By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

The Rock: I had some issues with The Rock's opening promo, but on the whole it was a good start to Raw (after the backstage opening which stunk - more later). I didn't like the fact that Rock didn't treat winning as a huge deal. I commended both he and John Cena in the build up to WrestleMania in how they both put over the importance of winning the match. Instead of bragging and talking about being the best (he said he would be the best ever if after beating both Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin, he would beat Cena too), he said he was just happy to entertain the fans. I understand that he doesn't want to gloat and it would probably be bad form to kick Cena while he was down, but it could be done in a way to elevate Cena. After all, if beating Cena is listed in the same sentence as beating Hogan and Austin, then that elevates Cena to their status. If Cena wasn't a big star, then beating him meant nothing. I could have also done without the gay joke which just has no place on tv at all. All of that being said, it was still a good promo. He was entertaining for the rest of it. He did a nice job of selling his emotions and being overwhelmed by the reaction. He did put over Cena as a huge competitor which was good. The crowd was super hot (all night long in fact), which helped at least in this segment. And in the end, his pronouncement that he once again wants to be WWE Champion was a surprise. It isn't going to totally overshadow everything like last year as it isn't as specific as facing Cena one year in advance, but it will get people talking about how Rock will accomplish that feat.

Cena Videos: After Rock's promo, it was good to see throughout the show the video recaps of Cena's vows to beat Rock. It set up that something big might happen when Cena finally arrived at the building. The announcers did a nice job of selling the importance of what was going to happen once Cena finally arrived to as rumor reported "confront The Rock." It was a good hook used throughout the show to keep fans interested in the final segment.

Brodus Clay: This is a marginal Hit. I am well documented as being anti-Funkasaurus. I don't like the gimmick at all and was appalled by the terrible scene with Clay, his momma, and the Bridge Club at WM (time that should have gone to Daniel Bryan vs. Shaemus). However, I am a fan of Clay himself. I do want to see what he can do in more than just squash matches. I want to see something more meaningful. Now, the fact that he came to Santino Marella's defense against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger makes this a marginal Hit. It is something more meaningful than squashing the likes of Kurt Hawkins, but only marginally. It is still a comedy act, but it moves him up the ladder a bit and it does promise some matches against higher on the card opponents like Ziggler and Swagger.

Lord Tensai: Another marginal Hit. I was never a fan of Prince Albert or A-Train in WWE. I don't follow Japanese wrestling very closely. I follow it enough to know that as Giant Bernard, he has been a big star over there. I know he had been a Tag Team Champion with Tomko at one point. I hope that he has improved since his last time in WWE. I appreciate that Michael Cole acknowledged (without using his old name) that he was a former WWE Superstar. They didn't insult my intelligence by pretending this was his debut. The storyline of a former WWE wrestler going to Japan to improve his skills and become dominant before returning to America has potential. His squash over Alex Riley was solid, but he didn't always look smooth in the ring. I wasn't totally buying his Japanese mannerisms. I'm also not a fan of just ending the match. He should have pinning Riley at that point. I'm also not a fan of the Claw. There is some potential here and I do want to see where they go and how he does.

Punk vs. Henry: Many of us had been disappointed in the lack of a push lately for Mark Henry, so it was good to see him getting a big win over WWE Champion CM Punk in what was a very good match. I was surprised at how long the match went (over 12 minutes) and how well it delivered. The crowd once again added to the moment with their chants. I loved the "yes, yes, yes!" chants for Punk's striking offense, followed by "no" when Henry cut him off. It was a well booked match in terms of the drama of Henry dominating, Punk making comebacks, only to have Henry cut the comebacks off. It did go back and forth well within that frame work and was enjoyable to watch from start to finish. I'm not a fan of the count out win in general, but it was ok in this situation. Henry's World's Strongest Slam afterwards was good follow up.

Jericho: Also good follow up was Chris Jericho's immediate appearance to taunt Punk. After losing to Punk at WM, we all wondered what he would do to get back into the WWE Title picture. He doesn't really deserve a rematch after losing, so you have to set up a situation where Punk wants the rematch just as bad, and they accomplished that well with him going back to the alcoholism storyline from the lead up to their Title match at WM. In addition to the verbal taunting and pouring the alcohol over Punk's ko'd body, he got in the physical attack by breaking the bottle over Punk's head. This was very well done, memorable, and should make the fans want to see Punk get his revenge.

Big Show: This was a nice little moment for Show to come out and embarrass Cody Rhodes the way that Rhodes had embarrassed Show in the build up to their Intercontinental Championship match at WM. It was a short bit, but it was a good way to follow up on that match and give Show a fun moment furthering his revenge on Rhodes.

RAW MISSES

Laurinaitis Starts the Show: I have not been a fan of the storyline to name one general manager for both shows. Part of my issue with the angle was a fear that whoever won the match would end up having too big of an on screen role, and if it turned out to be John Laurinaitis, it would be even worse. That is why I wasn't happy to see the first Raw after WrestleMania kick off with a boring scene of the wrestlers backstage being addressed by Laurinaitis. Instead of starting with The Rock right out of the gate (or Cena, or Punk), they started with an authority figure. I am tired of the authority figure routine period, but the heel GM gimmick is so played out that I am not looking forward to seeing his role on Raw and Smackdown going forward. My worries played out as he not only started the show, but started off with the typical and mundane heel GM tactics of sticking it to the babyface champions right away. Yawn.

Abraham Washington: I was never a fan of his work on ECW back in the day. Maybe he will be better suited to be an obnoxious manager. I do like the idea of adding more managers into WWE, but the real reason I'm giving this a Miss is that Mark Henry doesn't need a manager. He does not need someone to talk for him. I don't want to see him recede by having a manager. I was happy to see him get momentum back, but was disappointed by this follow up.

Cena - Lesnar: I struggled with this as it was a huge moment and a large part of me wanted to give it a Hit. As much as I appreciated the crowd for most of the show, the chants for Brock Lesnar at the end did take away from the moment. I'm not blaming the crowd. WWE should have anticipated this response and written the segment accordingly. I understand wanting Lesnar's appearance to be a surprise, and it was to a lot of fans, but it would have been a total surprise without the audience chanting for him. It is a tough situation, so I'm not too down on how they handled it, but I recall before WrestleMania 20 how Mick Foley anticipated "Rocky" chants as he talked about picking a partner for his match against Evolution. He knew the fans anticipated Rock, so he acknowledged that in his promo. Something like that could have been done here. My other problem is that Lesnar is coming in to make a statement against the guy who lost at WM. If he had done this to Rock after he bragged about being the biggest Superstar ever, and then said "you beat Hogan, you beat Austin, you beat Cena, but you haven't beat me!" that would have had more of an impact. Or something similar to Cena if Cena had won. Yes, it was a big moment and it felt special. Yes, the fans exploded for Lesnar. Yes, I am intrigued to see where they go from here, what type of schedule Lesnar has, and how long he sticks around. It was good to transition Cena on to something new, but how long will we have to wait for that payoff? If the answer is WM 29, then no thank you. I don't want to go through that again.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw and Smackdown each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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