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WWE Raw Hits

Batista vs. Chris Jericho: An innovative cage match. You could tell these two put a lot of thought into the match and didn't just go out there and wing it. I really enjoyed the spot with Batista reaching through the cage door and catching Jericho as he tried to escape over the top of the cage. It looked like Batista bled the hard way and that's no good, but I have to admit that the blood added something to the match.

Mike Adamle quits: It just didn't work out. Adamle was better in the general manager role than I thought he would be, but most of his performances were lifeless and bland. At least they finally had him come out and say that he wanted to call everything down the middle. It would have helped his character tremendously had they let him establish that early in his run as the general manager, but I don't think they had any idea where they were going with him.

Shane and Stephanie McMahon: They really added to the show last night. Shane's no nonsense approach to making decisions is refreshing, and Stephanie showing heel tendencies was intriguing.

DX reunion: I didn't care for the outcome of the match, but I was entertained by the comedy antics of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Their comments regarding Hunter's nose and HBK's hairline and chaps were fun.

Overall show: A newsworthy, entertaining three-hour edition of Raw. There were plenty of things I didn't like about the show (see below), but the overall show was a fun ride. I also enjoyed the old clips they showed from past episodes, particularly the footage from the early Raw shows. Unfortunately, that footage reminded me just how long some of the main eventers have been around. Even so, the second celebration of 800 episodes felt more nostalgic than the first time around.

WWE Raw Misses

Lack of Hype: WWE did a good job of hyping the three-hour special. Heck, even Vince McMahon made a radio appearance to hype the event. However, I was surprised that they didn't bother to hype the latest Hardy brothers reunion and Undertaker's appearance on the show. For that matter, they never said definitively that Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon would appear even though it was implied.

Michael Cole: I'm sure he's only doing what he's told to do, but his phony laugh during the comedy segments is obnoxious.

Kung Fu Naki dance party: The new Kung character has been a guilty pleasure of mine since it debuted on Smackdown a few weeks ago. However, this dance party segment was downright awful. The live crowd just sat there while everyone danced around like idiots. Cole looked especially silly and he lost even more credibility by taking part in this mess.

John Morrison and The Miz: As expected, the big push they received heading into the match was designed to build them up for the big fall to the mighty DX. Will we be saying something similar about Vladimir Kozlov later this month?

Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes and Manu: These guys look like losers whenever they let Randy Orton attack them and don't return fire. I'm sure it's all leading to Orton serving as the mentor, but it's painful watching them get there. I was actually excited to see DiBiase eliminate his buddies from the battle royal and it will be interesting to see whether they follow up on that or if the plan is for Orton's boot to put him in his place.

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Bret "Hitman" Haas: Haas looked the part, but the live crowd could not have cared less. He really needs to start working on the voices if he's going to continue doing these impersonations. What's more alarming is that the live crowd didn't seem to care about Kozlov, who is on the verge of challenging Triple H for the WWE Title.

C.M. Punk and Kofi Kingston: They win the tag title last week only to look like losers this week. I can live with Kofi doing the job in the tag match, but Orton making short work of Punk and showing that he was on the verge of winning the match before Ted DiBiase interfered showed what Vince McMahon and the creative team really think of him. It's a shame they've given up on his push so quickly because Raw needs all the fresh, young stars it can get.

Mae Young: I get a kick out of Mae, but there's no justification for putting a woman her age in the ring no matter how much she wants to work. The spot where she fell over was frightening and I'm sure it led to a few skipped heartbeats backstage.

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