WWE Raw Hitlist: Jeff Hardy returns, Mr. Kennedy, Lance Cade turns on Trevor Murdoch, Jim Ross, and William Regal

WWE Raw Hits

Jeff Hardy returns: A good, surprising return. Hardy seemed to pick up right where he left off, as the live crowd was thrilled to see him and picking up a clean win (well, as clean as a two-count win can be) over Umaga established that he's not going to be buried by the company for making a mistake. I'm not sure whether he'll wear the WWE Title anytime soon (as was the plan before his suspension), but he was the company's hottest act before he violated the Wellness Policy and he should help turn the ratings around if WWE showcases him in the ring way.

William Regal: The general manager and reigning King has mega-heat. The lights out gimmick was a risky move that didn't lead to increased ratings, but it succeeded in putting some serious heat on Regal. He's doing a great job as the general manager and now it's time to get him back in the ring an establish him as an in-ring force. Let's face it, winning the King of the Ring tournament just wasn't enough. He needs to get a couple of clean wins before people will view him as a serious threat to Triple H and the WWE Title, which is how he should be positioned.

Jim Ross: Good ol' J.R. was on his game even more than usual this week. Honestly, the guy should probably be featured in the "Hits" segment every week because he's the best in the business and it's not even close. He seemed more energetic than usual last night and his comment about Lillian Garcia introducing Mr. Kennedy after he just finished introducing himself was hilarious. The live crowd popped for Hardy and gave him a nice ovation, but Ross and Jerry Lawler really put it over as a major event.

Mr. Kennedy: Maybe it was just a hot crowd, but I got the sense that Kennedy was starting to click as a babyface. I'm surprised given that his babyface run has consisted of him being punched in the face by Regal and being pinned by Chavo Guerrero last week.

Beth Phoenix roughs up Melina: Roughed up probably is the right choice of words. It looked like Beth beat the living hell out of Melina! Seriously, that was a great backstage attack. We see similar brawls from the male wrestlers every week and very few stand out the way this one did.

WWE Raw Misses

Lack of hype for the Judgment Day matches: This was a go-home show? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Monday's Raw more than other recent episodes, but there wasn't much focus placed on the WWE Title match or the John Cena vs. JBL match. I also agree with Dot Net reader John Brooks, who questioned in a Mailbag post why the show concluded with the babyface champion getting the better of the heel challenger. I could see if Hunter was in the midst of a lengthy title run and they felt the need to shake things up and avoid the formula, but this is his first pay-per-view title defense.

Trevor Murdoch: Lance Cade's punches were great and it's good to see them follow through on the heel turn. There was a second where I thought they were going to pull the plug on the turn just like they did with whatever the hell they had going on with Paul London and Brian Kendrick a while back. The thing I didn't like about this segment is that Murdoch looked like a goof. Cade encouraged him to sing their victory song and then punched him in the face. Murdoch was that nerdy guy at the karaoke bar who is convinced by his friends that he's a good singer only because his friends want to laugh at him. Wait, that was a really weird analogy coming from someone who has never been to an actual karaoke bar.

By the way, I realized that I was mistaken during my live coverage last night. I know a few more country songs from my dad's weird Kenny Rogers phase. Who could forget "Coward of the County" or that awful "Islands in the Stream" duet with Dolly Parton? I still remember my dad getting misty eyed while playing the "Coward of the County" eight track and telling me to listen for the message in the lyrics. You can bet your ass I'll be teasing him about that tonight when we meet up for dinner and a couple of beers.