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

|

Nick Haynes of Windsor, Mo. (6.0): Best Match: Kingston vs. Burchill/Six-Man Main Event. Worst Match: Post-Main Event. I thought that this was had the makings of being an excellent show from the get-go, with jumping straight to the hottest feud on Raw, Jericho & Michaels. The matches with Mickie James vs. Katie Lea and Kofi Kingston vs. Paul Burchill were also quite strong. In fact, other than their handling of the McMahons and the bad acting of Jim Duggan, it was quite a good show, and was headed for an 8.0 or 8.5 score with me. The reason it dropped was the utterly ridiculous way they did the parking lot encounter of JBL and Cena. Do they not understand that the crowd isn’t looking for Hollywood shots or incredibly idiotic plot twists? In 1999 or 2000, the accidents were believable. Unless they have a great Houdini act that Cena performed, JBL committed attempted murder tonight. How can it advance the feud if JBL should be receiving a visit from the police in about the next seven minutes? I wish someone would let the writers know that these are the kinds of scenes that set Raw and WWE back in their quest to increase their fan base.

David of St. Louis, Mo. (8.5): Thumbs up for Raw. Best match: Main Event. Worst Match: Santino-Beth. Last week's Raw was back to basics, putting down everyone's hope that WWE was gonna start doing things differently a little bit. WWE went back to the crazy taking chances style that they started since the draft with this episode. WWE knows how to do the unpredictable style while TNA does the unpredicabtle style mixed with stupidity. I like Kofi Kingston - good way to get him over a little bit in the IC Title match. Paul Burchill & Katie Lee are a good duo. The Kane issue really didn't develop this week, which was disapointing, but I guess it's good they're building it. John Cena did a great promo. The Santino-Beth thing was cool. C.M. Punk and Kane had a good bout. WWE almost made C.M. Punk the heel when he shoved Batista. It's time for a Batista heel turn, and I'm exactly sure why they haven't done it yet. A lot of casual fans are gonna cheer Batista over the newer Punk. However, I really hope they keep Punk as champion for a while because he deserves it despite any mix of cheers or boos he might get. The Jericho-Shawn stuff tonight was well-done, with a good Shawn promo. Jamie Noble, as good as he is, isn't really over with anyone. Snitksy is less over, so this segment was pointless. Layla should be banging someone else on the show. Main event was great, but the end of Raw was goofy. I like when WWE does big stunts and I like how WWE is becoming different since the draft. I also like that mayhem is running wild with Vince out, but this was just stupid. They should have simply had Cena jump out and FU JBL on top of the car to push Sunday. Good Raw!

Marquis M. of Shreveport, La. (7.5): Best match: Kofi vs. Burchill; Worst Match: Snitsky vs. Noble. Overall, the show definitely took a step in the right direction after last week. However, it's unfortunate that they delivered such a weak ending to an otherwise fine show. Raw opened very strong with the fight between Jericho-Michaels, heating the crowd up for a good match between Mickie-Katie, which then transitioned into the VERY good match between Kofi and Burchill. Hopefully this continues, as I feel like this is the tip of the iceberg of what they can do. Santino was hilarious as usual, and having Beth be his opponent was a nice surprise, as we hadn't heard anything from her in a couple of weeks, and Santino's not a good wrestler that needs to have much in-ring credibility anyway. Not sure how I feel about a face turn on her this soon, but hopefully they have something planned for her. The development with Kane was interesting. But had they allowed Kane to close out the show with some kinda cliffhanger, they would have sold it better. It's clear that WWE only has so much faith in C.M. Punk as their champion, which is unfortunate because he's much stronger than Cena and JBL combined in my book. Jericho-Michaels has taken yet another interesting turn by Jericho trying to recruit yet another Michaels protege. Wonderful continuity! Noble-Snitsky was fine filler, but definitely not something that should be invested in long-term. But I must ask why was Layla drafted if they weren't gonna showcase her strong potential? Main event was actually quite good when people other than Cena and JBL were in the ring. I think a tag title feud between Cryme Tyme and Rhodes/DiBiase would be pretty good. Post-match antics just sent the show off on a REALLY crappy note for me, and didn't really hype their match at all (not that I wanted to see it anyway). Had they cut out the emphasis on Cena-JBL and put it on the World Title match where it belonged, I probably would have rated Raw a strong 8.5 or 9.0.

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.

Comment on this Article Below

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE) [an error occurred while processing this directive]

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)

ALSO DISCUSS MORE SUBJECTS IN OUR PWTORCH FREE FORUM

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET

For UFC NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.