By Jason Powell

WWE Raw Hits

Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett vs. Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston: An entertaining television match. That said, if they knew Bourne was going to be suspended, then I do question the decision to not take the tag straps off Air Boom. I'm not saying Rhodes and Barrett should have been the team to take the titles, but it does seem odd that they left the belts on a team that can't defend the belts for a month. Then again, if they had dropped the belts, which babyface team would have challenged while Air Boom is out of the picture?

Mark Henry vs. C.M. Punk: This didn't really serve a purpose aside from putting some mild heat on Alberto Del Rio for ordering Ricardo Rodriguez to do his dirty work. The Hit is due to the fact that WWE didn't damage Henry or Punk in the process. Yes, that's faint praise. By the way, I still feel like they need to put some heat on Ricardo if they're going to have him be the fall guy for Del Rio. There's nothing really heelish about his character. Rather, he's almost a sympathetic figure who keeps getting his ass kicked by the babyfaces simply because he follows the orders given to him by his boss/hero.

Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio: A minor Hit from the standpoint that I was entertained by the match itself. The miss aspect is that Del Rio is the same chickenshit vulnerable heel that everyone other than Mark Henry (and perhaps Brodus Clay) is. WWE seemed to be doing all the right things with Del Rio on Smackdown until the weeks leading up to WrestleMania. He was winning clean and appeared to be on his way to becoming a heel champion who didn't always have to cheat to win. Then he lost matches to Christian and the company turned him into their standard heel.

Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler: I hate seeing Ziggler lose at a time when I feel they should be adding him to the main event mix, but at least this took place in front of a live crowd that was solidly behind Ryder.

Sheamus: His interaction with the Beaker character was the only Muppet segment that I truly enjoyed. Plus, they made him look strong by having him clear three heels from the ring later in the show. He's not involved in a hot program right now, but at least WWE seems to be protecting him for an eventual program with Mark Henry.

WWE Raw Misses

Overall show: By the end of the night, I didn't want to see Survivor Series any more than I did going into Raw. Granted, we've known for weeks that The Rock is returning to the ring at Survivor Series, and it may have packed more of a punch for fans who simply watch the television show and don't follow online coverage. Nevertheless, the presentation of Rock agreeing to team with Cena left a lot to be desired (more on that below), and unless you really like the Muppets, there wasn't much to like last night. Is there a reason that every male champion not named Mark Henry has lost a non-title match (or two) in recent weeks?

The Rock agrees to team with John Cena: This was hardly the most electrifying or even memorable promo we've seen from Rock since he returned to television. It opened the show and didn't feel special due to the way that it was presented. Isn't that something you build to through the broadcast? I actually felt bad for Rock, as he had to come up with a reason why he would agree to team with John Cena or read the verbiage that a writer came up with to explain this half-assed mess of a story. The creative leading into Rock's return to the ring has been abysmal. There should be huge buzz over Rock's first match back and perhaps there will be by the time Survivor Series gets here, but I have no confidence in that happening based on what we've seen creatively from this company.

John Cena vs. The Miz: Cena previously established that he could have defeated Miz and R-Truth in a handicap match if it wasn't for the water bottle of doom. Cena once again showed his dominance over the duo by getting the better of both men. I understand that WWE is focussing on whether Rock and Cena can coexist, but I still believe the match would be more intriguing and would sell more pay-per-views if they were facing heels that the fans saw as a threat, not two chickenshit heels that Cena can destroy on his own. I'm sure we'll get some type of beatdown angle over the next couple weeks to put heat on the heels, but it's going to take something truly memorable and special to make viewers take these two serious enough to care about the revenge factor.

The Muppets: If you love the Muppets, then you disagree with this "Miss" listing. So be it. As someone who is indifferent about the Muppets, it made for a silly night of television with the talent interacting with puppets as if they were real. It's one thing for Santino Marella and Hornswoggle to play along, but it was eye rolling to see serious characters acting as if the Muppets are real. Yes, the Muppets use that formula on their own television show and movies, but it didn't click for this viewer in the WWE world.

Divas Battle Royal: If you've seen one Divas battle royal, you've seen them all.

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