-- 9/14 WWE Raw Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (5.0): Best: Michaels vs. DiBiase; Cody pre-match promo. Worst: Trish wins. This was a night where the wrestling was good or better, but for an outgo show setting up for the next PPV, the writing was way off. Batista was allowed to make his own decision to leave Smackdown? On whose order - guest GM, Vince, Alf from the planet Melmac? The guest editorial from Monday asked about an "ironic loss of Smackdown magic." Add one more reason: Batista. Swagger getting the win in the tag title match is overshadowed by Miz stealing the U.S. Title. How far down the hill has Jack fallen? Chavo took this long to concede defeat in this "udderly ridiculous" feud with Hornswoggle? Hornswoggle upstaged not one but THREE decent wrestlers for this? Beth gets in a nice protest promo sticking up for Chris Jericho, but then gets buried by both Trish in the match and the commentators who can't remember that Trish brought in Beth to take care of Mickie. At least Mickie remember teasingly there was a feud between them (the same year Beth was first introduced). I liked the promo Cody Rhodes gave. He looked confident and running a list of those who didn't do the duty for forcing a submission on DX makes them look important. It was a tad bit flawed in that Rock was on the list, but Shawn wasn't in DX. It's a small complaint since DX has gone through a few group incarnations. Plenty was made of Shawn tapping out by the commentators, but the crowd didn't taunt with "you tapped out" to rub it in. It was "you screwed Bret"...again! If it wasn't for the crowd visibly showing it, I wouldn't have trusted what "HBK" chant there was. It seems crystal clear that any attempt to appease Canada for 12 years ago went unnoticed. Punk-Taker should have never happened with that in mind. And how do you justify the transition between another arena brawl and a Hell In A Cell? The Batista-Orton story took longer to play out than the actual No Holds Barred match did. I suppose the short match was because it was Batista's first back and just a day after Orton's I Quit match. Still the only thing that made this a No Holds Barred match was a chair. Not much of a match there. Overall, it was another case of the show being entertaining enough for the "entertained" brain, but pissing off the picky brain.

Chad Holdren of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (4.0): Best match: HBK vs. DiBiase. Worst match: Batista coming back WAY to early. So I had high hopes for tonight's Raw due to the fact that Trish was going to be the guest host and we really haven't seen her in a while. Then she started talking and it just gave me a headache. I guess she thought that since she was in her hometown that she really didn't need to do much to get over with the crowd but even they were silent at times, and that was after the Batista announcement, which in my mind is a HORRIBLE idea. Here's why! The last time Batista come back early, what happened? He got hurt yet again and left us all wondering if he has yet indeed had the best years of his career. Let me tell you something right now, he has. He's going to Smackdown due to the fact that Rey and Hardy are both gone and Smackdown needs a top babyface to help promote the show. The Undertaker can't hold an entire program on his hands and neither can C.M Punk. So the real question here is, is it too soon to bring back a man who obviously needs more time to heal? We all saw the length of the Batista vs. Orton match. It is very clear that the WWE is in dire need of a ratings draw and that is just what they are gonna get ... for a couple of weeks until people are sick of seeing spinebuster after spinebuster, spear after spear, and powerbomb after powerbomb.

Chavo hopefully brought an end to the Hornswoggle feud tonight by saying he gives up. I wonder what he did to the higher-ups to even deserve this program, but hopefully it's over and he can move on to a decent mid-card feud somewhere down the line. HBK vs. DiBiase stole the whole freaking show. It was a solid main event. In-fact, it was about the only action that we even saw on Raw tonight, but it was well worth it. Nobody can elevate a rising star like HBK can and tonight was the first time I saw Ted DiBiase look really good in a singles match. The way he delivered the promo before the match along with Cody was solid as well. Give these guys a little more time and they will be in singles title matches. I am just afraid that if they do split up, one of them will fail because they work off each other so well. ... The only reason I gave this show such a low score was simply due to the fact that Trish didn't live up to any expectations that I had for her. Her mic skills seem to have lost a little steam; it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Alicia Fox is the number one contender for the Divas Title... okay. Jericho, Show, and Beth vs. MVP, Henry, and Trish was AWFUL. The only thing I liked about this match was that outfit that Henry was wearing. Look out Toronto, the Kool-Aid man is in the HOUSE.

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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