By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Raw Superstar Forum: I cringe when a show starts with all the the roster in the ring for some type of address from an authority figure. That was true here, but luckily the segment turned out to be much better than I expected. It was an odd format, but it allowed the wrestlers to ask questions of Stephanie McMahon, some of which us fans have wanted to ask ourselves. For instance, Randy Orton asked the good question as to why John Cena is getting the Title shot at Survivor Series. It was good to see Cody Rhodes getting more mic time and addressing Priceless' situation with Orton. Then came Santino Marella's rap which was pure greatness. I loved Beth Phoenix's disapproving look as Santino put on the baseball hat sideways. His rap was hilarious, as were his post-rap comments that William Regal got served and that Akorn (as he called him) should have a squirrel gnaw off his privates and store them for winter. I also liked that Stephanie addressed his desire for a rematch with Regal by saying that he got two on the European tour. That makes the house shows seem more important. I also liked that John Bradshaw Layfield asked about Vince McMahon. Now, Stephanie dodged the question, but it was good to at least hear Vince's name mentioned to know that the wrestlers are thinking about him and his whereabouts. I also like how the segment ended with Shawn Michaels jumping off the little platform onto JBL to start a brawl. It was an effective way to start the show.

Mysterio & Michaels vs. Miz & Morrison: This was the best match of the night, a very good 10 minute tag match. I would have loved to see the match go longer. It got off to a hot start before the commercial break. Afterwards, we got to see a little bit of a hot tag from Shawn Michaels to Rey Mysterio. Then, The Miz and John Morrison took over and had a nice series of classic tag team moments isolating Mysterio from his partner. There was a lot of nice action in the match. It really got good at the end. After another hot tag to Michaels and Michaels hitting some of his signature moves, the action broke down and was fun to watch. Mysterio managed to get Miz into the 6-1-9 position is a new and innovative way. The 6-1-9 into the Sweet Chin Music was a great sequence in and of itself, but it was made greater when Michaels turned around and took Sweet Chin Music in a surprise from Morrison. I am glad to see Miz & Morrison pick up the win. Morrison's celebration while Miz lay knocked out was great also.

JBL and Kane: This was just a simple short scene, but I enjoyed it. I liked seeing JBL trying to reason with his teammate Kane. They did a good job of playing up the fact that Kane doesn't like to take orders while JBL will try to give orders as the team captain at Survivor Series. I also laughed out loud when Kane compared JBL's specialty to his own.

Jericho's Promo: What a surprise, a Chris Jericho promo landing itself in the Hit column. Jericho's mic work this year has been phenomenal. He had a very difficult task, to sell a PPV main event with a man who hasn't appeared on t.v. in several months. He did the best job that could be expected. He was great at playing up his jealousy over all the hype that John Cena has been getting lately. He did a great job giving his own hype to his own great accomplishments over the years. It was well written and well delivered. He is definitely making a strong case for Best Promos in the 2008 awards.

Lumberjack Match: This is a marginal Hit. The lumberjack format is getting too played out. It didn't add to this match at all. I also didn't like how CM Punk tried to score early quick pin falls on Orton. Punk wanted revenge, and getting a quick painless victory isn't getting revenge. The agent helping put the match together has to tell Punk not to go for those quick pins in a match like this. I wasn't enjoying the match during the early period because of that and the involvement of the lumberjacks. However, after a few minutes, the action in the ring got better. They started to focus more on just Punk vs. Orton which is when the match got good. It built nicely and featured some nice reversals. Punk's top rope dive onto Orton and the lumberjacks was well done. The ending with Orton picking up the tainted win after Punk was distracted by William Regal worked too. So, in the end the match turned out well, but it got off to a poor start.

RAW MISSES

Odd Segment: The segment that I am referring too came after the commercial break following Batista vs. Manu. It was a very weird and random segment which may have resulted in people turning the channel. It started off with Stephanie introducing Chief Jay Strongbow to the fans. It was odd to see him walk out on stage, as opposed to sitting in the crowd for an acknowledgment. It didn't make much sense. Then came the nice scene in the back between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. It was good, but it came in the middle of the odd parts of the segment. It was followed by Todd Grisham randomly throwing to a highlight package on Evan Bourne, before interviewing him, only to have the interview interrupted by Mike Knox in a very awkward situation. It was all strange. Then came the strange scene with Mysterio and Michaels in the back as they headed to the ring for their match. I have no idea what that was all about. The whole commercial to commercial segment left me feeling like something was missing. It was like they forgot to write that segment and then had to improvise a few brief scenes to fill the time.

Regal vs. Hardy: This seemed like a waste of two very talented performers. I know that Matt Hardy is hurt, but then why have him on in the first place? The ECW Champion should be treated as a bigger deal when he makes a guest appearance on Raw. The new Intercontinental Champ should be treated with more respect. This brawling early double count out can work as a way to hot start a new feud. But, is there any reason for it here? Are we to expect a Regal vs. Hardy feud? I highly doubt it. I hope not, not now at any rate. Instead we were left with a waste of time.

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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