2/23 WWE Raw Reax

Alex Roberts in the U.K. (4.0): Best: Ricky Steamboat. Worst: the Closing Segment. I'm really not sure how to describe that closing chase sequence between Triple H and Randy Orton. Farcical is the best word I've got right now. Let's assume for a moment that I can suspend my disbelief far enough to explain the convenient placement of cameras backstage, why was the entire WWE roster and crew just stood around watching this unfold? Even overlooking that the whole segment was just weird and borderline comedic rather than the intense showdown the WWE was hopefully shooting for. If I didn't know better I might think the WWE was trying to ruin Orton's career. This is not what he needed to rebound from the Super Shane disaster. Although to Orton's credit before the insanity kicked in he delivered another strong promo. Away from the closing segment Raw was once again incredibly light on worthwhile wrestling. The Michaels-JBL match bored me to tears (which might be the first time I've ever written that about a Shawn Michaels match) and the fact that Cena vs. Chavo Guerrero in a 40 second squash was the main event pretty much sums the rest of the in-ring action up. Even Miz and Morrison struggled to hold my attention. Thankfully Raw wasn't a complete bust this week. Ricky Steamboat (of all people) provided my personal highlight of the night and cut arguably the greatest promo of his career. With the exception of Flair's drunken ramblings two weeks ago, this Chris Jericho vs. The Hall of Fame angle has produced simple to follow, emotionally driven and compelling television. I just hope the WrestleMania pay-off lives up to the build. Raw also started with the fantastic news that Vickie Guerrero is now the interim GM. I have nothing but praise for Guerrero, not only is she a heat machine but since her television debut she's transformed from awkward and out of her depth to an entertaining and confident performer. She's also coined the most over catchphrase in wrestling - memo to Vince, produce some "Excuse Me" shirts. Her interactions with Cena at the top of the show and before the main event were both excellent and somehow I'm slightly interested in yet another evil authority vs. face wrestler angle. On top of that Santino also had his funniest segment in months this week. The backstage skit with Ziggler was fantastic and Phoenix's reaction to Santino during their mixed tag match was even better. I'll be sad when the WWE inevitably splits them as part of this Rosa angle. With that said I still found Raw on the whole pretty dull and incredibly un-involving.

Marquis M. of Shreveport, La. (3.5): Best Match: Triple Threat. Worst Match: Cena vs. Chavo. Solid opener. Vickie strikes gold for Smackdown, so it was a smart move to put her on Raw. Triple threat match was good but not great, and I can't say I'm thrilled with seeing the IC champ not defending his title once again. The Women's division has made no progress whatsoever in the last couple of months (and Santino has only made things worse), which is sad considering Melina and Beth are more than capable of carrying an entertaining feud. Melina and Beth constantly facing each other tells me that won't be our WrestleMania women's match. I'd like to think Michaels will be facing Taker, and Kozlov is just a very brief distraction. The Jericho-Steamboat exchange was the highlight of the night; excellent from start to finish. I just hope the payoff is worthwhile. The final segment pretty much fell in line with the beatdowns Shane gave Legacy, except this one made Orton look even more ridiculous. It was like the opening scene of "Scary Movie." Overall, Raw wasn't anything special tonight outside of Jericho and Steamboat's segment. Nothing horrible, just flat. We're about five weeks from Mania and only two or three matches are certain right now, while the rest of the show is essentially filler at this point.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE 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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