WWE Raw Hits

Ricky Hatton: He was solid host. He wasn't the most charismatic celebrity guest, but he was a likable guy and the live crowd was into everything he did. For that reason, he gets a hit. However, I wish WWE would have gone with a more compelling opponent for Hatton. It should have been treated as a special moment when Hatton entered the ring. Why not give whatever rub he has and the media attention the segment will generate in the UK to a younger wrestler who could actually benefit from the exposure? Hatton was wasted in a predictable, lighthearted comedy skit that benefitted no one and will be forgotten by most viewers by next week.

Sheamus: Decent followup from last week's attack on Jamie Noble. His Razor's Edge finisher was a nice addition to his arsenal, and they're doing a good job of building him up as a remorseless badass.

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger: A good match with a surprising outcome. I don't like what it does for Swagger (more on that below), and the match was more about him losing than Bourne winning, but it was nice to get a quality match on the show.

The Miz: He continues to come across like the best of the young stars. Kofi Kingston is getting the push right now, but Miz shines on the mic and is carrying himself like a star. Here's hoping the company will give him a couple of meaningful wins and move him into the main event mix in due time.

WWE Raw Misses

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels hype: I'm stunned at how lackluster the build for this match has been. Are Hunter and Shawn now too cool to care about the WWE Championship? They're apparently too cool to care about the WWE Unified Tag Titles. After all, how else do you explained the fact that Ricky Hatton disliked Big Show and Chris Jericho, but not enough to make them defend their titles?

Randy Orton's "hood" line: This was a bush league line that never should have made it out of the creative meeting. Yes, you might see a racially motivated storyline on another cable television show, but I'll guarantee you'll see it presented in a more professional manner and done with a purpose other than garnering cheap heat. For that matter, I doubt other PG-rated shows would take the same approach.

The point of the segment was to make Kofi Kingston look like a standup guy, but he actually looked weak for merely slapping Orton in response to that line. Now that they've already put themselves in this position, it would be nice if they had one of the babyfaces say that they didn't lash out at Orton because their character is from the hood and they aren't ashamed of it.

Jack Swagger The Raw creative team is doing nothing for Swagger. How has his character progressed since he arrived? Of course, the same could be said for MVP and Evan Bourne. This explains why so many mid-card wrestlers don't want to work on the Raw brand. As for Swagger, what do we know about him today that we didn't already know about him when he arrived? He gets horny when Eve Mendes enters the room. Oh, and he can't back up his promises of going unbeaten for more than a few weeks.

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