By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

RAW HITS

Jericho's Return: I have no faith in WWE to tie in the content of the mystery videos with Chris Jericho, but time will tell if I am wrong. For now, I was very intrigued by the return of Jericho. I loved how he came back and played to the crowd for so long in such an over the top manner. It slowly went from appearing genuine, to appearing like he was hamming it up, to being a bit over the top, to being way over the top, to being just a bit creepy which worked well. He never said anything (other than hollering). I liked his victory laps. He was acting like a babyface, but in such an over the top way that it turned him heel. It is always interesting when a star returns. They might be a heel when they left, but they get a babyface reaction from fans who are happy to have them back. So, if you want them to be a face, there isn't a problem. But, if you want them to be a heel, how do you turn them in front of a crowd that is supporting them? This was certainly a clever way of doing it. I'm curious to see how fans react to him next week. I'm curious to see if WWE follows up on the videos. And ultimately, I'm curious to see where they go with Jericho now that he is back.

Show Closing Angle: This is a minor Hit. I was not happy that the main event was not the WWE Title match (more later). I get why with the show closing angle and it was enough of a holy crap moment to get people's attention. The three-on-two handicap elimination tag match main event was ok. The real story was Kane coming up from under the ring to attack Zack Ryder and John Cena afterwards. Now, this has been done multiple times so it didn't have a huge impact, and we've seen Kane and Undertaker pull opponents into the abyss (aka Hornswoggle's old home) before, so that wasn't that big of a deal. However, I liked the twist of Cena saving Ryder moments before the huge explosion and fireball came from under the ring. That was a nice touch to further the feud between Kane and Cena as Kane continues to play mind games.

RAW MISSES

Bryan vs. Rhodes: This Miss is for how this match was booked, not for the effort of Daniel Bryan or Cody Rhodes. This is a case where WWE should not have booked the match at all. I made a case at one point in 2011 for why WWE should do away with non-Title matches on tv. This is evidence to help prove my case. A match between the World Champion and the Intercontinental Champion should not take place at all unless it is a very special circumstance. If it does happen, it should be a huge deal. Here, it was a short throw away opening match that meant nothing. Why were these two wrestling? They have big Title matches on Smackdown, so this is a case where promos from each would be better to hype the Title matches than this match. WWE wants to give Bryan wins over credible opponents, but they want to protect that opponent, so you get the quick win in a roll up situation and it does nobody good. Rhodes lost, but Bryan gained little from the win since it wasn't treated like a big deal. Bryan is a good wrestler who can get over with his offense, but here he was on defense the entire time until he got the win which is typical even-steven WWE booking that doesn't work. He needs to be on offense to legitimize himself as Champion. This match shouldn't have taken place at all, and if it had to, it should have been hyped in advance, treated like a big deal as a Champion vs. Champion match, and should have been given more time for the match to unfold with a better ending. But, the easiest thing is to just not have it in the first place.

Punk vs. Ziggler: I assumed that this was a one and done (for now) match up where CM Punk would get the win despite a strong showing from Dolph Ziggler in a very long Raw main event that would elevate Ziggler in the process as a potential WWE Champion in 2012 (with my hope being for him to win The Royal Rumble - would he choose Punk whom he lost to, or Daniel Bryan? etc. etc.). The match went a decent length, but not nearly as long as I hoped. It was ridiculous to not be in the main event. I understand the reasoning with Kane and the explosion at the end, but it still doesn't say much for the WWE Title that it wasn't the main event. The match quality was fine. There was definitely some good in ring action and I would like to see more of them in the ring against each other. However, the lame interference from John Laurinaitis ruined the match. It was over booked. I would be kinder to WWE for setting up a rematch at the Rumble, but Laurinaitis will be the special guest referee which turns it into an angle, not a match. I want to see wrestling matches, particularly Title matches, at PPVs, not angles. Laurinaitis' presence ruined this match and he was only there at the very end. What will happen when he is there for the entire match? I'm sick of these types of situations. If you build a match properly, you don't need these bells and whistles. Do your job right and fans will be forking over their money to see Punk vs. Ziggler for the WWE Title at a PPV.

No Brodus Clay Again: Really? How many times are they going to promise this guy and not deliver? Does anyone outside of the internet wrestling community (if such a thing really exists) even remember Clay at this point? It is just stupid.

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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