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WWE Raw Reax #3: "C.M. Punk seems like a great guy and has good matches, but I don't know if now is the time for him."
Sep 11, 2008 - 11:50:45 AM


Dan Strauss of Goodhue, Minn. (7.0): Best: Quite a bit, actually. Worst: Women's match. Randy Orton has done to Raw the last two weeks what Manny Ramirez has done to the Dodgers since his trade. Orton's prescence, promos, and just solid character are honestly some of the best I have ever seen. It's been awhile since WWE had a real solid faction, but this second generation heel group could be a hot one. I love Jericho as champ. C.M. Punk seems like a great guy and has good matches, but I don't know if now is the time for him, as I wasn't impressed by his title reign (although not all his fault). Jericho might be one of the better true heel champs, because we all know he'll cheat and lie and do anything illegal possible to walk away with the title, and then smile to the crowd because he knows he did it. I'm actually enjoying the role of Mike Adamle, because it's not developed yet. Everytime he comes out I wonder if he's going to make a heel move or a popular move. I don't know if WWE is doing this on purpose or not, but I enjoy it. Does William Regal have to clean up the bathrooms every night, too? They sure have made their disappointment with him well known. Yeah, he beat Noble, but that doesn't say much. Why does Candice Michelle get thrown back in the top female slot right after coming back? I think Mickie's matches have gotten better than hers. Main event wasn't very solid at all, but adding Jericho to the main event lineup now should do good things. Overall in improvement show over the past few weeks.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (5.0): Best: "CHL"; Mysterio/Bourne vs. Miz/Morrision. Worst: Jericho; Beth vs. Mickie I'll be damned! Charlie Haas got himself over - and all by himself! By the time JBL got a word in edgewise, "CHL" chants were heard. Charlie Haas may have just found himself a gimmick that works. It's always been said that Steve Austin's and Rock's successes as characters were from being themselves "with the volume turned way up." The volume got turned up on Charlie's inner actor a few weeks ago, and he seems to be having a blast. And I bet JBL had to be silently enjoying the major free plug his Mama J goods got, helped along by the most unlikely person to put it over this well. And when was the last time a countout win was such a big deal and made this much sense? Mysterio/Bourne-Miz/Morrison was loaded with action - packed goodness - and now Raw fans have witnessed the mile-high SSP by Bourne. The "Generation X-olution" (whatever it will be called) took an interesting step, in what looks like Orton testing his potential new group. They stood up to him when he took sole credit for actions on Punk at Unforgiven. Almost a shot at Triple H there. Randy Orton may be playing a history lesson with the group. And as I feared: Orton's return would somehow affect Chris Jericho. He went from self-righteous prick to nothing more than a whining slithering used-car salesman in 24 hours. Jericho being champ did put a big bullseye on him, but why he would be such a wanted man was never injected into the match. This is where the fallout of Michaels-Jericho could still leave the original feud in the minds of people while one of the participants took a back seat to heal up. Yes, Chris is champ, but does anyone else hate what he had done all this time, then so continues to try and back-door blame on Shawn? Trying to put Shawn in an apparent title picture here seems too artificial. And why wasn't Lance Cade added to the Jericho-Batista match? While he continues to be mere furniture dressing, after the horrible Batista Bomb on him, I think I'm glad he wasn't added in. Adamle is teflon to me; I could cite all kinds of idiocy that comes out of his mouth, but he idolizes Reagan, who took years and years of flak for sleeping on the job when he was President. To me he's still doing nothing but being in character. However, that doesn't mean that I still can't take a shot at the creative logic coming out of his mouth. How does one non-contacting kick to the head cause a concussion severe enough to take a champ out of the Scramble match, yet a boot to the face, a fire extinguisher, a chair, and more than a dozen belt-wrapped straight fists to the head can't do similar damage? Raw added insult to insult with this week's show.

