By Jason Powell

WWE Raw Hits

The Rock: As nauseating as WWE's obsession with Twitter can be, Rock's line about Cena's lady parts trending was hysterical. Heck, I even got a kick out of John Laurinaitis talking about his 38,000 Twitter followers. Rock's mic work was strong and the live crowd was into everything he did. I disagree with Chris Shore's assessment in his live coverage review that the segment didn't sell any pay-per-views. Raw gave viewers a taste of Rock, and showed the tension between him and Cena. It wasn't a home run by any means, but I do believe they sold some pay-per-views last night. The biggest problem I had with the presentation of Rock was that they didn't make a big fuss over this being his first match in seven years. It should have felt more special than it did.

Michael Cole Challenge: Jim Ross busting a move was laugh out loud funny. I strongly believe that Cole's heel antics on play-by-play are turning off viewers, but he did a good job of hamming it up in this segment. Why can't they just move him into a manager-like role and put Ross back in the booth? C.M. Punk was also put in a good position, as he got some good mic work in and got to rough up Cole.

Mark Henry and Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show and C.M. Punk: I couldn't help but think of how much bigger the Survivor Series main event would feel if Henry and Del Rio were joining forces to face Rock and Cena. I like The Miz. I like R-Truth. I just hate the way creative failed to make them feel more important heading into the show. This match was effective in putting heat on the heels heading into Survivor Series. I would have kept Henry and Show apart until the pay-per-view and focussed on the ring breaking video, but the path they chose was solid.

Overall show: The go-home aspect of the show worked for me. I had no expectation of WWE trying to build up The Miz and R-Truth at this point. It was just too late in the game to pull that off with any success, so the decision to focus on the dynamic between Rock and Cena was the way to go. There was also plenty of focus on the Survivor Series elimination match throughout the show. I wasn't blown away by Raw, but they did a good job of focussing on the pay-per-view. Yes, I would have liked to have seen the company do something, anything to build up Miz and Truth over the last month, but it was just too late to accomplish that last night.

Cody Rhodes: His tag match was fine, but I was more impressed by Cody's improved look. He went as far as he could with the face mask gimmick, and he already looks like more of a star without it.

Dolph Ziggler: I can't give his match with Mason Ryan a hit since it was only a minute long, but Dolph is showing that his improved mic work is more than just a fluke. Here's hoping that he's positioned as a serious heel who doesn't have to cheat to win, as he could be a real player in the main event picture if he was given that type of push.

Kevin Nash: Short and sweet. That's the best way to use Nash, and that's especially true when he's appearing on a go-home show for a pay-per-view that he's even not advertised for.

WWE Raw Misses

Mick Foley: The "This is Your Life" segment made for some agonizing minutes of television. I don't care that it was intentionally bad to set up The Rock attacking Foley, it still made for lousy television. Foley said there's no place like home. After being handed the material for last night, I wonder if he was thinking "We're not in Kansas anymore" when it comes to the current state of WWE creative thanks to Vince McMahon.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: I didn't care for the way they established that Orton was on the verge of hitting his finisher and winning before the big run-in spot. The live crowd loved the big brawl with the Survivor Series match competitors, so it was successful on that level. I just believe WWE would have been better off having Barrett boast about his recent win over Orton rather than making it seem like a fluke due to the way this match went down.

Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger: I expected more from these two. It wasn't a horrible match, but it seemed stuck in first gear. The good news is that the fans continue to take to Sheamus. The bad news is that Swagger is presented as a mid-card joke who can only defeat comedy figures such as Santino Marella.

Announcing: I was ready to praise Vince McMahon for being wise enough to realize the benefit of having Jim Ross on play-by-play during the go-home show for an important pay-per-view. Unfortunately, they brought Michael Cole back to heel it up. Why in the world does Vince McMahon believe it's a good idea to have a heel play-by-play voice attempt to sell viewers on pay-per-view events?

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