By Jason Powell

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WWE Raw Hits

Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus vs. John Morrison and Mark Henry: A good tag match that showcased Del Rio and his finisher. Morrison did the bulk of the selling for his team since he's much better in that role than Henry is, yet he was protected in the sense that he was able to perform his signature spots and didn't lose the match for his team. I continue to be disappointed by Sheamus's drop from the main events to mid-cads. Hopefully it's just a temporary move, but this King gimmick isn't doing anything for him.

Natalya vs. Melina: The match was short, but it was fine while it lasted. The post-match segment with LayCool was nicely done even though I had to go to the WWE website after the show to find out what match they were actually teasing. It turns out it will be a handicap match. I'm not a fan of handicap matches, but at least this one makes sense if you can buy into LayCool having a rematch clause that gives both of them the right to challenge for the title as a unit.

Daniel Bryan: The silliness with The Bella Twins is finally over! So they thought vegan meant virgin? Ugh. I hope Bryan hooking up with Gail Kim doesn't become a regular storyline. He needs to get back to being the no frills technician that was getting over just fine before sports entertainment silliness slowed him down. That said, it would be nice to see Gail Kim get a push in the Divas division now that her TNA rival Awesome Kong has signed with WWE.

New Nexus and The Corre: I like the interesting dynamic between the two factions. Everything may be just as it seems with the two sides feuding, but there's part of me wondering whether it will be revealed that they are actually one big unit. I was never crazy about the idea of having a version of Nexus on Raw and Smackdown, but this would actually set it up nicely in that the two groups are establishing themselves individually, so it feel like we're getting an A-team and a B-team. Whether they work together or fight each other on Sunday, that's a Rumble storyline to keep a close eye on.

WWE Raw Misses

Overall show/final hype for the Royal Rumble: A big miss. WWE really dropped the ball with the Rumble hype. It was logical to hold off on hyping the Rumble in December, but it never felt like the hype shifted out of first gear. I expected greatness from the go-home show because it was needed. Instead, we got a ho-hum edition of Raw that failed to pump this viewer up for Sunday. Worse yet, I don't think this was the type of show that would lead viewers who were on the fence about the Rumble to make the purchase. The 40-man hype should help, but the company failed to set up many intriguing scenarios heading into the Rumble match. The Rumble is my favorite match of the year and I'm looking forward to the show because of the history, but Vince McMahon and creative did a lousy job of hyping the match and the overall event.

Edge vs. Miz in a champion vs. champion match: The match never really had a chance because I think everyone over the age of ten expected a non-finish, and WWE opted to place two commercial breaks during the match. The live crowd never got excited about the match, and it shocks me that WWE fails so miserably at making champion vs. champion matches feel special. The cheap finish was expected, but at least Randy Orton woke up the live crowd. However, Miz is getting the bulk of the mic time with Cena, and WWE failed to make me think Orton will take the title on Sunday.

Battle Royal: The Legends of WWE Superstars on WGN America battle royal last week was horrible hype for the Rumble, and this four-man battle royal wasn't much better. It made Edge look strong at the expense of his challengers, and the real problem there is that Edge isn't even advertised for the Rumble match. The hook that the person who eliminated Edge from the match would be handed the No. 40 entry spot in the Rumble was a nice touch, but it also reminded me of how much more WWE could have done while setting up the Rumble.

Wade Barrett vs. C.M. Punk: This would have been fine for a standard edition of Raw, as Cena did a nice job of entertaining the fans while sending both factions backstage before the match. We got the bait and switch tease that one of the factions would not be in the Rumble match, but I never really bought in since I didn't think there was a real chance that WWE would exclude one of the factions. The post-match brawl was probably the most predictable part of the entire show, in that you had to know going in that they would go off the air with a big in-ring brawl to give viewers a visual preview of the Rumble. Predictable isn't always bad, but the setup lacked creativity and I was just numb to the entire brawl because it felt so forced.

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