-- 8/16 WWE Raw Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (7.0): Best: Barrett vs. Jericho; Slater vs. Edge (minus ending). Worst: Khali promo. As far as fall-out goes, this was pretty decent. Again, that is if I didn't know as much as I do about wrestling. It became apparent that they were leading to Young being ousted, so when it happened, it was anti-climactic. The matches served their purpose to give Nexus the needed wins to advance their alleged superiority, but some of the losses were too protected. Jericho losing as clean as he did was a surprise, though, and Morrison/Truth losing clean served as a buffer for the other fuzzy finishes. Bryan's loss served the bigger purpose, as it further added to the Miz-Bryan story. But, why wasn't Alex Riley given more time on Raw after his NXT win instead of the way lame segments with the guest hosts? Orton's loss served the bigger purpose of furthering the Orton-Sheamus story. However, why, again, didn't Miz take his chance when the door was wide open? That is really annoying me. While the Edge-Slater match was good, I have a problem with Edge's count-out loss. It actually made Edge look uncharacteristically dumb. And Super Cena basically allowing Nexus to exile Young without so much as looking back made him look bad. It doesn't look like Nexus will be moving forward; it looks like Nexus will be coming apart piece by piece.

Rob Walden of Pensacola, Fla. (4.0): Best Match: Barrett-Jericho. Worst Match: Orton-Gabriel. WWE made the wrong decision when they booked Nexus to lose at Summerslam, and this entire show felt like a desperate attempt to make up for it. Obviously, Nexus needed to win the vast majority of the matches if they were going to regain any kind of momentum, but with two count-out wins and two victories thanks to outside interference from non-Nexus members, they came off as more lucky than threatening. Sacrificing a member really made no sense at this point, since the individual Darren Young character hasn't been established yet, and he isn't polished enough at this point to make a difference on the roster by himself. The whole episode seemed like a giant attempt to make the fans still view Nexus as a threat, and I'm not sure it worked. Wouldn't it have been much easier to have Nexus win on Sunday? Oh, and what about this master plan that Nexus supposedly has? I'm starting to think it has been forgotten. Needless to say, my interest in Nexus is much lower now than it was 48 hours ago. Finally, the lack of emphasis on the WWE Title feud was ridiculous. The one strong point of the show was the heavy emphasis on in-ring action, but with funny business deciding nearly every match, it was tough to really get invested in the matches themselves. All in all, probably the worst Raw since the Nexus angle started.

Elliott R. of Atlanta, Ga. (5.0): Best Match: Danielson vs. Tarver? Worst Match: Heath Slater vs. Edge? Definitely not the best Raw ever, and for sure, it fell into the category of forgettable, but I was admittedly entertained by it the whole way through. If they're trying to cool off the Nexus angle to make way for some more singles feuds, they succeeded, because it was obvious that the Nexus as individuals are mid-card acts at best right now (perhaps with the exception of Barrett and Sheffield). It was nice to see new tag belts, let's just hope they actually push something in the tag division besides the Harts and Usos. Two things that jumped out at the end were that Danielson is finally being used appropriately, in my opinion, by showing what he can do in the ring, and The Miz interfering with Alex Riley is a heat magnet. The other thing that jumped out was that Otunga is awful. On the mic, he sounds so unbelievably forced, and in the ring he just looks awkward, especially when he tagged with Sheffield, who has done a 180 from NXT Season One. I think Sheffield has potential as a future main eventer.

Billy Bob Tweed of Buffalo, N.Y. (3.5): Best Match: Barrett vs. Jericho. Worst Match: Orton vs. Gabriel. A lousy Raw to follow Summerslam, which itself was a subpar PPV. Too many disappointments to count. Yet again, WWE had their most talented performer, Chris Jericho, look weak by losing clean to a newcomer. The worst performance of the night was surely John Cena's puerile comedy routine at the top of the show insulting Nexus members. Truly awful and shamefully bad. I really, really want to like Cena. He is the face of WWE and does great outside work representing the company. And he often seems like a nice guy. When things don't run his way, he can perform with humility that is believable. Yet when he wins, he's an insufferable boor (and bore), not at all funny; just a gloating show-pony. The other superstars - be it Undertaker, Jericho, Edge, Punk, Orton, etc. - you know what you get with them win-or-lose. Cena's character, on the other hand, is clinically bi-polar: you get a decent, likeable modest human being who shows humility and grace when he loses, and a big-headed, loud-mouthed, narcissistic blowhard, seriously-unfunny arse when he wins. There were many more low points on the show, however, there was some redeeming intrigue. Jillian Hall got a clean pinfall. And we got something of a clue about the anonymous GM, who claims he doesn't like Bret Hart and has never liked Bret Hart. Plus Nexus is starting to implode. I guess those are the cliffhangers if you're looking for some sort of silver lining from this weak episode.

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.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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