By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Hardy vs. Kingston: This was a better use of Matt Hardy than last week. It is a bit odd that a heel is right; he shouldn't be wrestling with a broken hand, but if he is going to do so, this is the way to do it. It was kept short, but at 4 minutes it wasn't too short. He played his part well in selling the hand injury and trying to wrestle around the cast. Kofi Kingston was good in creating the movement and excitement. The announcers did their job by talking about the limitations that Hardy faces in the ring with the cast. The real Hit here is for the fact that with Hardy's pre-match promo, and his post-match cast attack on Kingston, his heel heat went up. He lost, but he was still elevated and got in the final word.

Santino: I know this is a bit hypocritical of me. I have complained about others, most notably Triple H, making fun of Vickie Guerrero's weight. However, I just found Santino Marella to be really funny in doing so this week. I also laughed out loud when he started singing Chavo Guerrero's music. His insincere apology was good too.

Regal - MVP: It was predictable as soon as William Regal was randomly on guest commentary for Cody Rhodes vs. Montel Vontavious Porter that a Regal vs. MVP feud was in the works. But, I can overlook the predictability of it, as Regal vs. MVP sounds like fun to me. With Regal on Raw for so long, and MVP just now coming to Raw after being on Smackdown for his entire WWE run, you see the benefit of the draft. We haven't seen this feud before. The mic work from each can be strong. I enjoyed Regal on commentary. He made some good points in complaining about the pecking order on Raw. His line about The Miz being like Kermit the Frog without talent was hilarious. They should be able to have some good matches against each other.

Better Use of the Divas: This is a marginal Hit. Nothing the Divas were involved in was good, but it was better than last week and I appreciate the effort that was put into making them a division of unique personalities, instead of all the Divas being lumped together. Last week, all the Divas were in one match, where the only "Diva" to shine was Santina Marella. Here they were used in multiple segments. We saw Kelly Kelly talking to Santino, setting up a match for Superstars. We saw the Bellas flirting with MVP (which was silly since they were all on Smackdown together, yet they acted like they were meeting for the first time). While it wasn't a great scene, it was nice to see Jillian Hall singing as annoying as ever. And, we saw a 1 on 1 match between Mickie James and Maryse. It was only 3 minutes and it followed WWE's lazy pattern for minor Titles of building a contender by having him/her defeat the Champion in a non-Title match. But as I said, this Hit is for attempting to do better with the booking of the Divas.

The Guerreros: I enjoyed the brief backstage scene between Chavo and Vickie Guerrero. It was amusing to watch Chavo giving Vickie advice and telling her what he would do if he were the GM, which he isn't. He basically took over the booking duties from her. I'm curious to see where they are going with this situation. Is Chavo trying to get revenge for having to push her around in the wheel chair so many times? Will there be a split between them?

RAW MISSES

Orton - Shane Saga: Not everything involving Randy Orton and Shane McMahon was a Miss, but even what wasn't bad, wasn't particularly good. The show got off to an ok start with the non-match between Shane and Orton. At least the opening segment accomplished the goal of setting up three matches for the show and the Win and You're In theme. I chuckled a bit after Vickie said the rules and said, "it's just that simple." It wasn't as bad as when Jim Cornette says "the rules are simple" and then goes on to take 5 minutes to explain the overly complicated rules to the latest TNA gimmick match, but it was a but silly. The two Win and You're In matches were ok. It was interesting to see Batista lose his match after losing his temper, but his blubbery apology to Shane was vomit-inducing, as was the 3 on 1 handicap match. Watching Shane easily able to handle Legacy by himself was ridiculous. He had a pin on Ted DiBiase until Cody Rhodes broke it up. He looked way too strong. Even John Cena shouldn't be booked this strong against Legacy, and he is the top babyface star in the entire company. I am glad that the saga seems to be over after Orton destroyed Shane's leg, although he didn't even come close to hitting him with the steps which looked terrible. But, it is hard to take Orton seriously as a Champion when he can't handle Shane with the help of Rhodes and DiBiase.

Cena - Big Show: You got to love the pro wrestling convention that says that injured wrestlers will be medically cleared to wrestle the day of a PPV. It is too convenient, isn't it? The real problem is that every development in an angle should make the fans want to see the match that will culminate the feud. Every time Big Show and John Cena are on screen, it should make the fans want to see their PPV match more than before, and that wasn't accomplished. Watching Cena feebly attempt to defend himself doesn't make me want to watch these two wrestle in two weeks. It is hard to imagine Cena being healed and having the ability to have a fight with Show. Also, it is illogical that with internal injuries that will keep him out of action for two more weeks, that after taking more punishment to those injuries, that he will be cleared to wrestle. If his previous injuries were so bad as to keep him out of action for two more weeks, wouldn't this beating make it a longer recovery time? The Miz was good in his role in being obnoxious, and luring Cena to the ring. He also got a Rock reference onto the show which was interesting.

Jared: This is a minor complaint, as Jared the Subway guy (is that his legal name?) didn't really take away from the quality of the show, and did a decent job as a guest ring announcer. But, the product placement was just cheesy.

Carlito vs. Kendrick: I don't see value in this 1 minute match. The Brian Kendrick has too much talent to be a jobber on Raw. Carlito is one half of the Tag Team Champions, so getting a 1 minute squash singles match doesn't do anything for him either. He looked strong, but he is a Champ already. If this were a squash to help establish a new wrestler, that would be one thing. But, that wasn't the case, and if it were, I still wouldn't use Kendrick in that role.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars 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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