WWE Raw Hits

Chris Jericho and Ric Flair's segment: Very entertaining. I liked the way Jericho used his normal speaking voice rather than go over the top with his delivery. His words and tone were believable and the live crowd responded accordingly. Unfortunately, this is one of the few segments I really enjoyed last night. I also enjoyed Flair's performance and I thought the staredown and verbal exchange was well done, but I disliked the idea of Flair being there in the first place. More on that shortly.

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler: As I mentioned in my live review last night, these two seem to have a lot more fun when Vince McMahon is too busy being a game show host to produce them. Lawler's line last week about the Hogan family was about as edgy as anything he's been allowed to say on Raw in recent years, and Ross's line about the "Girls of the AARP gone wild" when Mae Young came out was another gem. They followed up this week with a couple of additional zingers, including Ross asking whether he was working with Mike Adamle after King mispronounced Lena Yada's name. A bad show is always more entertaining if the announcers sneak in a few one liners to spice things up.

WWE Raw Misses

Ric Flair's unadvertised return: Does Vince McMahon even recognize what could pop a rating these days? How can they bring back Flair for the first time since he retired and not advertise it? I know WWE likes to make it seem like anything can happen on Raw, but this was just like an indy promoter trying to surprise his 60 people by not advertising a big name wrestler that could have tripled attendance and helped the promoter actually make money.

McMahon's Million Dollar Giveaway: It had a couple of funny moments early on (thanks to the contestants, not Vince McMahon), but the segments were just plain boring by the end of the night.

Bikini contest: I love bikinis. In fact, I love them so much that the only time I observe the five MPH speed limit in my townhouse complex is when I'm driving by the pool. That being said, WWE gave us one match in the first 55 minutes of the show, yet they found time for a bikini contest? T&A has been an important part of Raw's success over the years, but the bikini contest formula is just tired because it's been done a million times before.

Triple H vs. Chris Jericho: Please tell me that one of these guys are going to Smackdown next week because there's no other way to justify giving way their first encounter in an unadvertised match on Raw. WWE doesn't have many fresh pay-per-view matches to work with these days and this could have been a main event worth matchup had it been promoted the right way. They can still have the match, but it won't mean as much as it would have had they saved their first encounter for pay-per-view.

Lance Cade: He looked smaller and that haircut didn't do him any favors. Jerry Lawler didn't even seem to recognize him when he ran out during the main event and attacked Triple H. I'm all for elevating undercard talent, but that did not come across well. Worse yet, it made Hunter and Cena look weak heading into the the pay-per-view match that's being hyped as a battle between two of WWE's biggest stars.

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