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WWE Raw Hits

Undertaker and Shawn Michaels vs. JBL and Vladimir Kozlov: Raw started out with a bang last night. The tension between Taker and HBK was tremendous and Shawn tagging himself into the match and stealing the pin was great. The post-match attack by Shawn was also very well done. I don't expect HBK to turn full fledged heel, but he was definitely showing heel tendencies in his hometown. Bonus points for not wasting time showing tension between JBL and Kozlov to set up a WrestleMania 25 match between the two.

Ric Flair: I enjoyed the promo and it was great to hear Flair say that he won't return to the ring at WrestleMania 25. Although his promo was likely scripted by the creative team, he's made similar comments in radio interviews. As much as Naitch would probably like to return to the ring, it's good to know that he realizes how special his sendoff was last year. I'd be cool with Ric returning to the ring for a big match with his son Reid Flair at some point, but this year is just too soon.

Triple H vs. Cody Rhodes: I could piss and moan about Rhodes looking weak, and that is an ongoing issue with he and Ted DiBiase. However, Cody isn't playing a big part at WrestleMania, whereas Hunter vs. Randy Orton is one of the top matches on the show. The cage being lowered was a cool touch, and the shots of Hunter and Orton staring at one another through the cage were excellent.

WWE Raw Misses

No graphic for Test: It was disappointing when TNA didn't feature a graphic at the beginning of the Destination X pay-per-view, but it was even more upsetting when WWE didn't bother to acknowledge the death of Andrew Martin. WWE is clearly in paranoia mode regarding the Martin case, as they didn't mention him on Raw and they saved the Von Erich announcement for the WWE website.

Chris Jericho challenges three legends: I'm really disappointed by this development and so are the bulk of the Dot Net readers based on the current pole results. As I write this, 79 percent of the readers who voted said they were hoping for something better than the handicap match that was teased last night. I would have been happier with a singles match between Jericho and Ricky Steamboat given the handicap match alternative. Was this really the secret plan that Vince has been keeping from the creative team? My guess is that he thought he could get Steve Austin, but Stone Cold passed on the offer. That's just a guess, but I can't imagine that this is the big match that Vince had planned all along.

John Cena vs. Big Show vs. Edge hype: The World Hvt. Championship belt means nothing right now because the focus is on the love triangle with Show, Edge, and Vickie Guerrero. They creative team seems more concerned with telling dick jokes and delivering a soap opera storyline than establishing this as a WrestleMania worthy title match. I haven't been this apathetic regarding a WrestleMania World Title match in years.

Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy: All the major players in WWE are switching brands to promote their WrestleMania 25 matches. However, the Hardys remain on Smackdown every week, which sends the message that their feud isn't on par with the top WrestleMania matches. I haven't been crazy about the buildup for the Hardy vs. Hardy match, but the least they could do is create a reason to have them carry the feud over to the A-show for a week.

Overall show: Another disappointing effort with just a few weeks to go before WrestleMania 25. WWE is really struggling right now and I'm shocked at how uneventful the buildup to the biggest annual show of the year has been so far. I suppose it's worth noting that they didn't make the Jericho handicap match official yet, so maybe they'll come to their senses and realize that the masses aren't excited by the match they teased. They desperately need to come up with something special for the WrestleMania 25 card and people were holding out hope that they had something big in mind for the Jericho match. I'm sure WrestleMania will be an entertaining show, but the poor economy combined with the lousy buildup for the show could lead to disappointing buyrate.

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