WWE Raw Hitlist: Bret Hart and Vince McMahon, Edge doesn't pick his WrestleMania opponent, Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton, William Shatner spoken word, Sheamus as WWE Champion

Dot Net Members are listening to my 40-minute audio recap of Monday's WWE Raw, which includes plenty of speculation about where WWE is heading with the WrestleMania 26 matches. You can get all the perks of membership on the ad-free version of the website by signing up for $5 per month membership via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

WWE Raw Hits

Bret Hart and Vince McMahon: Awesome segment. I'm not thrilled about Batista and John Cena getting involved simply because there's no real connection, but I understand given the limitations of Bret and perhaps even Vince when it comes to in-ring performances. The big question now is whether it will be a tag team match with Batista and Vince facing Bret and Cena, or if Vince will be in Batista's corner while Bret's in Cena's corner for a singles match with a stipulation that gives Bret five or ten minutes with Vince if Cena wins the match. Either way, I loved the buildup for Hart's appearance with the videos that were shown throughout the broadcast, and the actual segment was gold with great mic work from both men.

Edge waits to select his WrestleMania opponent: I'm actually happy to see Edge is waiting until after the Elimination Chamber match to pick the title he'll challenge for at WrestleMania. My guess is that Chris Jericho will win the Smackdown version of the Elimination Chamber to make Edge's decision an easy one. In the meantime, we get Edge brawling with Sheamus, and Undertaker appearing on The Cutting Edge, and perhaps even Christian taking offense at Edge not mentioning the ECW Title as a possibility.

Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels: This was the best of the Elimination Chamber matches simply because there was some mystery over which wrestler would win. The story of Shawn being obsessed with Taker to the point that it's costing him matches is well done, and it gives DX a storyline excuse if they drop the Unified Tag Titles next week on Raw. This wasn't a pay-per-view quality match, but I really enjoyed the intensity both men showed early on and the way Orton caught Michaels and pinned him. HBK sold the loss well and is playing up his obsession with facing Taker extremely well.

William Shatner: Great comedy spots. I laughed out loud while Shatner was delivering the spoken word renditions of the WWE theme songs. The creative team made great use of Shatner while not going overboard with the number of segments he was involved in. By the way, I've never purchased a WWE CD, but I would totally buy that fake CD they teased. Make it happen, WWE.

Sheamus: The young champion is doing a great job. The creative team isn't shoving him down our throats and they've been wise to make his limited appearances meaningful. My only critique is that I'd like to see him plow through more opponents on Raw just to build up his in-ring credibility. There's no guarantee he survives the Elimination Chamber, but I'd love to see him not only go to WrestleMania as champion, but also leave the show with the title. The longer he holds the belt the better the chances are that he'll still remain a major player once his title reign concludes. I know there are a lot of fans (and even plenty of wrestlers) complaining that he was given the belt too quickly. How many of those same fans have bitched repeatedly about wanting new blood in the main event picture? They're finally getting it, and now they're just pissed that it's not the guy they wanted to see get the push.

Ted DiBiase qualifies for the Elimination Chamber: DiBiase and Orton qualifying the Elimination Chamber gives the match a fun story to follow. I was actually hoping the three Legacy members would qualify for the match, but everyone knew Cody wasn't going to qualify the moment they announced his match with John Cena. In general, though, I loved the Elimination Chamber qualifier concept because it made most of the matches meaningful rather than just random.

Overall show: WWE is on a roll right now after delivering some embarrassingly bad shows late last year. I complained last year at this time that the build for WrestleMania was awkward and it seemed like they were making it up as they went along. They haven't officially advertised anything for WrestleMania 26 yet and there's a lot of mystery about what the actual matches will be, but I get the sense that WWE knows exactly where they are going with all the major storylines.

WWE Raw Misses

John Cena and Triple H dominance: Their Elimination Chamber qualifying matches were just too predictable. Cena plowed through Cody Rhodes quickly, whereas they gave Hunter vs. Jack Swagger a long match. Swagger worked hard and they had a quality match, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the outcome was inevitable and thus the matches felt like a waste of time. Don't get me wrong, I realize Cena and Hunter are the two dogs on Raw and WWE is wise to keep them strong. It's just that it doesn't always make for the most interesting television.

Kofi Kingston vs. Big Show: The story of the match wasn't Kofi qualifying for the Elimination Chamber as it should have been. Rather, it was Big Show accidentally striking the referee and yelling that it was an accident afterward.