Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

Another solid edition of Raw, but I was expecting a "knock your socks off" type show and we didn't really get that. Raw did manage to keep and build my interest on all but one of the matches currently scheduled for WrestleMania. That one exception is the Money in the Bank match. Since it's inception, this is probably the worst that it has been promoted. They expanded the field (yet again) this year to 10 wrestlers, but it's almost being treated like a throwaway match. If WWE didn't want to get behind it for WM this year like they have in past years, then maybe they should have held it off for the self-titled PPV in July. Why there is now a MITB PPV along with the match at WM still baffles me...but I digress. Of the nine guys currently booked for the match, only Drew McIntyre is involved in any type of storyline. The other eight are stuck in "throwaway hell".

Sticking with those eight guys, it now seems as though Christian was definitely the big loser in ECW shutting down. I can't help but wonder if Vince McMahon is now going to totally bury his career from this point on. Even if he would jump back to TNA after his contract is up, what value would he have left if this continues? My final point on "throwaway hell" is this: What the hell happened to Kofi Kingston?! Two-to-three months ago, it looked like Kofi was being groomed as the next Jeff Hardy-type in WWE. Now, he's lucky to be booked on Superstars, let alone Raw.

As for the rest of Raw, it helped the slow build to WM. Steve Austin was great on the mic, even if he had to be censored and tone down his act some. All of the Raw matches, plus the Edge vs. Chris Jericho match, continue to be promoted and booked pretty strong. We finally found out that Legacy (or the group formerly known as such) will face each other in a triple threat match. I'm okay with that since the rest of the WM card is so strong. Right now we're sitting at eight matches on the card, officially. A ninth match is imminent once Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk is officially announced. I'm banking on a 10th match being a throwaway Divas match. Whether that match makes it to broadcast or is inserted as a dark match before the event, I don't know. Either way, I'm happy for nine or 10, as it's something that I've called for since the Royal Rumble PPV (that is, WWE going w/ 8-11 matches at WM).

Sticking with Raw, the WWE Title match (at this point) is one that I'm sold on. They still have a little time to really drive home Sheamus vs. Triple H, the triple threat match, and MITB. As I said before, I've lost all hope that they'll push MITB hard in the next 12 days. The other two matches though, will probably receive a decent push. With that said, those two matches are WM mid-card matches and maybe they won't. Either way, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 12 days leading up to WM. Here's a final thought though: If you really want to gauge how strong this years WM is, keep in mind that last years WWE Title match participants (Hunter and Orton) are in mid-card matches this year. If you had told me six months ago that those two would be relegated to WM's mid-card, I would have laughed at you.

Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (4.0)

I may be in the minority here, but I really didn't enjoy Raw this week. Perhaps my expectations were too high as I was thoroughly looking forward to Stone Cold Steve Austin guest hosting, plus the three announced WrestleMania Rewind matches and the contract signing between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon. However, I felt that the show did not live up to its promise.

The show got off to a poor start. Austin seemed to be going through the motions early on. I was also disappointed when John Cena came out for his match against Big Show as I got excited to see where they were going when his music first hit, but he didn't interact with Austin which seems like a wasted opportunity. My disappointment in the show continued when Sheamus needlessly destroyed Evan Bourne. He cut a very good promo which was one of the bright spots on the show, but he didn't need to squash Bourne who is in Money in the Bank, yet was treated the same as the local jobber who was squashed by Drew McIntyre on Smackdown.

I hated the Divas segment as WWE once again put on an overly short match. They appear to be heading for another inter-brand Divas match of some sorts at WrestleMania that nobody is going to care about. I wish that they would go back to doing what they used to do and build to a good Divas or Women's Championship match between two stand out wrestlers. I also wasn't thrilled with the announced Legacy triple threat match. There has been no tension between Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. It seems like WWE has been building to a different match, but changed their minds. Where does this leave Kofi Kingston? He has no WM match and he should be there (having him squashed by Batista was also disappointing). He will likely be added to MIB, but that match didn't need a ninth competitor, let alone a tenth.

In addition to Sheamus' promo, there were a few other good moments. I didn't like that all three WrestleMania Rewind matches had various non-clean finishes, but they were all solid. Triple H vs. Randy Orton was the best of the group. I also liked the contract signing as Austin was much better in his role as the night proceeded. However, Hart was a little too verbose in his promo and it should have been shorter and more to the point.

Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (6.0)

At first, I thought Steve Austin was underused as guest host. The more I thought about it, though, the more I'm glad he didn't distract from the build to Wrestlemania. His opening promo was fine, but there wasn't much to him hosting the contract signing. That could've been done by anyone, really. Cena vs. Big Show and Triple H vs. Orton were two matches on the show I liked, and that surprises me a bit. Michaels vs. Jericho was fine as well. One could complain about the non-finishes, but will all of them being in Wrestlemania matches, it's clear WWE didn't want them to lose cleanly heading into the big show. I understand that.

It cracks me up whenever the Divas are referred to as "smart, sexy and powerful," when they rarely come across as "smart" or "powerful." It's just a phrase that rings hollow whenever the announcers try to spoon-feed it to the fans. Just because you say something doesn't make it true. I'm not thrilled about the Legacy three-way or the booking of Kofi Kingston lately. Him busting up Dave didn't help his in-ring reputation, which may be sullied a bit at this point. The big reveal by Bret was nicely done and well-directed. The look on his face when Vince saw the cast...priceless.

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