Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 3/24
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Raw was an odd show this week. With less than two weeks before WrestleMania, you would think that WWE would be firing on all cylinders and spending every waking second on their weekly three-hour Monday night program making every single aspect of their big show feel special. Instead, WWE had an uneven showing, with a Raw that at times felt like a monumentous evening and in other moments felt a hair shy of entering Superstars-level monotony. Where was it right, and where was it wrong? Read on to find out!

***Epic Transition***

- The opening segment involving Stephanie McMahon, Randy Orton, and Batista was awkward and yet uproariously fun at the same time. The riled-up crowd was great fun, and Stephanie and Orton used them well to even further the fans's hatred towards their characters. Batista was at his best tonight since his return as well. That still isn't saying much when compared to his other work recently, but it was certainly an improvement.

The main problem that Orton and Batista have right now is that they're being presented as poorly as (or even worse than) The Miz was in his championship run leading into WrestleMania 27. They simply aren't treated as important or legitimate threats to Triple H and Daniel Bryan, which makes any time the two of them come out feel pointless and stale. It was still a fun segment, and the heels fed into the crowd wonderfully (the slap on Batista was terrific), but neither of them feel like credible main event wrestlers, and none of their heat seems to be able to draw money.

Verdict: Watch it.

- The opening fatal four-way match was the best match of the night and was helped a lot by the awesome crowd. It seems that WWE anticipated the audience's favorable reaction towards Dolph Ziggler as well, smartly booking the contest to have all of his face heat get transformed into heel heat for Christian when he took the victory right out from under him. The pace was quick, the nearfalls were nice, and despite it not hyping WrestleMania in the least, it was still entertaining to watch. Amazing how far Sheamus has fallen since his return though, eh?

Verdict: Watch it.

- And here we start to get filler. It is taking me longer to type this sentence than it took to watch the Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara match. No Scooby-Doo heel turn also soured me on this segment.

Verdict: Skip it.

- The Shield beat down of Rybaxel was fun to watch, but the match that led up to it was a dull affair that did nothing but further bury the number one contenders to the Tag Team Titles.

Verdict: Skip it.

- Triple H capped off WWE Title-related hype tonight with a well-worded promo on the Yes! Movement and Daniel Bryan. His derision of the fans fed well into the mass hysteria that's been created over the last few months due to the WWE Title scene, and he said everything that needed to be said to make his match with Bryan seem like a WrestleMania-worthy main event. Have a brawl with him and Bryan next week and the build for this match will have been nearly perfect. If only the WWE Title feud itself was treated with the same amount of respect.

Verdict: Watch it.

- Cody Rhodes beat Fandango in a match that had no purpose. Both men deserve better.

Verdict: Skip it.

- And more filler! Hulk Hogan's portion of the show with the men who have awkwardly-spelled names and The Miz was about what you would expect from a celebrity appearance on Raw. A former World champion gets embarrassed by two actors because they have a movie to promote. Nothing horrible, but with someone like Arnold you can't help but feel like there was more that could have been done. Maybe I just wanted him to bring his tank into the arena...

Verdict: Skip it.

- Hold on, did somebody ask for more filler? Well here it is! Big Show squashed Titus O'Neil to solidify himself as a favorite in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (which, from here on out, will be known as AGMBR. Rolls off the tongue...). Too bad he's already a favorite.

Verdict: Skip it.

- Why would John Cena fear the Wyatts so much after beating both of Bray's henchmen in less than ten minutes combined last week? That said, the Cena-Wyatt story is well-told, overall, and this week continued to portray Bray as one of Cena's few equals with a nice, dominating visual at the end (his promo earlier in the show was well done also). This, along with the Triple H-Bryan feud, are the only two stories that feel WrestleMania ready. The Cena-Harper re-match was very well executed, and was one of, if not the, most impressive performances for Luke Harper to date on WWE TV. Just stay away from mirrors, please. Mirrors and wrestling never go well together (see: Hogan sees the Ultimate Warrior in the mirror, Mark Jindrak).

Verdict: Watch it.

- A.J.'s feud with the entire Divas roster hasn't progressed since Total Divas began back in August. This Divas segment was no different, other than the announcement of the most contrived-sounding women's match in the history of WrestleMania.

Verdict: Skip it.

- The Shield-Real Americans match was the third entertaining contest of the evening, and it served as a great highlight reel for Seth Rollins. I thought The Shield looked great as faces, and while the six-man tag announcement for WrestleMania doesn't excite me, I'm willing to accept it if it means putting over the newest face trio in the company on the WWE's biggest stage. Which of course means that the group will break up any moment now.

Verdict: Watch it.

- I am just not into the Undertaker-Lesnar rivalry at all, because it isn't a rivalry. Paul Heyman talked up the Undertaker's WrestleMania undefeated streak a lot, then mentioned Brock Lesnar in passing before Undertaker came out and did a cool light show before making Heyman and Lesnar look like wimps. Undertaker's appearances always feel special, and tonight was no different, but Lesnar has no heat and he doesn't seem like a legitimate threat to ending the streak. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have Lesnar lose to Cena and Triple H after all, eh?

Of all of the main matches heading into Mania, the build for this one is the most lacking. The WWE Title feud at least has the Triple H-Bryan saga to lean on. Taker-Lesnar has one major show left to make an impact. Still, the segment itself was cool to watch.

Verdict: Watch it.

See what I was saying about uneven? Two segments worth watching to start the show, followed by six out of eight segments showcasing filler. The highs were high, but the lows weren't Road to WrestleMania worthy. WrestleMania XXX feels like a big show, but it's still missing the spark needed to make the event feel truly must-see.

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch!

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