By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Orton - Barrett: WWE is doing a nice job of building the feud between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett. There has been some good mic work from Barrett explaining why he wants to target Orton. He has played a good antagonist, costing Orton matches on Raw each of the last two weeks. This was well booked to give Miz a win to get into the TLC main event and further the Orton vs. Barrett feud.

TLC Set Up: While I wasn't a fan of the opening segment, I did like the concept of the "win and you're in" theme for the show. It was a good way to set up the TLC main event throughout the show. None of the matches were Hit-worthy, but John Cena vs. Zack Ryder, The Miz vs. Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus were all solid. I wouldn't have minded seeing them go longer. I don't like the idea that Cena would give up his WWE Title opportunity to give Ryder one more chance to earn a US Title match, but am curious to see where they go from here. The contract signing at the end featured some pretty good mic work from CM Punk, Miz and Alberto Del Rio. Hopefully WWE will do more to make Punk's Title seem like it is in jeopardy next week. Also, I am curious to know what Cena will do at the PPV. Is there a potential opponent I am forgetting about? Or will he somehow earn a spot in the TLC Title match after all?

RAW MISSES

Opening Segment: There were parts of the opening segment that I liked, but it was too much of a mess for it not to be a Miss. I don't get where WWE is going with the John Cena angle. It may turn into something good, but so far it isn't working for me. I don't really care after 7 years if the boos are getting to him or not. As a general rule, I'm not a fan of segments like this where one potential contender after another comes out to lay claim to the #1 contendership. We do see it more often on Smackdown on Raw, but still. I do like seeing The Miz back in the WWE Title picture and seeing Dolph Ziggler make his own case why he should get the next Title shot against CM Punk. Some of the mic work was strong, but they had too many insider and Twitter references for my tastes. The "win and you're in" concept was fine as it left open the number of wrestlers in the WWE Title match at TLC up in the air. While it did provide a hook and theme for the rest of the show, in the end it was just too convoluted and annoying.

Del Rio vs. Bryan: I understand that Daniel Bryan is selling a rib injury after the super World's Strongest Slam on last week's Smackdown, but losing in under 2 minutes is a joke, even to a former WWE Champion. Del Rio needed the win and they had the out for Bryan that he was injured, but it was still way too short of a match. Plus, Del Rio's finisher doesn't target the ribs. Sure, he targeted it a few times during the match, but ultimately Bryan tapped out because of a submission hold on his arm, that had nothing to do with his ribs. Why not give the audience a little more wrestling and make this match 5-6 minutes?

1/2/12 Video: I like the concept of sort of subtly giving the web address for these UTube videos to hype the return of some WWE Superstar. I enjoy speculating as much as the next fan (by the way, my brother wants me to mention that he predicts that Vince McMahon is returning to reclaim what is his - the WWE). My problem here is that everyone watching saw this mysterious video interrupting the video package that was being shown on Pin Up Strong. So if we all saw it, why didn't the announcers mention it? If I were sitting there watching, I would comment on it and ask what it was all about? It is insulting to my intelligence for them to just ignore it like they did. Also, why should I take any vignette seriously after weeks of them announcing the coming of Brodus Clay who still hasn't been on?

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw and Smackdown 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.

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

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