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WWE Raw Hits

Trish Stratus: The woman looks younger every time we see her. It's amazing. She also comes across more confident and relaxed on the mic than she was at any point during her active career. She was a great guest host and it was great to see her get in the ring again. By the way, great chemistry between Trish and Jericho during their verbal sparring. Jericho's line about his willingness to face Bob Barker a"anytime, any place" was a gem.

Trish, MVP, and Mark Henry vs. Beth Phoenix, Chris Jericho, and Big Show: I actually fell for the early cheap finish, so I was thrilled when Trish announced that it was her hometown and her show, and therefore the match would continue as a six-person tag. It would have been cool if they had saved Trish and Beth for pay-per-view, but there's no guarantee Trish would agree to work the match, nor is there any denying that the finish created a feel good scenario. I don't know if she's interested, but WWE should seriously consider making Trish a big money offer to return on even a part-time basis.

Batista and Randy Orton opening segment: I can't say I fell for Batista's retirement tease if only because we've seen so many paparazzi shots of him without the bulky brace on his arm. Nevertheless, the live crowd seemed to buy into it and they popped big when he removed the brace and attacked Orton.

Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes: Their promo was ho-hum and they are still don't have distinctive personalities, but I am happy they were at least given some time to gloat over the result of the match. Here's an idea. How about letting these two come up with their own material since the writers clearly don't have real characters in mind for them. Call me crazy, but I think these two would know how to get their own personalities over. I know, silly me.

Shawn Michaels vs. Ted DiBiase: HBK gave DiBiase plenty of offense and they put together a strong match. The post-match brawl was well done and I expect to see a lot more of this leading into their Hell in a Cell match. However, they still need to do more to make it seem like Cody and Ted won't be sacrificial lambs in the HIAC match. Getting the win at Breaking Point was a nice start, but it wasn't enough to make up for the mediocre push they've received leading up to this program.

Chavo Guerrero gives up: I popped for Chavo telling Hornswoggle he won as much as anything on the show because I took it as a sign that they are finally pulling the plug on this feud. Here's hoping they separate Hornswoggle and Evan Bourne immediately.

John Cena promo: I'm happy they didn't make a huge production out of Cena capturing the WWE Championship. I'm all for putting over title changes, but I don't think they could have made his latest win feel like a major event because it hasn't been that long since he last held the title. Rather than turn this into a masturbatory moment, Cena put over his win and turned his attention to Hell in a Cell. Nicely done.

Overall show: Maybe I need to take off Monday nights more often. We'll see if this becomes a trend when I take off Oct. 5 to go to the Packers vs. Vikings game at the Dome. Anyway, this was my favorite show in weeks, maybe even months. Just a good, wrestling-heavy show with strong build toward the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

WWE Raw Misses

Batista announces he's moving to Smackdown: It's a logical move given that WWE needed a big name to help sell house show tickets and produce television ratings. My problem with it is that Batista made the announcement with zero passion or explanation. I'm sure we'll get the explanation tonight on Smackdown, and it will be interesting to see whether a trade was made or if they just claim Batista's contract ran out. Either way, it would have been nice if Batista had actually seemed enthusiastic over the move to Smackdown or if the announcers had asked the obvious questions.

Jack Swagger and The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston and Primo. There was nothing wrong with the match other than that they received about three minutes of ring time. Swagger should be a star by now. He's just lost in the mid-card shuffle on the Raw brand and they are doing nothing to expand his character. Dare I say that he'd be better off on ECW?

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