Powell Editorials WWE Raw Hitlist: Batista, C.M. Punk, Kane, JBL, John Cena, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes, Cryme Tyme, Santino Marella By Jason Powell Jul 15, 2008 - 12:25 PM CLICK FOR BIO Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing WWE Raw Hits C.M. Punk vs. Kane: I don't mind the countout finish because they're trying to elevate both wrestlers right now and this wasn't the right time to have either one of them lose cleanly. I don't have a problem with Punk winning fluky matches right now because he's being portrayed as a vulnerable champion. The only thing that matters is that he's portrayed as a credible champion who grew into the role sometime before he drops the title. Batista and Punk confrontation: This was my favorite part of the show, as it set the tone for their match on Sunday. Punk tried to be the nice guy by thanking Batista for saving him, and then Batista made it clear that he's not Punk's friend and that he's coming for his title at the pay-per-view. Punk stood up for himself after Batista patted him on the cheek. Very good confrontation. I'll be disappointed if Punk's reign ends at the pay-per-view because I think he and Batista could have a very nice run together and I don't think they've accomplished much with Punk yet. Kane: I like the theories about Kane carrying his old mask in the burlap sack, but part of me will be disappointed if he starts wearing it again because his facial expressions are so damn good. He plays the unbalanced role better than anybody and I really enjoyed his performance last night. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes: The mean spirited mic work fit their new characters well. They're like a male version of TNA's Beautiful People and I mean that as a compliment. More wrestling: Raw viewers were finally treated to some in-ring action. Granted, there were some short matches, but at least we got more than six minutes of wrestling during the first hour of the show. I was on my way to giving this show a thumbs up until the final segment. WWE Raw Misses JBL tries to kill John Cena: This was an incredibly lame way to close out the go-home edition of Raw leading into the Great American Bash pay-per-view. The angle was so over the top and silly that it overshadowed everything else that took place on the show and left many viewers with a bad taste in their mouths. This wasn't a cliffhanger since WWE had no choice but to reveal that Cena was just fine moments after the show concluded on their own website. After all, they had to let people know that he would still be wrestling at the pay-per-view. Angles such as this one make it impossible to suspend disbelief. For instance, shouldn't JBL be facing attempted murder charges? DQ finish in the main event: I hate it when WWE changes their minds regarding what is grounds for a disqualification as they go along. Since when is a wrestler DQ'd for saving his partner from a pin or submission attempt in a tag team match? It would be one thing if the announcers were allowed to portray it as a questionable call by the referee, but Michael Cole, who was presumably being instructed by Vince McMahon, had to justify the ref's decision by saying JBL blatantly kicked Cena in front of the referee. You know, because Cole doesn't have enough credibility issues as it is. Cryme Tyme: These guys need mic time. The live crowd are popping for them, but they need to get their characters over. Here's hoping the writers are tweaking those characters and are doing away with the lame stereotype gimmicks they've been using. Beth Phoenix vs. Santino Marella: I'm not sure what the point of this was. It might be different if Beth had been established as the dominant female, but she's lost her share of matches lately. Meanwhile, Santino is just a non-factor at this point. His mic work is great and it's just a shame they refuse to give him in-ring credibility. BOOKMARK DOT NET AND ADD US TO YOUR RSS • HELP DOT NET: TAKE OUR ADVERTISER DEMO SURVEY CLICK TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY Powell Editorials Latest Twelve Articles WWE Smackdown Hitlist: Jeff Hardy, Triple H, Vickie Guerrero, Brian Kendrick, Undertaker, R-Truth, Shelton Benjamin, MVP TNA Impact Hitlist: Sting, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Awesome Kong, ODB, Christian Cage, A.J. Styles, Sheik Abdul Bashir ECW Hitlist: Eight-man tag main event, Super Crazy, John Morrison and The Miz, Ricky Ortiz, Gavin Spears, Matt Striker WWE Raw Hitlist: Randy Orton returns to bicker with C.M. Punk, Rey Mysterio and Candice Michelle back in action, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Honk-A-Meter WWE Smackdown Hitlist: Triple H vs. Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy vs. MVP, The Brian Kendrick, Vickie Guerrero, R-Truth, Natalya, Maryse, Michelle McCool, Maria TNA Impact Hitlist: Sting promo, Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash vs. Kurt Angle, Karen Angle, Kip James, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt