-- 8/6 WWE Raw Reax

Jerry, graduate student and movie reviewer (6.0): Best Match: D-Bry vs. Cena. Worst Match: Ryback and Divas. The good news is the three-hour Raw has yet to be a trainwreck, but the bad news is that it looks like the wreck will be coming soon. I liked Bryan vs. Cena and Punk's match, but I can't give this show higher than 6.0 because of all the heat that got sucked off of people. Miz losing to Kane (Miz is the IC champ, after all) made no sense and Punk being laid out by Show made even less sense. I am glad it wasn't Cena standing tall at the end of the night, though. Overall, this was an average show, although the jokes about Sheamus and Mexican food made me wonder if Cena wrote his lines.

Dave Wilcox of Nashville, Tenn., music producer (3.5): I am at a complete loss as to who is writing Raw and what their experience level is in telling stories and building characters that will stand the test of time. My confusion begins with what they have done to the character of A.J., specifically why have they decided to make her look like a mid-level receptionist at a publishing company. Let her be quirky, unpredictable, crazy and in the middle of some random romantic triangle instead of trying to "upscale" her! ... Daniel Bryan continues to score both in and out of the ring. He has star written all over him. But, the watering down of C.M. Punk is a travesty to his future! It’s like the writers say "he needs to be a heel" or "he needs to be a face," but I say hogwash. Let him be both! He is perfect at being a wild card, as he brings spice to this Raw bowl of soup... I am a fan of John Cena for all of his amazing work outside of the arena, but I am tiring of his storylines. Give him a legitimate contemporary to battle with and let’s get on with life. Going from feud to feud about every other PPV is unimpressive. Speaking of unimpressive that brings us to the rest of the locker room, which is lacking in one area each. Following the success of Raw 1,000, it seems like Raw and the Creative team are free-falling from a 747 with no hope of a parachute in sight.

Noah Howell of Gulf Shores, Ala. (7.0): Best: Cena vs. Bryan. Worst: ending of the show. Bryan and Cena put on a heck of a match last night, but the post-match looked like a disaster. Punk delivered a decent promo and Show knocking out Punk was fine, but I agree with some people saying Show being in the match at Summerslam is pointless... It was great to see HBK back and his promo was okay, but what was the point of Lesnar and Heyman coming out? Heyman by himself would ohavef been just fine, but on a lighter side I'm glad to see WWE get Shawn back on TV. Overall, I thought this Raw was slightly worse than last week because they had two long matches last week and this week they went back to every match being under or around five minutes except for the main event.

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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 or email us at pwtorch@gmail.com.

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

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