By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Steel Cage Match: This was one of the few highlights on a bad episode of Raw. It was disturbing to watch, but that was the point. Finlay was very good with his impassioned pleas to Vince McMahon and John Bradshaw Layfield. JBL’s involvement in the storyline is a big plus. His feud with Chris Jericho had run its course so it makes sense for him to move on to something else (what Jericho will move onto is up in the air). I have been expecting to see Finlay vs. McMahon at WrestleMania, but Finlay vs. JBL will be much better. Of course, a tag match is still a strong possibility. The segment had a strong ending with McMahon showing some remorse for what just happened. Really, everyone involved did a great job to sell this angle.

End of Raw: The bad Raw at least had a good ending with Triple H Pedigreeing both John Cena and Randy Orton. The Main Event itself was o.k. I don’t know. I didn’t enjoy it enough to give it a Hit, but it wasn’t bad either. There wasn’t much actual wrestling as Cena and Orton mainly just punched each other. Triple H’s involvement as special guest referee didn’t add to the match. Why was he even there? It was just a solid Main Event that stood out on a show with very bad wrestling. At least the match was better than everything we had seen in the ring to that point. But, the real Hit is for the very end when Triple H made a physical statement that was much louder than any of the verbal statements made in the opening segment.

RAW MISSES

Opening Segment: A surprisingly bad Raw got off to a bad start. When you put the three supposed top stars together for a talking segment, it should not land in the Miss column. But it did. It was boring. Individually, neither Triple H, Randy Orton nor John Cena was very bad. They each cut decent promos (although Cena’s use of “wait a cotton pickin’ minute” might be a clue as to why he gets booed so much), but when you put them all together it didn’t add up to anything. The whole was worse than the sum of its parts. William Regal didn’t help. He seemed to slip up in making the stipulation for the Main Event and gave away that Cena would be winning (not that it wasn’t already obvious), then he had to correct himself and say “if Cena wins.” And if he was so upset at Orton’s actions at No Way Out, why wasn’t it a Title match? Because, they want it to be a triple threat. But, the stipulation didn’t make any sense. Nothing was really on the line for Orton, since he was guaranteed a spot in the WrestleMania Main Event no matter what. And why was Triple H so upset about the prospect of a triple threat match? In a singles match vs. Orton, Orton would be able to pull his coward tricks of getting counted out or disqualified, but he can’t do that in a triple threat. Plus, he’s supposed to be this badass, so why would he care if he had to beat two guys instead of just one? We see him do it all the time.

Hardy vs. Snitsky: This was a bad match. I don’t think a wrestler in Raw history has ever had such a fall in match quality from one week to the next as Jeff Hardy. Obviously, Snitsky’s lack of ability had a lot to do with it. Hardy is so exciting to watch, yet he couldn’t do a lot of what makes him special when selling the back injury. Also, the match was booked to have him sell for Snitsky for way too long. It got boring. I was hoping Hardy would lose, not that I want Snitsky to be in Money in the Bank, but Hardy deserves a chance to shine in a singles match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. Seriously, does he ever have to defend the title? It will be great if he wins MIB, but if he is used like he has been in so many previous Mania ladder matches, to hit an awe inspiring crazy spot and lose, then it isn’t worth it.

Big Show - Mayweather: This was a disappointment considering the hot start the angle got at No Way Out. I assume WWE wants Mayweather to be the babyface and Big Show to be the heel. If I am right, then WWE failed miserably as Mayweather was clearly booed and Show was clearly cheered. Mayweather’s entourage doesn’t help his credibility with wrestling fans who view a posse as a sign of cowardice. It makes sense in terms of boxing, as all boxers have them, but it isn’t going to help him get over with the fans. Plus, it was all pretty boring. Nobody explained what Mayweather was doing on Raw in the first place. Mayweather was o.k. on the mic, but not particularly good. This didn’t make me want to see these guys fight in any way. The only thing that saved it from being a total disaster was when Mayweather faked a punch, and Big Show flinched. That was the only time when the segment got the desired reaction from the crowd. If Mayweather is going to get over, he should appear in front of the crowd with Rey Mysterio, and he has to drop his entourage.

MIB Qualifiers: I am not thrilled with these Money in the Bank qualifying matches. First of all, didn’t we just go through this with the Royal Rumble? Second, if there are going to be six participants who come from all three brands, then why do two in one night? Why not spread them out? I suppose a case can be made for Snitsky’s involvement, but Val Venis? You have to be kidding. There are so many wrestlers on Raw who are more deserving of being in a qualifying match (Shawn Michaels, Jericho, JBL, Umaga, even Santino Marella and Carlito) than Val Venis. There are more qualifiers to go, but most of those will be on ECW and Smackdown. Jim Ross said that “traditionally” there are six participants. Last year, there were eight which is too many, so I was glad to hear Ross hint that there will only be six this year. Of course, “traditionally” doesn’t mean “definitely” so I guess we will see. Either way, unless all of those guys listed above get qualifiers, then having Venis in it will go down as being utterly ridiculous.

New Music: Two top stars had new entrance music this week, and both sucked. Mr. Kennedy’s wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t as good as his previous music. It bothered me, but not as much as Hardy’s new music. That was terrible. I know that his old music was generic music that WWE didn’t own the rights to, but if they were going to change it for that reason, they should have done so years ago. Now, it is so established with his character that it is a mistake to change it. His old music was so upbeat and got the crowd going, but this new one seemed more like a downer. It was just bad.

In Ring Action: This was a down week for in ring action on Raw. I specifically mentioned Hardy vs. Snitsky as a Miss. Paul Burchill vs. Super Crazy was a short squash that was o.k., but not as good as Burchill’s match vs. Brian Kendrick last week. Kennedy vs. Venis was short, boring, predictable and totally unnecessary. The Steel Cage match was good, but not really even a match. Maria vs. Beth Phoenix was decent. Santino added to the match and was good as usual, but his performance didn’t stand out to get a Hit. The match itself was just a short squash with a surprise roll up. Not bad, but not good. As I said above, the Main Event was the best match of the night, but it wasn’t even particularly good, just o.k. On the whole this was a very disappointing Raw, with no good matches, and several bad segments.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

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