, the same with Rhodes. I would love to see a faction form with Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase Jr., and Randy Orton as their leader. But that won't happen. Katie Lea continues to be annoying on the mic. She just doesn't sound British at all; she sounds like she is constantly faking the accent (which she may be). I have also come to the conclusion that Kennedy is cursed. Every time that guy is up for a major push, something happens. He either gets suspended, gets hurt, or the major player like Regal gets suspended. Now he is forced to feud with Paul Burchill and the "ghost" of William Regal. I really don't see how anyone could get into this feud. Finally the worst part of Raw was Mr. McMahon's announcement. I mean everyone thought we would at least get the new GM but instead we got the fact that the GM position means nothing since Vince is once again going to be running Raw and the lottery is coming up. Then we get the major announcement. Vince is giving away a million every week. End show. Wow, thanks for making me stay tuned to see that lack luster announcement. Everyone in the audience looked perplexed, confused, and frustrated. Why did it matter that every WWE wrestler had to be out there? On paper it's a good way to get people to stay tuned. In reality its a great way to make people not want to tune in next week for more disappointment.

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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MORE "Torch Feedback" ARTICLES
Smackdown TV Reax #1: "Fresh match-ups, superstars, and storylines just create great TV"
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TNA Impact Reax #1: "Nothing jumps out as something that will be (or is allowed to be) the Slammiversary PPV draw"
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TORCH READERS WRITE BACK: Why was Kozlov smiling on the ECW TV broadcast?
WWE Raw Reax #4: "I was excited for Miz-Cena - I like the way they're building this feud and I don't want it messed up"
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