By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Kingston vs. Jericho: I enjoyed Raw last week, but I can't say the same for Raw this week. The only things that I liked about this week's show involved Kofi Kingston starting with this match against Chris Jericho. It wasn't a great match, but it was certainly good. It was nice to see Kingston get the win as he is obviously poised for the biggest push of his career. Jericho can easily bounce back. The match got really good towards the end as the two exchanged a number of near falls while countering each other's moves. It was fun to watch and was easily the highlight of the show from an in ring wrestling stand point.

Kingston - Orton: As I said, WWE is going to give Kofi Kingston a huge push with a feud against Randy Orton and I am looking forward to it. Sure, part of it is just being happy Orton will be facing someone other than John Cena (or Triple H for that matter). I am also just happy to see a mid card guy get a chance. And, I am a fan of Kingston's work so all three add up to a good deal in my estimation. I liked seeing Orton follow up what happened at the PPV with the surprise attack on Kingston after his match. The stuff later with him destroying Orton's new car wasn't great. It felt a little forced. But, I was thrilled to see what is happening with Kingston.

RAW MISSES

Opening Segment: As I said above, I did not like this week's Raw. The whole Raw vs. Smackdown thing didn't work well. And, because it wasn't built to in a meaningful manner, the aftermath seems way over blown and dramatic. For instance, I seriously doubt Jerry Lawler couldn't sleep after being upset over Raw losing. Statements like that made the whole deal seem way bigger than it actually was. The brief exchange between Jericho and Big Show was fun as Show kept getting cut off by Jericho, but I wasn't thrilled with Show becoming the #1 contender for Undertaker's World Title. How stupid is Teddy Long? He is giving a Raw wrestler a chance at the World Title, so he is putting his show in jeopardy of not having a major championship. That makes no sense at all. I am not a fan of Nascar so I don't know anything or care anything about the guest hosts this week. That is fine in and of itself, but they sucked. They did a poor job, particularly in the opening segment, both in their acting and in botching Kofi Kingston's name. It was a bad start to a bad show.

Shaemus on Raw: This was a major disappointment to me. Just as Shaemus' feud with Shelton Benjamin is getting strong on ECW, he is lifted off that show and deposited on Raw. Is he really ready? I like his potential, but he needs more time on ECW to polish his game. Besides, ECW needs his talent. And, with Jack Swagger, The Miz, Ted DiBiase, and Cody Rhodes all filling mid and upper mid card heel roles, where is Shaemus going to find himself? Swagger isn't getting the push that so many of us thought he would get on Raw after his impressive run on ECW, so what will happen to Shaemus who had a much shorter run? Also, is Tiffany stupid? Yes, I said the same about Teddy Long, but didn't Shaemus only debut three or four months ago? Did she sign him to such a short deal? And, who on Raw's behalf negotiated his new contract? He was established on ECW. Now he has to establish himself on Raw with a series of squash matches which is not going to be fun to watch. On an side note, his first Raw opponent, Jamie Noble, should find his way to ECW. I had forgotten about him until he appeared on screen and he has too much talent in and out of the ring to be forgotten about.

Hornswoggle: I was originally just going to talk about Hornswoggle in this Miss, but the more I think about it, the more I need to preface by talking about the really crappy bit of wrestling (and I use that term loosely) between Melina and Jillian Hall. With Beth Phoenix on Smackdown, and Maryse still injured (I guess?), Raw needs a heel diva other than Jillian Hall. I like her, but she isn't good enough to be in this position. I like the idea of having Melina and Santino Marella as a team. The pairing has potential. I was fine with Jillian and Chavo Guerrero as a team, but then Hornswoggle came out, since WWE is determined to have this feud continue for the rest of the year (and beyond!). The DX stuff is lame. The cease and desist order in the neon green envelope was lame. I don't understand the deal with Hornswoggle. Is he stupid? Is he mentally unbalanced? He isn't a child, yet he often is treated like one like when he didn't seem to know hot to read so he had to get Lawler to read the letter for him. I don't get it.

End of Raw: I really didn't care at all about the main event between Triple H and Big Show. None of the bells and whistles that were added at the last minute made me care about it any more. The match itself wasn't very good. Also, my problems about the whole Team Raw thing from earlier in the show boiled over to this match as it was hard to buy heels like Jack Swagger or Miz cheering on Triple H in a match and what John Cena was also doing as the special guest referee. I have mixed feelings about the end of the match as the Raw wrestlers attacked Show. It made most of the roster look bad for Show easily fending them off at first, but it kept the #1 contender looking strong, so I'm not sure what to think. I will give them credit for getting the crowd into it at the end, starting with the running splash from Mark Henry, moving on to the Shooting Star Press from Evan Bourne and Shawn Michaels tuning up the band. Unfortunately, he didn't come close to actually kicking Show. I was expecting all night long that Triple H would be named Cena's challenger, so Shawn Michaels' involvement in a triple threat match was a surprise, but I'm not sure it was a good surprise. It seems like WWE is hot shotting the first physical confrontation between the DX members in a few years for no good reason at all. Also, as hot as the crowd was at the end of the match, they seemed totally quiet at the announcement. This was supposed to be a bomb shell, yet the crowd was indifferent, unless I missed something.

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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