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WWE Raw Hits

Undertaker and Shawn Michaels: I've been pleasantly surprised by Taker's promos. I thought they would struggle to hype the match because Taker doesn't say much and Shawn isn't a great promo guy, but they've done a very nice job of setting the stage so far. Of all the advertised WrestleMania 25 matches, this is the one that feels truly special and WrestleMania worthy.

Randy Orton and Triple H: You could see the house brawl coming a mile away, but the house fight was fun way to close the show. I still wish they would have shown restraint by not having these two touch until WrestleMania 25. I wouldn't have had either one of them wrestle on television heading into their match at WrestleMania. That being said, the Attitude Era throwback angle at the end of the show was solid.

Maryse vs. Melina: That was as good as a two minute Divas match can be. Fun action while it lasted, and it left me wanting to see more from these two. The post-match fight was forgettable, but the match itself was entertaining.

JBL vs. C.M. Punk: I'd prefer to see Punk defend the IC Title at WrestleMania 25 in a good, competitive match with another young opponent, but it was nice to see that WWE didn't overreact to the script for last week's show leaking online. Anyone who read the script probably assumed a title change was coming, but WWE has overreacted to leaked information and popular speculation regarding storyline direction too many times lately.

WWE Raw Misses

Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show: I'm not crazy about the buildup for the match because it feels more of a comedy soap opera than a traditional WrestleMania title match storyline. I'm sure the match will be entertaining, but the build toward the Triple Threat match has been disappointing so far. The World Hvt. Championship seems secondary to all the Big Show and Vickie Guerrero drama at this point.

Chris Jericho challenges Ric Flair: Ugh. Please tell me Flair isn't going to wrestle at WrestleMania 25. I don't think anyone other than Flair wants that to happen. I don't expect Flair to never wrestle again. This is pro wrestling after all. However, it just feels like it's too soon for Flair to return to the ring given the amazing sendoff the company gave him last year.

Kofi Kingston vs. Chris Jericho: This match did nothing for Kofi. He was clearly beaten by Jericho only to be saved by the Flair distraction. Kingston comes across like a pushover. He's never even received promo time to complain about Edge attacking him and taking his spot in the Elimination Chamber match.

Christian returns to Raw: An unadvertised appearance in a throwaway six-man tag match was not exactly what Christian fans were hoping for when it came to his first non-ECW appearance. Edge and Christian appeared on the same show for the first time in years and they didn't even bother to acknowledge it. What a waste.

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