WWE Raw Hits

Chris Jericho's promo: Awesome promo that belittled the win that Shawn Michaels scored over him, which should drive the HBK character nuts. I loved the way Jericho reasoned that the match didn't really exist because it was an unsanctioned match and therefore won't show up in the record books. The crowd booed everything he said and there is no sign of fans cheering Jericho's heel character, which is hard for the top heels to pull off these days.

Rey Mysterio and Evan Bourne: I haven't seen a Raw crowd get that excited about a non-main event match in ages. Great high spots and tremendous energy from the babyface team. They were so entertaining together that WWE should consider moving them into a feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase.

Mike Adamle announcements: Good hype early in the show for Jericho vs. Batista, and for next week's Raw main event between Jericho and C.M. Punk. It looked like they were running through Jericho's top challengers quickly and my initial feeling was that they would have to go above and beyond to book those matches in a manner that would leave fans eager to see pay-per-view rematches. Unfortunately, WWE took the cheap way out. More on that later.

Honk-A-Meter: Still loving it.

Jamie Noble: "We're going to Olive Garden, girl." If ever there was a single line that warranted a "Hit," this was it.

WWE Raw Misses

Main Event bait and switch: Cheap move. WWE advertises a hot main event and then turns it into a lame handicap match. I guess that's one way not to burn through the big pay-per-view main events quickly, but why should viewers expect anything different when Jericho defends against Punk next week? Michael Cole said there would be nowhere for Jericho to run inside the cage, but what's stopping Adamle from interrupting the match and changing the rules again? I don't honestly expect that to happen, but why risk upsetting viewers by not delivering the advertised main event?

Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes and Manu: I like the idea of a faction of second and third generation wrestlers, but these guys looked really weak when Orton slapped DiBiase and the trio didn't do anything to him. Last week made sense because they could claim that the young guys were too surprised to fight back. This week, they had three different guys surrounding one injured wrestler, yet they just let him walk away? Orton looked like a badass, but the rest of the guys looked like chumps.

Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James: This was the only match WWE announced before last night's Raw show. I mentioned in a news item that it had the potential to be good if the women were given enough time. The match took place on Raw and it wasn't at the end of the first or second hour, meaning it received the standard allotment of between two and four minutes. Ugh.

ECW talent exchange: The ECW wrestlers can now work Raw or Smackdown matches? At this rate, I expect ECW crew to show up on TNA next week. I wouldn't mind this move so much if there wasn't a history of ECW wrestlers being buried whenever they appear on other shows. Bourne looked like a million bucks, but Miz and Morrison were glorified tackling dummies.

Michael Cole: "Breathtaking and swashbuckling superstars." If ever there was a single line that warranted a "Miss," this was it.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: