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A.A. Norman of Tulsa, Okla. (7.5) Best Match: Hardy vs. Cena; Worst Match: Cade vs. Murdoch. I really liked McMahon's promo, even if I don't really like the concept of bribing people to watch wrestling. I know way too many "snobs" (his word, not mine) that look down on wrestling as "fake" (their word, not mine) and can't believe I watch it. However, enough self pity for the night, because the show belonged to one of the best non-PPV main events in a long time, Jeff Hardy and John Cena. If there was any match that could tempt me to miss the return of four-year-hiatus The Mole, it was Hardy vs. Cena. Now, the wrong person won - I think we all can agree that less has been more for Cena lately - but it was a still a very good match. I am also happy to see title defenses. Holly teasing to Rhodes about the loss of the tag team titles and Y2J saying he will defend the Intercontinental Title means that we won't have to worry about an overstacked, aging glass ceiling at the top. Hopefully. I still can't give WWE any benefit of the extreme doubt after seeing Cena be in the main event of every PPV for an entire year and winning every time.

Wayne Maye of Richmond, Va. - PSR II for Wachovia Bank (7.0): Best Match: John Cena vs. Jeff Hardy. Worst Match: Lance Cade vs. Trevor Murdoch. After a solid, if unspectacular, PPV this past Sunday in One Night Stand, I didn't expect Raw to be memorable, and it really wasn't, which I'm about to get to. The opening segment with Triple H, Cena, and Hardy was a good way to start the show, although I do agree with James Caldwell that overall, the segment was a bit odd, especially with Vince's appearance towards the end. When Mr. Kennedy came out and did his opening spiel. I think his opening spiel is getting tired. If he was to do it on PPVs and the night after, it would be fine, but hearing that every week is becoming a little cliche. When Kennedy was just about done, I had this feeling that Umaga was going to be his opponent, and sure enough after Burchill's promo, out comes Umaga, and we get the standard match involving Umaga nowadays, which is a match under five minutes, the action not very good, and the ending either being a DQ or a countout. That booking is puzzling. I do think they need to step it up with Kennedy is some ways. I don't have too much to say about Vince McMahon's interview regarding the $1 million. It was odd that he's rallying the troops so to speak, but I'm a little confused. Do we cheer him because he's giving away $1 million to a lucky fan, and then boo him (when it's time apparantly) when he's trying to screw over a popular babyface? More questions than answers. The tag match with Santino & Carlito vs. Holly & Rhodes was okay for the what it was trying to get across, which was hyping the match for this Friday's Smackdown with Santino against Cousin Sal. I still think that Carlito is being wasted in his current role. Skipping over the silly Santino interview, I liked the segment with the teased dissention between Holly and Rhodes, with Ted Dibiase Jr. coming in at the end. I'm curious to see where this one goes, and I do know where it may be headed. Jericho's interview was some sarcastic piece of work, but there's some intriguing here, but his match with JBL was not. It was average, but I didn't care for the B.S. DQ decision. Is a clean or semi-clean finish too much to ask for? The Divas tag match was fine, with some tremendous intensity from Melina. I guess this is due to the interaction with Cena, but I've never seen Mickie James as such a nonfactor like she is now, even when she's the current Women's Champion. Kennedy's run-in at the end was a nice touch, but again I don't see them putting this match on any PPV. The Cade vs. Murdoch match came off as a huge disappointment. After literally months of teasing their breakup, they put this match on with no hype AND it ends in three minutes. What's next? I'm not sure what to think about the Cena-Mickie segment. A part of me wants to see where this goes, but the other part is telling me I really don't care about this plot development. And finally the main event with Cena and Hardy, while a decent TV main event match, I think that they're first ever meeting would do good business on a PPV, but with WWE unfortunately in a panic mode, I guess that was out of the question. And in a forgone conclusion, Cena wins to face Triple H at The Night Of Champions PPV that's on the way. With all due respect to Cena and Triple H, I don't want to see those two facing off for the entire summer, unless the booking is top notch, but I guess this is one of those things where we'll have to wait and see what happens. Overall, this was another average Raw, average in the case that it came the night after One Night Stand. I do agree with Wade Keller that WWE needs to drop this show from it's schedule permanantly and focus on building towards The Night Of Champions after the Judgment Day PPV. Another odd thing (there's that word again) was that there little to no mention of Randy Orton and what his status is, little to no mention in regards to Shawn Michaels, etc. Those little things had me wondering.

Jeremy Quist of Lynchburg, Va. (10.0) Best Match: Hardy vs. Cena. Worst Segment: "It's all about the mon-eey." Last night was a major show, and not because of the on-camera work. Raw showed last night that Vince is going to give Jeff another shot. It may be a good ways down the road. Last night Vince put Jeff Hardy in the main event of Raw against John Cena for a shot at Triple H, and more importantly the WWE championship. Sure, Cena won the match and moved on, but it was a major step. Hardy started the show by arguing for his position in the top tier. Both Triple H and Cena are scared, regardless of what they tell people. They both know that in most arenas that the WWE visits, the people want to see Jeff Hardy on top. It is actually a good thing that he lost last night. He needs to build his steam back up before he wins the strap. He needs a couple of high profile wins like he had heading into MSG for the Royal Rumble. Umaga does not cut it. If Vince puts him on Smackdown with the draft, I may stop watching the WWE for awhile. The rest of the show was rough. Chris Jericho and Mr. Kennedy feuded with Jabronis. The problem with Umaga is he cannot talk. I cannot remember the last high profile matchup that he won. I agree with that, though. I'm sure the guy speaks some English. He may even be fluent. Have him learn English on the show. His attempts could be good comedy. He really is an okay worker. Burchill is like watching JBL, a snoozefest. Why did HBK miss the show? He did not get injured last night. It might be good for Shawn to go to Smackdown. He and Edge could have some great title matches. Part of me thinks that the writing team just had nothing for Shawn to do. I would love to see HBK versus Triple H feuding for the WWE Title, but something tells me that Shawn's Christianity hurts his ability to politic like he used to. Triple H married the boss's daughter and will do anything to be on top. I love Triple H, but that is true. HBK could have a good title run on Smackdown, especially with the Undertaker taking a break. Santino is heading in the right direction I think,. It was good for Cade to win. Murdoch needs to milk the feud. He has a long ways to go. Lastly, I like the Mickie James and Cena angle, but go somewhere with it. My favorite romance angle was Mark Henry and Chyna's date. Oh, and there is no way that the Glamazon could take Chyna. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler say in almost every Beth Phoenix match that she could take any women's wrestler in the past, present, or future. Nobody believes that. Chyna wrestled with the men. She was a semi-credible IC Champion. No one would buy that Phoenix could beat Jericho. The match would be a sham. They really should stop taking digs at Chyna. It's bad enough what Triple H did to her.

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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