Bruce Mitchell, Torch Columnist (6.5)

I thought both Chris Jericho and JBL were great tonight. JBL was so good heeling on the economic crisis I got nervous. I'm interested in seeing how his story with Shawn Michaels plays out. The Cenamania stuff at the end was just fine at setting up Jericho and then Orton as his major title contenders.

James Caldwell, Torch columnist (6.0)

Gosh this show was all over the place. But, strong performances from Chris Jericho, Chris Jericho, and Chris Jericho made this a thumbs up show that was worth checking out next week for the follow-up, Armageddon hype, and Slammys-related stuff.

It felt like we were missing several chapters in each story tonight. How did Shawn Michaels suddenly become the bum who was down-on-his-luck? Wasn't Rey Mysterio booted from the tournament by Stephanie? Did Shane bring him back in? Why was Kane cutting a (disillusioned) babyface promo? WWE intentionally or unintentionally made this a frustrating show by not connecting the dots throughout the two hours.

Wrestling content was subpar, unfortunately, with Dolph Ziggler having a stand-out performance despite losing in four minutes to Batista. His step-up enziguiri kick on Batista was sweet. He's worth an in-ring investment, so hopefully McMahon saw enough in him to warrant a significant push.

Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

This was a solid-to-good episode of Raw. There was definitely more positive than negative. The in-ring action was all pretty good. The highlight of the show from a wrestling stand point was Punk & Kingston vs. Priceless. It was a good tag team match, and it was very nice to finally see the Tag Team Champions on camera together. None of the other matches stand out as being that good, but they were all solid.

Chris Jericho was definitely the MVP of the show. He started things off with a great promo about John Cena. It was very well done, as were his later attempts to recruit Kane and Randy Orton to help out his cause by helping him take out Cena at the end of the show. The post-match beating that he, Orton and Priceless put on Cena was very effective and memorable. Everything that Jericho was part of was very good. The other highlight of Raw was Glamarella. They were hilarious on guest commentary during Jillian Hall vs. Melina. They were even better afterward as Santino Marella attempted to do Melina’s ring entrance. That was just pure greatness.

The downs on this show started with the uncomfortable segment with John Bradshaw Layfield making his offer to Shawn Michaels. I don’t buy Michaels having financial problems, and even if he does, with so many Americans losing their jobs and their homes, it is hard to feel sympathy for a millionaire who can’t put his kids through college. Also, the talk about old broken-down wrestlers was too real, as it is an ugly part of this industry that shouldn’t be talked about on TV. I also wasn’t thrilled with the debut of Dolph Ziggler. He looked stronger than expected against Batista, but it was still a loss in his first match. Also, I am not looking forward to another Three Hour Raw next week. The Slammy Awards might be fun, but they might be bad too. Giving away three PPV caliber matches on one show, less than a week before a PPV isn’t a great idea.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

Slight thumbs-up this week for Raw. The show started out on a fine note, with Chris Jericho and his spiel about his son. It was an interesting way to take the feud and Jericho of course was gold on the mic. I'm not sure what Mike Knox's fascination is with people smaller than him (Bourne, Rey), but I am sure that I probably don't care. Steph agreed early on that Rey should be out of the tournament, then he was back in with no reaction from her? That didn't make sense.

The tag match was solid, but I hate to see Team Priceless lose another match. This is where putting Punk & Kingston (and even Priceless) over some mid-card tag acts would help, if WWE believed in that sort of thing. Jillian vs. Melina was not good, and I'm hoping Beth can get a decent match out of Melina. Yes, Santino was awesome as usual. Even in the backstage segment with Goldust.

JBL may have one-upped Jericho with his mic work during this segment with Shawn Michaels. I like the idea of the angle, but it's up to the fan whether they can buy Michaels in this sullen role, especially since he was comedically hawking DX merchandise a few segments prior. This would've been better if WWE had a face they wanted to elevate; have him play off of JBL and have the face be JBL's lackey before he eventually gets sick of it. That would elevate him by being around JBL and the fans would get behind him.

I'm confused about Dolph Ziggler's character. WWE must see something in him to not completely squash him against Batista. Morrison went over Finlay strong, which is a good sign. I am not looking forward to the Slammys (OR another three-hour Raw) next week. Miz vs. Mysterio and Kane vs. Cena were both fine, nothing more. I liked the post-match beat-down on Cena; Orton's DDT was awesome and Jericho yelling "ask him!" to no one in particular when he had Cena in the Walls of Jericho was hilarious.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax