WWE Raw Hits

Ric Flair and Chris Jericho: Awesome segment. Jericho was absolutely on fire with his comments toward Flair, who came back strong in his own defense. Jericho plays the wormy heel role as well as anyone in the business. As great as his work was in the feud with Shawn Michaels, this may have been his best mic work to date, which is really saying something. This was main event slot material, but WWE was wise to put it in the opening segment given that it doesn't tie in with Sunday's No Way Out pay-per-view.

Chris Jericho, Mike Knox, and Kane vs. John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Kofi Kingston: A quality six-man television match. It was refreshing to see Cena do the bulk of the selling given that he's the most over guy in Sunday's Elimination Chamber match. I wish they would have done more to build up Mike Knox, but it was wise to give Jericho even more momentum heading into the Elimination Chamber since he's the only heel of the group the fans see as a legitimate threat to Cena's title. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone is taking the Raw version of the EC match seriously. More on that in the "Misses" section.

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton: Sure, the cheap finish sucked, but I didn't expect to see a clean finish with these two on television. The intense stares from both men before the match were great, and it was cool that Orton didn't flinch or show any type of intimidation. I wasn't bothered a bit by Shane McMahon this week. He ran in and attacked Orton, but it was Taker who did the heavy lifting by chokeslamming Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, which gave Shane a chance to hit the Van Terminator. Good final build for Orton vs. Shane.

C.M. Punk vs. William Regal: This was fun while it lasted, but I wish they'd give these guys more time. They came through with a really good match when Punk regained the Intercontinental Title from Regal a few weeks ago, but it was back to less than four minutes again this week. I really liked the exchange with Regal trying to transition from the neck hold into hoisting Punk on his shoulder, only to have Punk attempt to roll him up and take the headbutt from Regal. Here's hoping these two get at least 10 minutes on pay-per-view one of these days.

JBL: Good mic work again. I wish he had another two weeks of television to antagonize Michaels before the pay-per-view. This is the role that JBL can play better than anyone.

WWE Raw Misses

Cryme Tyme: WWE isn't exactly doing wonders for the only real babyface tag team on Raw by having them lose so often. That said, I like Cody Rhodes's new CrossRhodes finishing move. The live crowds pop big for Cryme Tyme more often than not. It's amazing to hear two guys get such strong reactions when the fans are given so little reason to get behind them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should have defeated Rhodes and DiBiase. I'm simply saying that WWE should do more with Cryme Tyme. Abandon the silly gimmick and push these two as a credible team.

Shawn Michaels vs. Mark Henry: Weird one minute match. I get that it was a setup for JBL to remind Shawn that he could lose it all if he gets disqualified at the pay-per-view, but since when does the guy who kicks the chair into the head of the guy holding it get disqualified? WWE seems to be making up what constitutes a DQ as they go along.

Raw Elimination Chamber match: This looks like a throwaway match on paper. This would have been so much better if HBK and JBL were involved, but I have a feeling they are rushing into the blowoff of their feud so that Shawn can face Undertaker at the pay-per-view. The match may turn out to be entertaining, but I don't think anyone expects Cena to drop the title in this match. He just beat Jericho on television last week and I don't think anyone expects to see one of the other four wresters crowned champion heading into WrestleMania 25.

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