By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

HBK - Y2J: Raw got off to a good start with a true “anything can happen” feel to it. Part of that opening was the quick start with Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho’s brawl. This was a great way to start Raw and was the start of what would be another good night for these two heading into their match at the PPV. This brawl, and the one to follow a few minutes later gave them a chance to show that this feud is more than just verbal, but is very physical as well. Later, Jericho had a good squash win over Paul London. I loved his promo to London afterwards, giving him a choice of career paths. That was simply great. I am curious to see if they include London in the program going forward, either sticking up for Michaels, or joining Jericho. Either way, I hope London is utilized in some way. Michaels then got the final word, using Jericho’s recent line of the worst being yet to come against him. Can anyone say “feud of the year”?

Kane: Kane was also part of that hectic, but good opening when he came out to apologize to the announcers for what he did last week. This was also the start of what would be a good week of progression in Kane’s turn with more intrigue about who Kane is asking about, and what is in his bag. Later we saw the humorous scene with Kane asking Santino Marella “Where is Punk?” Santino had a great line suggesting Kane check the Pepsi machine. Kane didn’t find it funny and played his part as the threatening monster very well. This was followed up by his good scene with Punk, challenging him for a match. We got more hints about who “he” is, and more about the mysterious bag. This led to their match which was short, but solid. It gave Punk a win over a credible opponent, but not a particularly strong win. Kane did good in the match acting conflicted. His post-match snap was good. Everything worked this week to progress his character development. I look forward to seeing where this goes from here.

Kingston vs. Burchill: I question the use of Paul Burchill. WWE keeps asking us to take him seriously as a threat, but then he loses in the first match of every so called “feud” (like when he jumped Mr. Kennedy, only to lose a few weeks later). I did enjoy the match though. Kofi Kingston is a lot of fun to watch. Burchill looked good as well. The crowd was hot for the match (the entire night really) which helped make it enjoyable to watch. It had good action and I liked how Mickie James and Katie Lea were used at ringside. I question having this match so soon in what could be a good feud if Burchill were built up against other opponents, before we finally get a match for the Intercontinental Championship. So, we will call this a marginal Hit.

Rhodes & DiBiase: Last week I totally forgot about the Tag Team Champions, otherwise I would have given their nonappearance a Miss. This week it was good to see them back on again and involved with a top storyline. Their initial appearance kicking Kelly Kelly out of the ring was good. I would have preferred if the announcers had said who Kelly’s opponent was supposed to be, but that is a minor complaint. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase were both good on the mic. This was a good use of Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Their biting words towards him were spot on. They carried themselves as a top heel tandem. They were derailed a bit last week, but it was good to see them back on track this week.

Punk - Batista: After Batista saved Punk, Batista and Punk shared a good moment. I like that Batista refused to shake Punk’s hand. He acted condescending towards the World Champion which worked well. Punk was good in his role as one who felt patronized. This was a case where the lack of a microphone worked as it seemed more genuine and less scripted. It was a good, but not great way to hype their match at the PPV. I would have preferred if this were the end of the show, or at the very least if we had gotten a reaction from Punk later in the show. Again, we will call this a marginal Hit, as it was a good moment, but could have been better.

Noble: Jamie Noble is pure greatness. I wish WWE would use him more than just as comedic relief, because he is a good wrestler. However, I was happy to see him and his comedic relief is always hilarious. That was the case this week as he tried to hit on Layla. I loved when he told her to Google on the internet to find out that 5 foot 6 is the average height of a man. I also loved his line about taking a ride to Noblesville. He is just so funny, but like he showed with his feud early in the year on Smackdown vs. Chuck Palumbo, he can be better utilized in the ring.

Main Event: Cena & Cryme Tyme vs. JBL, Rhodes & DiBiase was a good six man tag match. The match went a good length and had good action throughout. Again, the hot crowd made it more enjoyable to watch. With a hot tag to Shad coming during the commercial break, the eventual even hotter tag to John Cena seemed like an even bigger deal. The match was well booked to really build anticipation for that tag. It got a bit redundant watching JTG and then Shad get the three on one beating, but it wasn’t too bad. The heels did a good job of keeping things interesting. The finish was a bit off. I don’t like John Bradshaw Layfield being DQ’d for doing something that is very common in tag teams. Was it illegal? Sure. But, why don’t all wrestlers get DQ’d for coming to their partner’s aid in similar situations? In the end, it was still a good match and it was also good to see some fresh faces in a Raw Main Event.

RAW MISSES

Cena’s Promo: This is going to sound incredibly hypocritical, considering how much I hated John Cena’s poopy character last week, and how I have often written in this column that Cena needs to be more serious and get rid of the lame infantile humor that so often permeates his promos. This is exactly the type of promo that Cena should give more often. So, why was it a Miss? Because, it felt totally out of place. Part of this is because of Cena’s poopy humor last week. It is hard for me to believe that Cena would go from that mood to this mood simply because JBL challenged him to a parking lot brawl. In another time, in another feud (or even at a different time in this same feud) this would be a huge Hit of a promo. But, I don’t know why Cena is so angry at JBL. He made JBL look like a fool last week. JBL hadn’t done anything to him for him to have this type of anger towards JBL. The feud wasn’t worthy of this promo. The fact that their feud started with a First Blood match was bad, as it escalated it to gimmick match status too soon. It is progressing too quickly and the parking lot brawl is a mistake so soon. They should be building to regular match. Then after the match, if WWE is hell bent on doing the terrible ending of this show (more later), then do it next week. Have it be a reason for the parking lot brawl, allowing the gimmick to arise organically. At the very least, do that ending last week to make Cena have a reason to show so much hatred towards JBL this week. Then have Cena cut this same promo and you have yourself a great moment. Here it felt out of place.

Santino vs. Phoenix: For the most part, I am just not a fan of women wrestling men. I know than Santino is a comedy character, but he could be more of a threat in the ring if he isn’t losing quickly to Rey Mysterio last week, or to Beth Phoenix this week. Phoenix has been a good heel Diva, but this makes it look like she is turning face which is a mistake. She looks strong here which is fine, but there has to be a better way of using her. I am worried that this will lead to more matches with men which isn’t a good idea. And, she should remain a heel.

JBL Tries to Kill Cena: This had been a very good Raw until the end which was horrible. WWE wanted this to seem very real and serious, and yet they undermined that wish by having cameras strategically placed outside of the building. There were too many camera angles for this to be believable. Only one camera should have followed Cena outside. Instead, there were several outside already waiting for him. That was cheesy. Why weren’t the announcers talking? Nothing serious had happened yet, but they went silent from the beginning as if they were watching a funeral. That made no sense. And then, JBL tried to kill John Cena. Maybe he succeeded. This goes beyond what is acceptable. If this were real, JBL would be arrested for either attempted homicide or 1st degree murder depending on whether or not he was successful in killing Cena. But we all know that’s not going to happen. This totally watered down everything a heel had done on this show. Yeah, Michaels and Jericho hate each other, but they only punch each other, Jericho didn’t even bother to try to kill Michaels. Sure, Kane snapped and wanted to injure Punk, but if he really wanted to do some serious damage, why didn’t he try to run him over? It is like WWE realized how bad the build to their match was last week with the horrible limo destruction scene and Cena’s poopy humor and decided they had to take it as far away from that childishness to this other extreme. It was just bad, and they clearly didn’t consider the ramifications of what JBL tried to do. It is too bad, because Raw was so great. There was so much to like about the show, but all I can think about was this horrible ending.

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.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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