Shane Bennett of Frankfort, Ky. (7.5): Best Match: Main Event Worst Match: Regal-Noble. This was a night that was big on logic for a change but short on about everything else. Jericho's promo was great because it cleared up exactly how the main event came together the night before. Mentioning the bout being unsanctioned is a good way to erase the fact that he lost no more than an hour before winning the World Title.  Also, Jericho is the right guy to have the title. I love Punk and hate the way that business went down, but the right man has the belt on Raw at the moment. I like that Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase are not playing typical heel roles. Orton, as an obvious heel, doesn't miss an opportunity to slam Jericho either and the World Tag Team Champs take their chance to put Orton in his place as well. Time for me to eat my words a little bit... CHL is funny. Haas is really clever at his impersonations. The "CHL" chants from the crowd were my highlight of the night. I don't mind if they go ahead with the "JBL/Respect" angle, but they need to stick him with a young star so that he can give them the rub and be used as a mouthpiece. Otherwise, this becomes another self-serving storyline like Sting and Co. kick out these days. Not entertaining, just a "pat my back" segment.  The reason I put Regal-Noble as the worst match is because of the continued waste of talent those matches put forth. Both men are good workers and could come up with something if only they were given ten minutes.  For those keeping score at home, ECW doesn't use Raw superstars on Tuesday night to pop a rating. By the way, the Mysterio-Kane storyline is absolutely unacceptable. Mysterio was bad on the mic, but mainly because his story is stupid. Kane is even worse in his promos. I can't think of a good way to end this storyline, other than Kane leaving the WWE for good. However, the Mysterio/Bourne, Miz/Morrison, Rhoads/DiBiase, and even Dreamer/Super Crazy tag teams could really ignite a great tag team feud. This could really help establish those belts again. Since, Adamle can't leave my ECW's boys for Tuesday nights, might as well make a serious go of it. By the way, did anyone catch Michael Cole stealing a page from Charlie Haas' playbook by trying to imitate the brilliance that is "Matt Striker"? Sad. Main event was fine for what it was, but I guess Super Dave will get to take the place of Super Cena, cause nothing says "wrestling" like no-selling a beat-down by three large professional athletes! Intrigued by next Monday (for a change). And by the way, I read on pwtorch that someone mentioned the lack of logic surrounding the steel cage match with Jericho-Punk. However, it was outside interference that cost Punk his spot in the scramble in the first place and it is almost a guarantee that Orton, DiBiase, Rhoads, and Manu will be on Raw so the logic works.

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"
Thursday Night TV Reax - SS/Impact: "X Division, we hardly knew ya after Abyss beat up the only two representatives who showed up"
ECW TV Reax #2: "Yoshi is already on the road to being the next Funaki at this point"
ECW TV Reax #1: "I think Abraham Washington has some charisma, but dear Lord, that was the most pointless segment in pro wrestling history"
WWE Raw Reax #4: "I'm not sure how WWE could have made it any clearer that MVP isn't in Triple H's league"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "I like the ECW influx, but I fear for what may happen to Bourne and Swagger"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "Henry's move to Raw was a bit of a surprise; his apparent face turn was a bigger surprise"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "I find it ironic the flagship had to be bailed out by Smackdown and ECW"
WWE The Bash PPV Reax #2: "For all this Miz-Cena buildup, the match was simply an unmitigated squash"
WWE The Bash PPV Reax #1: "I'll quite happily pay for another match between Rey and Jericho"
WWE Superstars/Smackdown Reax #1: "There is a sweet fork in the road with Punk and either possibility is a good one"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "How bad is the show when the MVP is a bucket of chicken?"
TNA Impact Reax #1: "Nothing jumps out as something that will be (or is allowed to be) the Slammiversary PPV draw"
WWE Raw/ECW TV Reax: "Let's just pray that we can make it through this Trump storyline in one piece"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "The Trump announcement was just... garbage, like a vacuum, sucking out any sort of energy or believability."
ECW/Smackdown Reax #1: "The door was open to turn C.M. Punk heel, but something key was missing..."
WWE Superstars Reax #1: "Jericho deserves credit for his interactions lately with R-Truth, Dirk Ziggler, Morrison, Rey, etc."
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"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "The burial of Orton and Legacy was sealed with an exclamation point"

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FOURTH OF JULY: Fun facts from the Great American Bash 10 & 20 years ago
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 2 of 2)
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 1 of 2)
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Torch Feedback
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