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Torch Feedback
WWE Raw Reax #6: "I am yet to watch a single WWE show where Punk is treated like a top guy."
Jul 31, 2008 - 12:26:36 PM


H.G. Gillis of Nova Scotia, Canada (7.5): Best segment: The "final" Highlight Reel. Worst segment: Anything with Shane McMahon's silly dance. Ever since the Draft, I've been watching WWE on a regular basis for the first time in years, and I really enjoyed tonight's episode. The Cena-Batista stuff was very good and Jericho's promo was incredible. The only thing that doesn't sit right with me is the lack of progress the company has made in getting the fans to buy C.M. Punk and Kofi Kingston as champions. I am yet to watch a single WWE show where Punk is treated like a top guy and he lacks the credibility to carry himself as a worthy champion. Kofi's path, meanwhile, seems like a complete miscalculation; his bland smiling babyface character comes off as phony, which is a shame given how flashy and exciting his in-ring work can be. As for the Adamle swerve... well, at least it means he won't be on ECW anymore (paging Todd Grisham). I think I might enjoy Adamle in this new position, although that Batista vs. Cena Summerslam announcement was unforgivably flat. Finally, whoever booked that segment with Cole and the champs should get a raise; the old "put J.R. in harm's way" routine worked like a charm, and for the first time in a long time it sounded like the fans were behind Michael Cole as as their announcer. With more of this seemingly left to come, Cole has a great opportunity to receive support and acceptance from the fans.

Adam J. Grammas of Westchester, Ill. (0.0 - Based on what I saw): Okay, I'll come right out and say, I didn't watch the whole show Monday night. (I was watching the Cubs help themselves save the top spot in the NL Central.) But the last five minutes is enough to comment on. In fact, I pretty much agree word for word with what Sean Banks wrote in the first set of Reax. What are the TNA haters saying after watching last night? I know naming Adamle the GM was meant to "shock" because he's such a terrible announcer, but that just fell flat. The audience was completely silent, not knowing how to react to such a stupid decision and, quite frankly, a let down after two hours. And then Mike Adamle's trying to hold John Cena close. I'm assuming Cena and Batista were actually in on the storyline, but they didn't seem to know how to react, either. Then the show goes off the air in complete silence with Cena and Batista just sort of standing around. Like Sean Banks wrote, the best thing about Raw these days is Mickie James, and Smackdown - with less main event talent - is the best WWE program right now.

Michael Hurst of Kissimmee, Fla. (3.0): Best match: Highlight Reel. Worst match: Adamle as GM. Quick thoughts. Jericho is Raw, and his feud with Michaels is tops in '08. Vince to Regal backstage before his match, "do the job, and oh yeah, wear this to the ring." LMAO! I texted my buddy and told him I thought the free agent was going to be MVP; I could not have been more wrong. MVP entertains me. The C.M. Punk title win a few weeks ago was an awesome shock, but I have little to no interest in seeing him as a World Champ anymore. Santino's facial expressions are golden. Kofi Kingston has tons of energy and Jamie Noble is hilarious; they need to utilize both each week. Love Mickie, love Katie Lee. The main event was decent, I'm just tired of the same old booking of "let's put enemies together in tag matches and see if they can co-exist." My pick for G.M. was Ted DiBiase, but then I started thinking it would be Shane McMahon himself when nobody came out from the curtain. Adamle as GM, Adamle as a central figure on a primetime LIVE broadcast? "Holy I just wasted two hours of my life, Batman!"

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for a "Raw Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click here.


Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

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MORE "Torch Feedback" ARTICLES
ECW TV Reax #1: "C.M. Punk scoring the pin in the main event made Smackdown seem more important than ECW"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "While WWE delivered an above-quality show, they still haven't given viewers a reason to order Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "This was NOT one of the best Raws of 2009, but one of the worst..."
WWE Raw Reax #1: "This was the best Raw in years and had a ton of great, emotional moments"
TNA Turning Point Reax #2: "I'm a college student who works hard for every dollar and it came down to Turning Point vs. Survivor Series..."
TNA Turning Point Reax #1: "It has been many years since I've seen someone actually wrestle on par with Kurt Angle"
WWE on Food Network and DGUSA PPV Reax: Evaluation of Santino & Miz, Davey Richards & Bryan Danielson on PPV
ECW TV Reax #1: "Where does Christian go from here? With Regal as champ, ECW would have received a good shake-up"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "Only a few short weeks after having Rev. Al on Raw as guest host, WWE is back to racially-insensitive storylines"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "DX playing buddy-buddy until the final Raw before Survivor Series is not going to entice viewers to buy the PPV"
WWE PPV Price Increase Reax #2: "I spent more money on Vince every year than anything else and he does not even care about me or the people like me!"
WWE PPV Price Increase Reax #1: Outrage expressed over WWE's latest PPV price raise - could the backlash cause WWE to second-guess decision?
TNA Impact Reax #3: "The build for the PPV matches somehow featured Hulk Hogan despite him yet to show up on TV"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "I'm tired of non-stop talking. This isn't a Broadway play; it's professional wrestling and the best stories are told in the ring"
Thursday Night TV Reax #1: "I feel anything TNA does right is inevitably drowned out by what they fail at"
ECW TV Reax #1: "William Regal has stepped up big time since coming to ECW and he deserves a World Title run"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "The major flaw of this show was the real lack of hype for Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "The main event commentary was hilarious with Triple H and HBK making fun of Vince, but DX has run its course..."
WWE Smackdown Reax #1: "Batista plays the perfect bully and Rey plays the perfect hero; this is a chance to make Batista the lead heel on Smackdown"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "Hogan, as great as he was, is 15 years beyond his prime and he signed with a company touting their so-called youth movement"

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Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
WWE RAW 11/16: Place Your Bets on tonight's Raw - Week 12 featuring Roddy Piper
WWE RAW 11/2: "Place your Bets" Scoreboard after Week 11 - Review the previous scores before tonight's Raw PYB contest
TORCH MONTHLY AWARDS: List of the 2009 Torch Monthly Award winners through October
WWE News
WWE News: What's on Smackdown tonight - Taker & Kane vs. Big Show & Jericho
WWE News: Jim Ross comments on possible WrestleMania 26 return, current WWE contract status
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: In-depth look at why Vince McMahon is marketing the WWE product as PG family-friendly
TNA News
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TNA News: Impact rating is in - how did post Turning Point episode fare?
TNA News: Details on Chris Sabin re-injuring his neck at this week's Impact tapings
ROH News
ROH News: ROH Title match signed for Final Battle; Air dates for McGuinness and Danielson's Farewell speeches
ROH News: Ring of Honor announces details on Austin Aries's next ROH Title defense
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Hogan News: Hulkamania Tour secures TV deal in Australia, Notes on Hogan & Flair arriving at the airport to begin the tour
Austin News: Steve Austin to appear in new season of NBC's "Chuck" show
PPV Reports
CALDWELL'S TNA TURNING POINT PPV REPORT 11/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels
RADICAN'S DGUSA "Untouchable" PPV review - Doi vs. Danielson, Shingo vs. Richards
10/25 WWE Bragging Rights Results: KELLER'S detailed match-by-match PPV report - Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Jericho & Show vs. Undertaker & Kane
CALDWELL'S WWE SUPERSTARS TV REPORT 11/19: Complete coverage of Henry vs. Rhodes on WGN
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 11/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the post-Turning Point show
Arena Reports
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Second Report - Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels, Chris Sabin vs. Suicide, Amazing Red vs. Homicide
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MMA / UFC Coverage
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MMA News: Brock Lesnar health update - UFC president much more optimistic than this weekend
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KELLER'S TAKE
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MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL FLASHBACK (Dec. 1994): C.M. Punk's character is the latest Vince McMahon creation responding to criticism of his WWE product
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
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MCNEILL'S TAKE
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McNEILL BLOG: The Big Questions About Hulk Hogan in TNA
Fight For Your Right to Bragging: McNEILL Previews WWE Bragging Rights!
CALDWELL'S TAKE
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CALDWELL'S TUESDAY CHAT w/GREG PARKS: Raw, Smackdown, TNA PPV discussion - MSG crowd, Survivor Series hype, Kofi breaks out, CSI:Miami vs. 30 Rock
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RADICAN'S TAKE
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RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
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HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 11/12: Review of last week's show before tonight's Impact - Wolfe-Angle build-up, Lethal loses to Niedhart
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GUEST EDITORIAL: Disgruntled TNA fan says he's done with the promotion after today's Impact taping (Contains SPOILERS)
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Torch Feedback
ECW TV Reax #1: "C.M. Punk scoring the pin in the main event made Smackdown seem more important than ECW"
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DVDs - VGames - Books
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RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: Death Before Dishonor VII: N2 - Storm-Hero, Ryan-Cabana
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Torch Flashbacks
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KELLER'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 10 YRS. AGO (11-14-99): Big Show vs. Triple H vs. The Rock, Edge & Christian & Hardys team, Chris Jericho vs. Chyna
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Torch Instant Polls
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PWTorch Free Podcast
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Annual Obituaries
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