1/19 WWE Raw Reax

Eric Gall of Bridgeport, Conn. (8.0): High Point: Final segment, Punk wins IC belt. Low Point: Not a whole lot. Tonight's show worked on the most important and visible of levels. The return of Vince led to good promo time by Jericho and the advancement of the Legacy angle involving Stephanie's probable heel turn. Stephanie played her part well, and her wearing all black was probably a subtle bit of foreshadowing that she and Orton planned the head-punting all along. Her slap on Orton was great, and the tension and chemistry between the two really clicked. Michaels's promo on any other night would have been the highlight; he is the true babyface in this angle, not Cena. Cena comes across as too much of a cartoonish character for me to find sympathetic, but kids love it. Raw now has two rock-solid, money-making storylines to propel its push to WrestleMania. Why can't Raw be like this all the time? Not crazy about the double-standard that Cryme Tyme gets to enjoy with the "silly white boy" comment; I thought these were more evolved times. Mike Knox's deadpan comments regarding Rey were great; a heel who doesn't think he is one or is a little bit of a moral question mark is a nice wrinkle to throw into this feud. The little irritants of Raw seemed less annoying when the bulk of the show is running on all cylinders. If Raw can keep this up through WrestleMania, it will be a show to watch again.

Mike Kereakos of Bloomington, Minn. (9.0): Best match: C.M. Punk vs. William Regal. Worst match: None. I must say, everything on this show really clicked tonight. As of late, WWE Raw in my opinion has been very solid the last few weeks. C.M. Punk vs. Regal was one of the better match-ups in PPV caliber range, and it made perfect since booking wise to give Punk the IC Title. Here's hoping WWE keeps the IC belt on Punk for several months, and make the title mean something. The segment with Cena, HBK, and JBL was very well done once, and I was pleasantly surprised to see HBK stick it through with JBL once again. I figured for sure that this was the week we'd finally see HBK turn on JBL. It's kinda weird seeing HBK get booed every week instead of cheered. The segment of the night of course goes to the return of Mr. McMahon. I knew that Jericho wasn't man enough to go toe to toe to Mr. McMahon, but Orton's confrontation really took me by surprise. I mean, sure Orton likes to punt his opponents in the head, but to Mr. McMahon? I just couldn't believe it. This segment with Orton and McMahon was so out of left field. It was also a nice touch to actually see Orton realize that he took it too far. Great WWE Raw, and easily the one of the best episodes that I've ever seen to date.

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