By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Opening Segment: Raw got off to a pretty good start this week. Wade Barrett was good on the mic with hints about the bigger picture of Nexus' agenda. It is a hook that they are adding that could increase the intrigue value of this angle. John Cena leading out seven Raw Superstars was a bit cheesy, but worked well to tease a big confrontation with Nexus, only to have Sheamus and his heel backup attack Cena's crew. That will build more anticipation for when the big fight will ultimately happen. I wasn't thrilled with the addition of the flickering lights to the already-getting-old Anonymous GM bit (with the annoying computer ping and cheesy podium), but I will talk more about that later. This segment also effectively built some anticipation for the rest of the show, teasing matches involving the Raw Money in the Bank participants and the hook for the show as to whether or not Cena and Barrett would call a truce at the end of the show. The added tease of Stone Cold Steve Austin was a nice touch (one repeated later in the show as well). Next week they will probably have the GM sign off "If you smell was the GM is cooking!" Or perhaps the GM will have two words for us.

The Miz: I could have done without the rap from The Miz, but what happened afterwards was so strong, I am giving him a Hit. His beat down of R-Truth was very well done. He was more intense and focused in his attack on Truth's shoulder than we often see from him. His post-attack promo taunting Truth and vowing to do the same to everyone in the Money in the Bank ladder match was serious and well-delivered. These are the types of promos he needs to cut from time to time to be taken more seriously as a main event level star.

The Cutting Edge: I enjoyed the verbal exchange between Chris Jericho and Edge on Edge's talk show. Edge was good in introducing the segment and talking up himself as being the obvious winner of MIB. Jericho was also good in responding to what Edge had said. I liked that they brought up their own recent history. It is always nice when wrestlers who used to be enemies remain enemies despite one of them having a heel or face turn (like Randy Orton saying he and Cena will never be friends). Edge and Jericho don't like each other, and even though they are both heels, they still don't like each other. The physicality at the end was a nice touch, particularly when Evan Bourne got involved. It was a nice set up for the following tag match.

Bourne & Orton vs. Jericho & Edge: Speaking of the following tag match, this was clearly the only highlight on an otherwise forgettable (at best) show in terms of in ring action. This was the only good match and the only one that lasted even a decent length of time. In fact, it lasted a good length at 15 minutes. Jericho and Edge were great in continuing their tension throughout the match as they both hesitated before tagging in to their struggling partner. You could read their minds as they considered just leaving to let their partner keep taking a beating. The match also had good wrestling action. It is fun to watch Evan Bourne in the ring. It was nice that after he took a prolonged beating and finally tagged out to Orton, that Orton needed to tag out to Bourne a few minutes later. They played around with the typical tag team formula in that way which was nice. The ending was strong as Edge turned on Jericho, and Bourne his the Air Bourne for the win. The RKO from Orton onto his teammate was predictable, but furthered the notion that MIB is every man for himself.

Closing Segment: Just as Raw got off to a good start with the opening segment involving Cena and Nexus, it also ended strong with Cena and Nexus. There were parts I didn't like. Cena and Barrett were both good on the mic, but I could have done without the cheesy magic 8 ball bit from Cena. But, that's a minor complaint. He was good otherwise. We got more hints about Nexus' goals and plans, particularly how Barrett talked about how Cena was no longer part of their plans. What are their plans? I am curious to see where they are going. Cena then hit his stride with his threat to Barrett to take out Nexus one member at a time. The brief brawl between Nexus and the Raw locker room felt anticlimactic. I'm not interested in seeing a bunch of mid carders coming to Cena's rescue (I know they weren't all mid carders, but it felt that way when Mark Henry led the way). However, things picked up nicely at the end when Cena got to isolate his doppelganger, Darren Young. The beating was very memorable. Cena seemed to snap when the GM announced that he had to face all members of Nexus in a handicap match next week. I particularly liked how he overturned the announce table on Young, just like they did to him a few weeks ago. Holding his fingers up to show that there were only six members left was also a nice touch.

RAW MISSES

Lights Flicker: As I said above, I'm not a fan of the set up for the GM with the ping, and Michael Cole annoyingly interrupting the proceedings to walk to the silly podium to read the emails. Now, they've added another stupid element to the proceedings, the flickering lights. Are they really necessary? I don't think so.

Ricky Steamboat Talk: WWE had plans for this injury angle to Ricky Steamboat after what happened to him at the hands of Nexus last week. It is unfortunate for the angle that his real life medical scare came up when it did, but not as unfortunate as the scare itself for Steamboat's health. I don't know how WWE could handle the storyline without sounding insensitive to the fact that he had to be hospitalized last week. It was uncomfortable to watch Arn Anderson (who did a nice job in his scene with Sheamus) talking about how bad Steamboat is doing when he is talking about Steamboat the character, not Steamboat the man who was in a hospital.

1st Half Wrestling: There were only two matches (since Miz vs. Truth never happened) in the first half of Raw. Those two matches totaled 5 minutes of in ring action. That isn't enough for one hour. John Morrison vs. Ted DiBiase was fine while it lasted, but it only lasted 3 minutes. I am fine with the short time for Vladimir Kozlov & Santino Marella vs. William Regal & The Great Khali. I didn't need to see more of that match. But, the first match should have been at least twice as long. And another match would have been welcome too. Now, the second half of Raw wasn't great in terms of total wrestling content, but the one big tag match alone was three times as long as these two matches combined, so at least the second half had that.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and Superstars each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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