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Torch Feedback
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.


Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

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MORE "Torch Feedback" ARTICLES
WWE PPV Price Increase Reax #1: Outrage expressed over WWE's latest PPV price raise - could the backlash cause WWE to second-guess decision?
TNA Impact Reax #3: "The build for the PPV matches somehow featured Hulk Hogan despite him yet to show up on TV"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "I'm tired of non-stop talking. This isn't a Broadway play; it's professional wrestling and the best stories are told in the ring"
Thursday Night TV Reax #1: "I feel anything TNA does right is inevitably drowned out by what they fail at"
ECW TV Reax #1: "William Regal has stepped up big time since coming to ECW and he deserves a World Title run"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "The major flaw of this show was the real lack of hype for Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "The main event commentary was hilarious with Triple H and HBK making fun of Vince, but DX has run its course..."
WWE Smackdown Reax #1: "Batista plays the perfect bully and Rey plays the perfect hero; this is a chance to make Batista the lead heel on Smackdown"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "Hogan, as great as he was, is 15 years beyond his prime and he signed with a company touting their so-called youth movement"
WWE Superstars Reax #1: "It's time for Cryme Tyme or The Hart Dynasty to go after that tag team championship, and please stop feuding"
TNA Impact Reax #1: "The episode-long Hogan build-up made me think that I shouldn't care about anything else on the show"
TORCH READER ALERT: Did you watch TNA Impact featuring Hulk Hogan? Send your feedback on the show
ECW TV Reax #1: "William Regal is as good as it gets whether he's portraying comedy, disgust, pompousness, or pure insanity!"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "Does Randy Orton's car now qualify WWE to get a Cash for Clunkers rebate?"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "Just like TNA, we have the same problem of a three-way title match where the two opponents didn't earn a title shot"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "Finally, a noteworthy episode of Raw with actual storyline progression – a rare treat!"
WWE Bragging Rights PPV Reax #3: "Obviously the Big Show doesn't care about brand supremacy any more than I do"
WWE Bragging Rights PPV Reax #2: "The image of Orton hunched over a control panel with an evil glare on his face and his finger on the big red button was priceless"
WWE Bragging Rights PPV Reax #1: "The show wasn't really bad, just didn't seem important. It didn't feel like a special show..."
WWE Smackdown Reax #1: "The opening promo was good to introduce the Smackdown 7 ... only to kill momentum by having the entire non-captain group switched"

