-- 7/19 WWE Raw Reax

John of Cocoa Beach, Fla. (6.5): Best Match: #1 contender's match. Worst Match: Wade Barrett vs. Mark Henry. Once again, WWE is rushing into its next pay-per-view with two matches already set for Summerslam. The number one contender's match was done pretty good, despite the underlying feeling it would be Randy Orton winning. All three guys told a good story. All throughout the night, you could feel the presence of Nexus, and thankfully, there were only a few interruptions from the mystery GM. I thought The Miz being right there to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase took away some of the intrigue. Miz again shined in the promo category, but wasn't R-Truth supposed to be gone for months with torn triceps? Meanwhile, what happened to the Evan Bourne push? It's crashed and burned like Evan himself. Same with Mark Henry, who I was genuinely fearful for when Wade Barrett struggled picking him off the turnbuckle for his finisher. ... The best storyline of the show was teasing John Cena giving up and turning heel to join Nexus. It was also good to give someone other than Wade Barrett mic time, as Michael Tarver did a great job getting his points across for the Nexus. Finally, Cena backing off and announcing his own team was a strong conclusion. Edge and Jericho made sense from the events of the night. John Morrison was a good choice, but what does Ted DiBiase do for an opponent at Summerslam? R-Truth made sense since he was a Pro in Season One. But, I don't get the Great Khali. Mark Henry makes more sense if he's the power man on the team. How about Yoshi Tatsu or Evan Bourne since they were both ambushed by Nexus? Finally, they needed a big surprise for the final member, but I could think of three names more of a shocker than Bret Hart: Mr. McMahon, Dave Batista, or Bryan Danielson. But my hunch is Mr. McMahon will be the special enforcer and screw Team Cena and reveal himself as the mystery GM, ala the Higher Power storyline from years back involving Stone Cold and the Corporate Ministry.

Richard H. of Wilmington, Ohio, artist: Best Match: triple threat match. Best Decision: No guest host. It's amazing how well a show comes off when it's tightly paced with believable plot twists and storylines. A big thumbs up to the trio of veteran performers who put on a clinic in the opening match, presenting one of the best triple threat matches I have seen. They followed that with the Nexus-Jericho-Edge bit that fit each performer perfectly. Cena teases giving up? Okay, that one was not going to happen. Heck, even the Divas match was above rate, although DiBiase and John Morrison being involved helped. The final moments with Cena's announcement of an alliance of necessity to combat Nexus was great. Every member of Cena's Brigade have reason to be involved without having to like or work with each other, just against Nexus. I was actually expecting Triple H's music during the long pause before the Hitman came out. The other shining lights were The Miz and his continued rise, and an almost silent GM.

Oliver Court of London, England (8.5): Best Match: Orton vs. Edge vs. Jericho. Worst Match: Kozlov/Santino vs. Ryder/Regal. This was a really good episode of Raw. I liked starting the show off with a big match because promo-opening segments usually drag on and are skippable. It also got straight to the point of finding out the new #1 contender. The show stayed hot for the next 20 minutes as well, with a great promo by Jericho and Edge, and Nexus getting over as an unstoppable superpower. I question why Morrison is in Cena's group, but I can see Melina returning to take on Maryse at Summerslam, especially as Morrison isn't going to be wrestling DiBiase. I had a mixed reaction to Cena's team. I like Edge and Jericho in there, but Truth and Morrison are in feuds right now, so I don't know why they are in the team. Unless Khali will be getting out of the comedy segments, I don't like him there. If he's kissing the guest host the night after Summerslam, then it will make Nexus look weak if they lose. And Bret Hart should be the team's manager only. I don't know what he'll be able to do in the match, so he'll just make whoever he's in the ring with look weak. I believe Evan Bourne not on the team is a mistake as well. Since he isn't in a feud, he'll likely be doing nothing at Summerslam. Still, there's a long way to go. I hope Nexus wins, though, so the storyline can continue. The last few segments were a bit bad, but the first 90 minutes of the show were great, so it was still a really good show.

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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