By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Show & Henry vs. The Wyatts: I was disappointed that neither The Usos nor The Wyatt Family had a match at SummerSlam. Those two teams arguably stole the show at the previous two PPVs with both teams contributing equally to the quality of those great matches. Here again, the Wyatts had another good match, this time against Big Show & Mark Henry. I was very impressed when Erick Rowan bodyslammed Big Show. Rowan and Harper did a very nice job of creating the movement in this match. And the announcers did a nice job of selling how The Usos should be worried about the team of Show & Henry.

Rollins - Ambrose: I enjoyed the backstage interview with Seth Rollins. I liked how he claimed that he never ran away from Dean Ambrose, even though that's exactly what he did. It was well written and well delivered by Rollins. I was one of many who thought that Ambrose should have been the heel after The Shield broke up, but Rollins has done a good job in that role. Ambrose has also done a better job that I expected of playing a babyface. His line about the ice water being for charity was great. This is a rare example of WWE actually using a current reference in a timely manner, whereas I would have predicted that would make a reference to the ALS ice water challenge two weeks from now.

Paul Heyman: Give that man a raise. Each week he continues to deliver top quality promos. This promo about Brock Lesnar destroying John Cena to become the new WWE World Champion was outstanding. Heyman gets what so many others in the wrestling business don't seem to get, which is that you should build up your opponent. Heyman was a master of building up how great Cena is compared to The Rock and Steve Austin. He painted a picture of Lesnar conquering one of the biggest stars in WWE history. I also loved his line about his kids being big Cena fans and how that pisses him off. It was a very long promo, but the fans never got restless. He kept them engaged. He made Lesnar appear to be an unstoppable monster. It was everything it needed to be. On a side note, while I'm not that big a fan of the new Title belt, it was good to see WWE finally go to one belt.

Jericho Interview: This was another good backstage interview to follow up on a SummerSlam match. Chris Jericho was good in putting Bray Wyatt over as being different from all the other opponents that he has faced in his long career. It was short and to the point and gave Jericho's fans a glimpse of hope that he can come back from this loss.

Sheamus, RVD & Reigns vs. Orton & Rybaxel: This was a very random six man tag match. I'm not sure why Rybaxel was teaming up with Randy Orton, but it was a good match. The crowd reaction for local hero Ryback was fun, though I question Orton playing into it. He could have gotten huge heel heat by acting like he was going to tag out to Ryback, but tagging out to Curtis Axel instead. But, that is a minor complaint about a good match. The ending sequence was fun and action packed leading to Rob Van Dam getting the pin on Axel after a 5 Star Frog Splash. That was not the outcome I was expecting. Axel taking the loss was the right move, but I was surprised that RVD got the win and not Roman Reigns. I'm not complaining. I've been complaining for awhile now about RVD always losing. After beating Cesaro in the SummerSlam pre-show and now getting the pin fall here, maybe WWE has finally realized that RVD needs wins like this so that his losses mean something. Or maybe they are going to build him up to face Lesnar? I doubt it, but you never know.

Henry - Rusev: To me, Mark Henry makes a better heel than babyface, but that doesn't mean he can't be a good babyface. I was a little confused when he came out to interrupt Rusev and Lana given his teaming up with Big Show earlier on Raw. I'll be curious to see what WWE does with that team with Henry apparently being the next challenger to Rusev. This was a good segment. Henry played his part well. His promo on Rusev was very strong. The physicality worked well. I like how Rusev was still selling the ankle injury from the Patriot Lock from Jack Swagger at SummerSlam. I've been impressed with his selling. I wonder if Rusev can come up with a partner to go up against Henry and Show.

Ambrose vs. Rollins: Can someone explain to me the difference between No Holds Barred and No Disqualification? Throw in a Street Fight and after 25+ years of being a wrestling fan, I would swear that those three matches have the exact same rules. They are all no DQ and no count out. There is no difference, so this vote was stupid. Luckily the one choice with slightly different rules won the fan vote. Forgetting about all of that, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins put on a great main event on Raw. Their Falls Count Anywhere match felt like a huge deal. The match went over 20 minutes and was fun to watch from start to finish. Ambrose and Rollins have great chemistry in the ring together. They are both clearly so far ahead of Roman Reigns at this point. The match turned more gimmicky at the end with Kane's involvement, but it was such a good match up until that point that I didn't mind. Plus, it was setting up that huge spot with the cinder blocks to take Ambrose out of action for a few months. I think the fans are going to pop in a huge way for his eventual return.

RAW MISSES

Opening Segment: I wasn't a fan of starting out the show with Stephanie McMahon coming out to brag about her victory over Brie Bella at SummerSlam. It was such a heel dominated PPV, that I felt like the fans needed something to pick them up to start Raw the next night. I think I would have liked this segment better if it had been at a different spot in the show. Everyone played their parts well. But, I'm also not that interested in a Bella vs. Bella feud. Also, I continue to question having such an unlikable authority figure (and Stephanie deserves credit for being so unlikable) telling me to spend my hard earned money. Why would I want to spend my money on something that such a terrible person endorses? Also, this is just more evidence that the heel authority figure will never get what is coming to her.

Ziggler Loses: I don't understand the way that WWE books their mid-card Champions. I don't understand why they started Dolph Ziggler's Intercontinental Championship reign with a loss in his very first match as the Champion. Sure, it was a count-out loss, but it was still a loss. I get that they want to keep up his feud against The Miz. If Ziggler had won this rematch, the feud would have been over. But, why did the match have to happen at all? Why do their Champions have to be booked to be so weak? Don't they want Ziggler to be hot coming off of his title victory at SummerSlam? Like I said, I just don't get it.

Usos vs. Dust Brothers: To me, this was an example of two babyface teams not really connecting well together in the ring. I am thoroughly annoyed by Stardust's act, but I do applaud Cody Rhodes' effort in changing up his in ring style for this new gimmick. I didn't like having this match. Stardust and Goldust haven't had a lot of matches recently, so I would have liked to see them getting a series of wins before getting in the ring with the Tag Team Champions. It was odd to me that after making such a big deal about how The Usos need to fear Show & Henry earlier in the show, that they muddied the waters with them losing to the Dust Brothers here. It was another example of Champions losing a non-title match which was disappointing on the same exact show as Dolph Ziggler losing earlier in the night.

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.

We suggest these recent related articles...

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt

9/7 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Paige vs. Banks, Rollins vs. Ryback, Orton vs. Sheamus, Cena & PTPs vs. Rollins & New Day

8/24 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Opening Segment, New Day, Dudleys return, Stewart, Sting