By Jon Mezzera, PWTorch Specialist

RAW HITS

Opening Segment: This is a minor Hit. I like the fact that WWE finally had Paul Heyman address what happened at Night of Champions. It was good to see Heyman questioning The Authority about Seth Rollins curb stomping Brock Lesnar and then attempting to cash in Money in the Bank. Heyman's role was small, but he did a good job as usual. Rollins was good in his role in apologizing to Heyman and Lesnar. I still want more of Heyman. It would be good if someone addressed the WWE World Title situation. I don't like how The Authority was back to emasculating the entire roster this week (more later) and it started here. I didn't like the storyline with Dean Ambrose stealing the Money in the Bank briefcase (more later) which was developed here. I did like how John Cena attacked Rollins at the end. There was good stuff to start Raw, but it was far from a great start.

Cesaro vs. Miz vs. Ziggler: This was a good triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship. Cesaro, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler worked well together here. They did a nice job with some creative spots. I don't understand the current presentation of Ziggler. I don't like having Michael Cole basically give a heel explanation for Ziggler cheating last week. When a heel wins a triple threat match, it is almost always after the babyface hits his finishing move, then the heel pushes the babyface out of the ring and picks up the scraps. That was the ending here for the supposed babyface Ziggler, picking up the scraps after Cesaro did the damage on Miz. So this was a good match, but I don't understand what WWE is doing with Ziggler.

Hulk Hogan: WWE probably should have done a better job of hyping Hulk Hogan's appearance on Raw. I am giving it a Hit as it is a good use of Hogan as a spokesman for WWE's third annual partnership with the Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer research and awareness. It is a good cause that WWE has partnered with once again and it makes sense to have Hogan introduce it this year.

RAW MISSES

The Authority: I have not been a fan of The Authority for the year plus that it has been in existence. I have found it better at times than at others. This week's Raw was not one of those times. One of the worst aspects of The Authority was last fall in particular when Triple H and Stephanie McMahon kept emasculating everyone on the roster - babyfaces and heels. I kept having bad flashbacks to those episodes while watching this one.

Did Stephanie have to interrupt Paul Heyman in the opening segment just to make herself feel like a big deal? Why did Triple H back Heyman down before he left, only to say he enjoyed their talk? I didn't get that at all.

Did Triple H need to talk down to Jamie Noble and Joey Mathews (or is it Mercury?) like that? There were too many short jokes at their expense. Also, if Triple H is such a good leader, why would he surround himself with such poor helpers?

I was also very annoyed by the way that Triple H emasculated The Miz. I like what Miz has done with his character since his return. However, there is a problem with it which is that he is bragging about being a huge hollywood star when in reality he has been in a few direct to dvd movies. He acts like he is George Clooney or Brat Pitt, but he isn't even on the same planet as those stars. That is all fine, except for the fact that a babyface wrestler can't point out this fact because Miz's movies are WWE Films. Sheamus or Ziggler can't make fun of Miz's movies as they would be making fun of WWE Films. But, Triple H did. He stole the thunder from the babyfaces on the roster while emasculating Miz for his supposed movie career. I was shocked at that comment.

Then you also had both Triple and Stephanie talking down in an emasculating way to Kane and Randy Orton, questioning their toughness and suggesting that they have gone soft.

The Briefcase: This Miss is tied in in some ways to the first one. WWE did an angle last year with Cody Rhodes stealing the Money in the Bank briefcase from Damian Sandow. I didn't like that angle and didn't need to see WWE go back to a similar plot one year later. This one isn't as drawn out as that one was, but it is silly to do something so similar so soon. It all led to the long segment with Ambrose coming to the ring with the briefcase. Ambrose's performance was good. I liked how he started to give away the merchandise. He had some good lines taking shots at John Cena and questioning his own t-shirt which labels him as unbalanced. That was funny. But, the whole deal with the slime on Rollins was so lame. Having Ambrose who is supposed to be this cool anti-authority figure doing something that reminds the audience of Nickelodeon is a big mistake. That was just terrible. And if that wasn't bad enough, they had the joke later on implying that Rollins keeps some type of vibrator in the case. Terrible.

Layla vs. Rosa Mendes: I'm sorry but Rosa Mendes does not belong in a WWE ring. There are just way too many talented women wrestlers (both in the company and out) who can actually deliver to have her in the ring. I'm not a fan of WWE incorporating Total Divas into storylines. When the only thing that comes close to being interesting about a match is the husband of the mentor of one of the wrestlers not paying attention to the match, you probably have a problem.

A Bull, a Gator, and a Bunny: Do I need to say more than that? I will say that in addition to how lame and stupid this segment was with the mascots and rosebuds and what not, it was another example of WWE not knowing how to present their heels. Why should I boo the heel Titus O'Neil, when he just received a humanitarian award from Jesse Jackson? Jackson is a polarizing figure, but a humanitarian award isn't something to boo. It is similar to the criticism WWE has received when they have heels as spokesmen for the Be a Star campaign or now with the breast cancer awareness month. I wish WWE would do a better job of separating the real person from the character.

Fox vs. AJ: I enjoyed Alicia Fox's crazy character that she played a few months ago, so I wouldn't mind seeing more of her on WWE tv. I would much rather see her than Rosa Mendes or half of the other Divas on the roster. I am intrigued by a possible team with her and Paige. My problem though is seeing another champion losing another non-title match. And the real issue is that the axe kick that she gave AJ was to her lower back without much impact and didn't look anywhere close to being enough to finish her off. It was a weak finishing move.

Main Event: Dean Ambrose was the most dynamic wrestler in the main event. But, the vast majority of the match involved the much less dynamic John Cena, Randy Orton and Kane. Kane and Orton are particularly stale and having them beat down Cena for so long really dragged. I understand the psychology of building anticipation for the hot tag, but you have to keep the fans engaged up until that point. The match got more exciting once Ambrose finally got that tag, but it was too late at that point. What happened afterwards with Rollins getting involved and the heels standing tall was ok, but this was yet another poor episode of Raw.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw and Smackdown each week. Email him at his NEW email address - jmezz_torch@yahoo.com.

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

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