Clay Tonic of Richmond, Va. (9.0): This was the best Raw I've seen in 2008. The Bradshaw-Michaels segment was stellar, anything Jericho was involved with was great, and Santino was awesome. Everything just clicked for me. Raw is finally taking advantage of a new format and
it feels like a fresh new show. I voted for JBL on the "MVP of the show" poll, but it really could have been Orton, Jericho, or six other guys. Even the silly WWEShop commercials seemed, for once, worth sitting through. The Intercontinental Title tournament is a good idea and putting former World Champions in it makes the belt seem worth winning. Stephanie McMahon and Kane played their roles well although I didn't like seeing Kane take the loss with essentially one move. My only other complaint is that Batista-Orton should be one of the main events of WrestleMania, and they should start slow-broiling that feud now instead of doing the match at Armageddon. But aside from that, I can't say enough good about this show. I don't really go out of my way to catch Raw. I'll watch it if I don't have anything else to do, but I'm tuning in next week for sure.

Art "Bucky" Blarr of Buffalo, N.Y. (8.0): Best Match: Cena vs. Kane. Worst Match: Finlay vs. Morrison. I thought this week's Raw was a pretty entertaining show from the start (with a great opening promo from Jericho) to the finish (with a great beat down on Cena). The first match with Rhodes & Manu vs. Punk & Kingston was okay and the heat in the building really turned up when Punk hot-tagged Kofi, who was the star of this match. Even though he got some offense in, I would've rather seen Dolph Ziggler win a few squash matches than wrestle Batista and lose. Dolph reminded me of an odd combination of Mr. Perfect and Billy Joe Travis, but I really think they should have promoted his character more with vignettes similar to Mr. Perfect and Val Venis. I hated giving a Morrison match my vote for worst match, but I really can't stand the Finlay/Hornswoggle duo. If WWE is going to use Finlay & Horny together, it should be only as kiddie entertainment matches, not in a title tournament. I know the Michaels/JBL is leading to something big, but I liked the Heartbreak Kid I saw two weeks ago teaming with Rey against Miz & Morrison. He was full of energy, not the sad, unsure of himself, broken-down version we got tonight, which already saw two months ago during his feud with Jericho.

Alex Roberts in the U.K. (7.0): Best Match: Batista vs. Ziggler. Worst Match: Mysterio vs. Miz. Chris Jericho's opening promo was reliably brilliant. I liked the contrasting image of his arrival through the crowd compared to Cena's entrance last week, and after weeks of waiting WWE finally dealt with the history between Jericho and Cena. Jericho's attempts to get Kane and then Orton onside during the night were equally impressive booking. I gave Ziggler-Batista match of the night honors because I wasn't really impressed with anything else on the show and in the space of four minutes, Ziggler, and to his credit, Batista, did more to establish Ziggler as someone to watch than months of backstage segments have. It was an impressive debut and WWE deserves credit for not just squashing him. Meanwhile Santino produced genuinely one of the funniest moments WWE has put together in a long time. It was nice to see the writers remember Punk and Kingston are a team this week. How about a segment or mic time to flesh this partnership out a little? The progression of the IC Title tournament was fairly predictable and acceptable but in no way, shape, or form am I excited about the Knox-Mysterio feud the WWE is brewing. The JBL-Shawn Michaels angle took an interesting and unexpected turn, but I don't really buy the continuity of it. Moving on from that, the announcement of Batista-Orton for Armageddon was poorly done and really comes with next-to-no build. On the plus side, the coming together of the Orton/Priceless team was excellent this week and their beat down on Cena was brilliant. Orton's DDT onto the concrete was one of the most-effective-looking "big spots" of this nature that wrestling has produced in a long time.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE 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.

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