-- 12/28 WWE Raw Reax

Michael Winters of Atlanta, Ga. (2.5) Best Match: Chris Jericho as usual and Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings. Worst Match: All of them. Once again, WWE put on a show with very little wrestling. There was not a single decent match the entire night, and Timbaland may have been the worst guest host yet. Fortunately I was able to switch back and forth between Raw and a terrific Monday Night football game. The news of Bret Hart hosting has the potential to be awesome, but Vince McMahon basically has given away what the storyline will be. My thought is Bret Hart ought to come in as the heel and cause trouble for McMahon, Shawn Michaels, and while we are at it, Jerry Lawler as well. I have grown to hate anything involving DX. Maryse is the most exciting female heel to come along in quite a while. The only problem is the only other two decent female wrestlers, Mickie James and Beth Phoenix, are on Smackdown. I like Kofi Kingston, but MVP and Mark Henry bore me tears, and Randy Orton is right, Legacy has become stale as well. It is a sad state of affairs when the only recent Raw that has received a decent rating from Torch readers is because of the announcement Bret Hart is coming the following week.

Dave F. of Waterloo, Ont. (7.5). Best: Sheamus standing over Cena with the belt, prediction fulfilled. Runner-up: Confirmation of Bret Hart announcement. Worst: Stale DX homophobia. This was certainly a massive upgrade over the previous week's edition, which was unbelievably bad. Nice psychological tension from all-corners tonight, including Orton's ultimatum to Legacy. But the worst (again) is Hunter's ignorance and appalling lack of self-awareness. He makes fun of gays. Oh-kay, we get it. What, then, is the point of telling fans who "are not down with that (homophobia)" that he's got two words for them - "Suck it!?" Sorry Trips, but requesting little fans with DX glowsticks to "suck it" may in fact be closer to pedophilia. (Yes, Shawn, there is in fact something wrong with that.) Perverse, lame, and possibly in denial.

Adam J. Grammas of Westchester, Ill. (5.0): Best: Bret's return announcement. Worst: Hornswoggle. The question for next week now is, who will be on whose side? Is Shawn saying "good things will happen" because he'll help McMahon extract more revenge on Bret (which is obviously what Vince was thinking)? Or is Shawn "playing" McMahon and he and Bret will "make up" and team up to make a fool of Vince? I really can't see them making Bret a heel after the huge pops his name is getting. I'm thinking they'll keep Bret babyface and Shawn will want to look like the real-life good Christian that is making up with Bret, so they'll do something to Vince and end the show raising each other's hands. I'm actually quite shocked that Bret (in REAL life) is doing this and working with, not so much Vince, but Shawn and Triple H. Elsewhere, Jericho was the most entertaining he's been since his "I'm serious" heel turn. Thank God all the "little people" stuff is done, it seems, for now. That was some of the worst stuff I've seen on TV, and I've watched the new 90210. I'm not expecting DX to come out carrying kielbasas like the old days, but their schtick is the stuff my cousin does to entertain his first grader. Maybe I've missed it on the other shows, but on the new WWE History opening, not only have they added Ted, Sr., but they took out Mick's fall (surprised it took this long) and ironically replaced him with Jeff Hardy, another person no longer employed by the company.

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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