Wade Keller, Torch Editor (6.0)

The commercial-free Raw doesn't really add anything to the experience. It takes away their natural sense of pacing the show and the breaks you need throughout the show. Worst of all, it gave them a chance to explore their bad comedy skit writing "skills" that are actually worse than the actual commercials. I sense the jerks in that company messed around with Buzz for their jollies by leaving him hanging with bad timing. Even if he forgot some lines and was awkward with delivery, to exacerbate that by missing their cues to start music and have wrestlers come out and "interrupt" him was classless if done on purpose. They have a history of doing that to prove points to people since they run a tight ship when they want to production-wise.

This still feels a bit flat and the use of Smackdown talent shows they don't feel they have the talent depth on Raw right now to carry a two-hour-plus commercial-free show headed into a PPV, especially with ratings barely above 3.0 as it is. The Bret Hart stuff was well done and this interaction is helping move Miz up another level. It's the right kind of feud for him at this point in his career. Not a great show. Watchable and decent, but it didn't feel like a hot show.

Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (8.0)

If no commercials means a re-dedication to putting more emphasis on the in-ring product, I'm all for it! This edition of Raw was the best that we've seen in quite some time and I was entertained throughout. Even some of the goofy "commercials" that were produced in house were humorous. The only real low light of the show was the Buzz Aldrin segment in the ring. He seemed so out of place and it showed (however, that footage of him knocking out the reporter was priceless!). But, I won't harp on the negatives as this was a fun show from start to finish.

The "pick your poison" match-ups were both well done. I loved that we found out Christian came down for an impromptu/unscheduled match afterward. The match was also very entertaining, as you'd expect from both Edge and Christian. The only down side of this match is that I could hear Vince McMahon laughing at all of us in my head because he once again is dangling a carrot in front of all the fans that want to see this feud so badly, and apparently won't...at least for some time. Having Edge face the Undertaker right after was also well done. It was smart booking to have Edge not really take the match but still receive the "post-match" chokeslam with assistance from Christian at ringside. On the flip side, Randy Orton and Jack Swagger also had a very strong match. I was happy to see Swagger not take another non-title loss. Swagger and Orton seem to have a chemistry in the ring and I'd love to eventually see a long term feud between the two, not just a three week feud like we saw weeks back. The Edge and Orton feud has been good thus far and almost makes me forget that we still aren't getting an Edge and Christian feud.

Sticking with the main event scene, I have once again hit a wall with John Cena's character. I'm not taking anything away from him as he is a hard worker but his character has started to go stale again with me. Part of me hopes that Batista wins at Over the Limit but based on the finish from Raw and Cena's "I never quit" character, I know that won't happen. Plus, after he forfeited his potential rematch clause, does anyone really believe that he will lose at Over the Limit? It seems as though the Batista retirement rumors have once again subsided. I'm curious to see where WWE will go with him after the upcoming PPV.

Bret Hart winning the US Title was a bitter-sweet moment. It was mostly sweet but somewhat bitter because you know he won't ever defend it and he doesn't really deserve it considering his age and lack of ability (due to no fault of his own, I'm not bashing Bret) anymore. It was fun to see him celebrate with family in the ring though. This also ensures that he is sticking around, even if for just a little while longer. I also feel that this will lead to The Miz and Chris Jericho winning the tag titles on Sunday. I'm for that as long as The Hart Dynasty starts a chase back for the titles that might last a few months and concludes with them regaining them. Possibly the best moment of the night though (funny, it's buried this deep in the review), was Bret and Jericho to kick off the show. Both guys were great on the mic, especially Jericho. This is a fantasy feud that I know we'll never see but it was so fun picturing in my mind how great a feud between these two would have been. If you have read Jericho's book, you know the respect that he had for both Bret and Owen.

Finally, someone call Mike Wallace, because even the divas tag match wasn't bad! Sure, it only went close to 4 minutes but it was okay! I do like the Eve and Maryse feud thus far, even if the Divas title means next to nothing at this point. Am I being generous here? Maybe. But, it was a good show and even the divas did their part. Why couldn't this have been the show last week in Pittsburgh that I was at? And people ask me why I want to move to Toronto...

Greg Parks, Torch Columnist (7.0)

Overall, a strong show that focused more on the in-ring aspect thanks to the lack of (real) commercials. Christian vs. Edge was a strong follow-up to Jericho and Bret Hart's in-ring exchange (save for Bret's "WWF" boo-boo). I like that Edge took a count-out loss rather than face the Undertaker, since there were no real reasons for him to take that fight. The return of Virgil was not totally unexpected, but fun nonetheless. I'm not a big fan of putting the belt on Bret, but I'll wait to see the follow-up before totally crapping on the idea.

The women's six-person tag was a whole lot better than it had any right to be. The Bellas even looked decent, as did Layla. I'm still not really looking forward to Eve vs. Maryse, even though it has been built well. Orton vs. Swagger was fine, and the DQ finish was probably the right move. Buzz Aldrin's in-ring segment was the downer of the night, as were the faux commercials (except for Santino's bit). Sheamus vs. Cena had another fine match and again, a DQ finish was probably the right way to go here.

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