James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (2.5)

This show bugged me. After writing my Roundtable review, this show really bugged me. Having Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero on the show is totally fine leading up to WrestleMania, but it means the same "bait and switch" writing over on Smackdown is going to follow her over to Raw. We saw it on this show when WWE took a babyface (John Cena), had him promise something WWE had zero intention of delivering on the show (a World Title match vs. Edge), and delivering a pretty crappy main event (vs. Chavo Guerrero). Sorry, but that's just plain dumb writing for Cena. Heck, it's downright sabotage, or if it wasn't intentional, then it was the product of clueless folks sitting around a table. You don't see Triple H promising a WWE Title victory two days before the No Way Out PPV and him not delivering on the promise.

Speaking of Triple H, excuse me, the supreme being of all beings, that was a completely ridiculous show-closing angle. WWE took us to the land of greatness with Randy Orton the Raw before the Royal Rumble. They showed us the mountaintop. They took us to the highest of highs. After teasing the audience with the taste of greatness from Orton's heel character, they've taken the audience way back down the mountain with Coward Orton running around like a complete tool in fear of the greatest of greats, Triple H. If Orton selling for SuperShane wasn't bad enough, Orton running away from Triple H is far worse. There's no believability in Orton's heel character anymore. This mess about IED and his towel boys running around doing his bidding while Orton hides inside a car is so pathetic. It's really sad to see how quickly Orton's character has fallen. Chalk one up to the clueless McMahons writing for an audience of themselves + extended family.

Michaels vs. JBL was presently very poorly. For being a default blow-off match (we assume, unless they bait and switch again), there was little life in the ring. The match was a solid TV bout, but WWE didn't spend enough time establishing the significance of the match. Of course, they probably felt guilty (or maybe not) by bait-'n-switching the audience by adding Kozlov to the mix next week for another semi-final match to The Undertaker. Ugh.

Jericho vs. Steamboat on the mic was the highlight of the show, but it wasn't nearly at the level of Piper vs. Jericho. It just sucks this company decided the "show must go on" with Jericho vs. Steamboat talking on stage while Jamie Noble was being escorted out of the ring with an apparent serious neck injury. That's callous if Noble was indeed legit injured.

Bruce Mitchell, Torch Columnist (5.0)

This was pretty standard stuff. Shawn Michaels beat JBL, and who wants to see him against Bad Vlad Kozlov? Chris Jericho pulled another Roddy Piper-like memorable moment out of Ricky Steamboat, but there wasn't much to his Mickey Rourke rant. Wonder who he's going to end up wrestling? C.M. Punk gets to have a Money In The Bank rerun.

Brian Hoops, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.5)

Great way to open the show. I really loved the opening video package that recapped the Orton-McMahon angle. Very good in ring work between Edge and Cena. If they keep these two seperated in the ring until Mania and just let them work the mic, they will have a big money match. Very good match between HBK and JBL. How did Kozlov get involved in the angle between Michaels and JBL? If Vickie Guerrero has the power to decide who Edge and John Cena wrestle, doesn't she have the authority to decide who wrestles the Undertaker at WrestleMania? Ricky Steamboat is a great choice for the WWE Hall of Fame. Could a Steamboat DVD be in the works for 2009? If you didn't anticipate Chris Jericho coming out to confront Steamboat, you haven't been paying attention. Jericho was awesome in his role. Strong, intense ending to the show.

Dominick Mayer, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

Decent show tonight. Really enjoyed the HBK-JBL match, though I was expecting it to go a little longer. I'm hoping they don't put JBL in the MITB match just to get him on the show, because he's prone to injury and that's the place where he could end his career if he messes something up. Meanwhile, Punk qualifies, and I think they should have Miz-Morrison at Mania. They could do an angle like the WCW one a few years back where the winner possesses both tag titles. Plus, that could be Morrison's star-making moment.

However, I'm avoiding the big pink elephant in the room right now, and that is the HHH-Orton foot chase. There were a lot of ways this could have been done better (I briefly thought of a wild parkour chase with Orton flying off walls) or worse (HHH makes Orton fall to his knees and beg for mercy, only to watch as HHH destroys Ted Jr.), and what we got was somewhere in between. I don't think Orton looked as cowardly as he could have; I think we all take for granted how imposing of a presence HHH is just as a man, not as a character. However, I agree with Caldwell's assessment that this was like the death knell for Orton's main heel potential. Funny how a month of bad booking can totally destroy something promising. Now, we look ahead to Mania, and start praying that HHH doesn't absolutely embarrass Orton.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

There were a few things I liked about the show and only one thing I really didn't like, but everything else was just sorta there. What I didn't like was the whole Edge/Vickie-Cena deal. The opening segment was all over the place with seemingly no focus and didn't really clarify what was going on in the main event. Some could see the Chavo swerve coming, but it certainly wasn't a payoff worth waiting for, especially since the match lasted less than a minute.

The MITB qualifying match was solid and had a good finish, but I could've seen all three guys being in the WM match. Santino was entertaining as usual, especially getting someone like Dolph to play off of, but the match itself was nothing. I didn't care much for JBL vs. Michaels; their matches have left a lot to be desired and just don't seem to click in the ring. Very punchy-kicky this week. I'd like to see Noble get in the MITB match, provided his injury scare isn't serious. They let Steamboat talk quite a bit for a guy who wasn't known to be good on the mic, but he pulled it off. Great segment there.

You either liked or hated the final segment, and I liked it. Booking 101 by physically keeping Triple H and Orton away from each other for another week, yet cementing the anger of Triple H and really getting you to want to see him rip apart Orton in a match. I don't think it made Orton look any worse than he had against Shane. EVERYBODY would run from Triple H, let alone HHH with a sledgehammer. Plus, it was unique in that they don't do that kind of chase every week.

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