-- 8/30 WWE Raw Reax

Lance of Ottawa, Ont. (3.0 for the main event and Nexus win only): Best Match: Main Event (by default, as it was longer than the rest of the wrestling on the show). Worst Match: tag team contender's match or pointless Divas match. Was there under eight minutes of wrestling in the first two hours of this historic 900th episode of Raw? This must be some kind of record. I wonder if Vinnie Mac hired Vince Russo one night only for a nostalgic booking for this episode of Raw. What were the promised surprises? Was it the short matches, non-finishes, Austin no-show, Super Cena and Super Orton, and horrible booking? If Jericho actually retires, arguably WWE's MVP will be gone and it could be the biggest blow to WWE since, well, Shawn Michaels's retirement. I have actually liked WWE's programming as of late (compared to recent shows), but this was very sub-par to say the least.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (3.0): This was one of those shows that needed to be three hours to make what did happen on the show look much neater. The matches were sloppy filler that barely served the purposes that were intended. ... Skip Sheffield's absence was simply explained while Serena's absence was simply, well, ignored. ... Lay-Cool's and SES's splits have already begun (or have they?). ... Unifying the women's titles was the right thing to do until the women's division gets pushed again (should WWE care to). ... If Raw was meant to get heat back on Nexus, they didn't get much help. By the end of the night I was asking myself what was I watching: WWE...or TNA?

Trent D. of San Jose, Calif. (2.5): Best: C.M. Punk promo or Cena actually getting eliminated. Worst: Overall show. This was such a weird, poorly booked, and overall disappointing show. The opening segment was okay, with Kane being awesome as usual. All I could think about, though, was how they were going to have the Taker-Hart match without Bret actually wrestling. The triple threat tag match was used effectively to get over the NXT Rookies and the season finale, and also to continue the Miz-Bryan feud. The Divas match was too short to matter, but at least they finally told us they were unifying the titles, even though everyone suspected that already. As for the #1 contender's match for the tag titles, I was upset when Rhodes/McIntyre and Morrison/Truth were the teams competing. Why just throw together two teams when you have the Usos, the Dudebusters, the Gatecrashers, and even the SES or Santino/Kozlov? At least neither team won, which only meant the whole segment was a waste of time. It was good to see Alberto Del Rio on Raw, but he took away from the Swagger-Bourne match, which was random to start with. At least Wade Barrett, if not the whole Nexus, got some heat back with their beat down of Taker, and victory in the elimination match. The match itself was pretty good, but it curious booking having Sheamus getting eliminated by Heath Slater. Basically, C.M. Punk's promo was the only good part of the whole show. That, and when Justin Gabriel actually pinned John Cena. It was the best thing that's happened on Raw in a long time. But, all in all, this was more like Impact, not Raw, let alone a milestone episode for Raw.

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.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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