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UPCOMING EVENTS LISTING

Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
TORCH MONTHLY AWARDS: List of the 2009 Torch Monthly Award winners through October
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Results for Best/Worst in pro wrestling for October
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of October (Part 2 of 2)
WWE News
WWE News: "Target" of Chris Jericho's drunken slur turns the incident into a joke (w/VIDEO)
WWE News: Raw guest host wins NASCAR race in WWE vehicle; WWE receives plenty of publicity during race coverage
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: The first of a series of questions pushing for answers on Bret Hart's lackluster run in WCW - "Montreal was a life-threatening wound"
TNA News
TNA News: Ratings are in for Thursday's Impact - did TNA retain the audience from last week's Hulk Hogan Impact?
TNA News: Next week's TNA Impact - Sting reappearing to talk Hulk Hogan, A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe
TNA News: Watch TNA president Dixie Carter's "Love it or Leave It" speech to the roster from Impact (w/VIDEO)
ROH News
ROH News: Jim Cornette officially begins as ROH executive producer at today's ROH TV tapings (w/VIDEO)
ROH News: Ring of Honor receives positive press for ROH TV taping this weekend
ROH News: ROH TV episodes now available on DirecTV's Video-On-Demand service
Other News
Hogan News: Can Hulk Hogan wrestle again? Hogan needs help walking during TV interview (w/VIDEO)
DGUSA News: Gabe Sapolsky predicts the wrestling industry will die without new TV wrestling stars
Hogan News: Hulk Hogan cracks the Top 15 of a Best-sellers List
PPV Reports
RADICAN'S DGUSA "Untouchable" PPV review - Doi vs. Danielson, Shingo vs. Richards
10/25 WWE Bragging Rights Results: KELLER'S detailed match-by-match PPV report - Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match
CALDWELL'S WWE BRAGGING RIGHTS PPV REPORT 10/25: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Cena vs. Orton, Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown
TV Reports
WWE SMACKDOWN ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 11/6: Donofrio, Mezzera, Parks rate and review
WWE SUPERSTARS ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 11/5: Caldwell, Donofrio, Parks rate and review
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11/6: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Batista vs. Hardy
Arena Reports
11/6 WWE in Brussels: Undertaker vs. Punk casket match, Christian vs. William Regal, Cryme Tyme vs. Hart Dynasty, of course
11/4 WWE in Dublin, Ireland: John Cena vs. Jack Swagger WWE Title match, DX vs. Legacy, Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston
10/30 Dragon Gate in Germany: Young Bucks, CIMA vs. Mike Quackenbush, El Generico
MMA / UFC Coverage
Strikeforce News: Fedor vs. Rogers Fight Results - Exciting fight lives up to expectations live on CBS
FEDOR VS. BRETT ROGERS - Keller's detailed report, analysis, star ratings of CBS live MMA fight card (redirect)
FEDOR vs. BRETT ROGERS on CBS Saturday Night - Torch Team Coverage (redirect)
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER BLOG: WrestleMania goes up to $55, all other PPVs $45 - let the pirate feed frenzy begin
KELLER BLOG: Dixie Carter asks wrestlers to step it up, but what does that mean? Shouldn't their goal to be winning matches and nothing else?
KELLER FLASHBACK: Review of Hulk Hogan's first autobiography - Hogan's political maneuvers evident in who he protects and buries
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MOJO MITCHELL'S RAW 11/2: Stream of My Fourth Grade Hero and The Mid-Card Kicks Main Event Ass
MITCHELL FLASHBACK #4: In 1993, after Hogan first left the WWF, he had a lot of career choices
MITCHELL FLASHBACK #3: Hogan's autobiography review - insight into his world
MCNEILL'S TAKE
McNEILL BLOG: The Big Questions About Hulk Hogan in TNA
Fight For Your Right to Bragging: McNEILL Previews WWE Bragging Rights!
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! McNEILL Previews TNA Bound for Glory 2009
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL'S BLOG: Vince McMahon is officially delusional, plus Vince's hidden message to Stephanie McMahon
CALDWELL'S TUESDAY CHAT w/GREG PARKS: Raw & Smackdown discussion - Orton-Kofi build-up compared to Rey-Batista, DX dissension, Sheamus stands out
CALDWELL FLASHBACK: TNA Year-End Review 2005 - Must-read flashback to when TNA became a choice for wrestlers in an era very, very similar to 2009
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: Daddy's little girl V 2.0 debuts on Impact
RADICAN: Wolfe-Angle follow up displays typical warning signs of danger from creative standpoint
RADICAN: TNA finally straps a rocket on the right ass
The Specialists
11/7 WWE Smackdown Hits & Misses: Mysterio vs. Knox, Punk vs. Truth, Batista vs. Hardy
PARKS BLOG: Chris Jericho should know better
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/5: TNA = The Office, What Vince Russo was thinking during Dixie Carter's speech, Desmond Wolfe and Duran Duran, Highlander spotting, Numbers - Titleholders since 1990
Guest Editorials
GUEST EDITORIAL: Disgruntled TNA fan says he's done with the promotion after today's Impact taping (Contains SPOILERS)
GUEST EDITORIAL: The ultimate irony - Hulk Hogan appears on TNA Impact and pre-taped TV sitcom promoting WWE on the same night
GUEST BOOK REVIEW: Hulk Hogan provides strong defense of his public image in new autobiography
Torch Feedback
WWE PPV Price Increase Reax #1: Outrage expressed over WWE's latest PPV price raise - could the backlash cause WWE to second-guess decision?
TNA Impact Reax #3: "The build for the PPV matches somehow featured Hulk Hogan despite him yet to show up on TV"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "I'm tired of non-stop talking. This isn't a Broadway play; it's professional wrestling and the best stories are told in the ring"
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
VIDEO GAME REVIEW - Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: WWE's latest video game called best since the No Mercy measuring stick
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: 7/24 DBD VII: N1 - Hero & Richards vs. Storm & Steen
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Torch Flashbacks
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TORCH TALK FLASHBACK with Hulk Hogan: Hogan talks to PWTorch editor Wade Keller about his relationship with Ric Flair
TORCH TALK FLASHBACK with Hulk Hogan: Hogan talks to PWTorch editor Wade Keller about his relationship with Vince Russo
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Torch Instant Polls
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TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/5 Impact if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
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Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart