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4/27 WWE Raw Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (7.0): Best: MVP-Orton promo and match (until finish); Miz promo. Worst: Batista vs. Show (with finish). Until the very end, tonight was one of the better outgo shows from a PPV in a while. With the Draft added in, Raw is off to a nice hot start toward Judgment Day. The show started with a very good promo from Randy to take his rightful place as top heel. Much like the Friday before with Edge, the background had to be darkened to cover over the positive fan feedback. MVP gave an equally good retort, in phrasing that fits the face version of him, and the crowd looks to have already welcomed him into the fold. Up until the Orton-MVP match finish, MVP seemed on his way up the credibility elevator. I give props to Santino for going through with all this Santina business, but the whole thing has hit a wall. The eight-person tag was only for Santino, and not to set up the next opponent for Divas champ draftee Maryse. Matt Hardy goes from pissed off bitter older brother to whiney snot-nosed punk in under 24 hours. The match with Goldust was completely random and pointless. Was Goldust to be his next opponent had Matt not broken his hand? Unless Matt is going the Cowboy Bob Orton route with the cast, why was he even on? Carlito/Primo get a mobile pass with the tag belts. If the belts are unified, a single actual belt should be made or one of the two they are wearing should be sanctioned as official. Batista did everything short of actually taking responsibility for the Orton-Hunter finish. A seed for a heel turn has been planted; it will be curious to see who goes there. Batista vs. Show was about as good as could be expected for these two, which doesn't say a whole lot. Cena's surprise appearance completely undermined both the Backlash finish as Miz's good starting promo. How deja vu to Unforgiven '08 does this get? I'm supposed to believe that a single punt to the head not only trumps a full-bodied massive bloody
beat down, but also being sent through a glass-shattering sparking spotlight? John Cena comes up limping with assistance to the ramp to create the distraction for Big Show, but needs no assistance to stay standing up? Yet again I see why there are Cena haters.

Fonzie Tortarella, coach of New York, N.Y. (8.0). Best: Legacy vs. MVP. Worst: Santina non-sense. What a great follow-up to Backlash this episode was. I was excited for it knowing that Triple H was gone and Cena would be on the shelf for a while as well. No Hunter = Raw Gold in my opinion. Orton/Legacy vs. MVP on the mic to open the show was massive. I love MVP and love that he got the chance to showcase vs. the top heels. His match against Orton, even though you could easily tell that there would be a run-in from Rhodes/DiBiase or Shane, was still some great work by both men. I love love love Orton on top of Raw. I can't say that enough. Kendrick vs. Kofi was okay for what it was. It's a shame that Kofi can't get more than this mid-card, as his in-ring is really exciting. I am bored silly with the Santina angle, and hate to see Santino wasted with this. For me, Santino skits used to highlight the show, now they are time to grab a beer from the fridge or to hit the bathroom. Put this to rest already. It is not funny anymore...it is just plain tired, although I don't know why I would think that WWE wouldn't drive this into the ground like they do everything else (but I digress). Matt Hardy looked solid in his injured role, and you gotta love the Iron Mike Sharpe-style win. Goldust should be backed into Legacy, as there is nothing for him to do but job at this point. Sad. The Miz promo was decent, and I would love to see him in a program with Cena later on down the line. After breaking up Miz and Morrison, I hope they don't waste him. Show vs. Batista was boring and if there was anyone who didn't know Batista was going to win this, they should turn off their TVs and wait for Impact to start on Thursday. All in all this was a lot better than Raw has been in a while and I am stoked to see the top performers in fresh angles leading to Judgment Day.

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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