WWE Raw Hitlist: John Cena attacked by Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, and Manu, Batista vs. Dolph Ziggler, JBL and Shawn Michaels, big announcements for four major matches

WWE Raw Hits

Chris Jericho promo: An entertaining promo to open the show with a nice play on John Cena's promo at the end of last week. As I mentioned in my live coverage report, this promo didn't make me want to buy the pay-per-view to see Jericho get his ass kicked since we just saw that happen at the end of last week's show, but it was effective. He told a great story about his son idolizing Cena and I was hanging on every word.

Chris Jericho causing problems: Jericho's transparent attempts to manipulate other wrestlers was successful in making him out to be the sleaziest heel on the Raw brand. He came across like a real worm and by the end of the night I could see why John Cena fans would want to see him get revenge again.

Heels attack John Cena: It was nice to see Randy Orton finally form an alliance with Cody Rhodes and Manu. Where does Ted DiBiase fit in when he comes back? If Ted turns babyface, who gets the entrance music in the divorce? I'm guessing the Jericho connection won't last long, but this segment set up Cena with four future opponents and made it seem like the deck is stacked against him.

C.M. Punk and Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes and Manu: It was good to see WWE stray from their usual formula of having long matches at the end of the first and second hours. They gave this match 10 minutes and the four wrestlers made the most of it. Solid action from start to finish with the tag champs looking good. Is it just me or are they really limiting Manu's in-ring appearances?

Batista vs. Dolph Ziggler: I'm not sure why they put Ziggler in a position to lose in his debut match, but at least they made him look good in defeat. He showed some signs of life against Batista and snuck in more offense than I expected before succumbing to the Batista Bomb.

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz: First, I loved the Mike Knox attack early in the show. He looks like such a badass, especially while standing next to Mysterio. I also enjoyed the mystery of whether Rey would be able to work his match against The Miz. The match wasn't particularly memorable, but kudos to Miz for flashing a great look of shock and frustration after Mysterio caught him for the pin.

JBL and Shawn Michaels: It's great to see JBL get a storyline he can carry with his mouth. He's a great talker and he did an exceptional job during this segment. I couldn't believe the live crowd booed HBK. That was the most shocking thing I've seen on Raw in ages. I'm still guessing that HBK will hit JBL with Sweet Chin Music sooner rather than later, but this was a highly entertaining segment and I'm looking forward to the next chapter of their storyline.

WWE Raw Misses

Randy Orton vs. Batista announcement: Two of the top stars on Raw are going to meet at the pay-per-view and WWE just kind of announced the match and then moved on. Very disappointing hype for this match.

Three big matches announced for next week: Much like the Orton vs. Batista announcement, the hype for the big three main events next week left plenty to be desired. Why not have the announcers sit at ringside and talk about how big these matches are and what a huge show next week's Raw will be? WWE seemed to be in such a rush to move on to the next segment that these matches were afterthoughts by the end of the show.

Kane loves the fans: Where did that come from? Weren't the fans all cockroaches like Rey Mysterio just a month or two ago? If this is just a sign of Kane's dementia, then the announcers should have at least pointed out that he seemed to be delusional.