Dot Net Members will be listening to my audio recap of the WWE Raw show a short time from now. You can access all Dot Net Audio and the various perks of membership by signing up for only $5 per month via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

WWE Raw HIts

Sheamus wins the battle royal: I would have given a hit to anyone other than Randy Orton winning the battle royal. It was refreshing to hear the company acknowledge through Jesse Ventura that they recognize how repetitive the main event picture has become. I'm not crazy about the tables match stipulation that will be in play when Sheamus challenges John Cena at the TLC pay-per-view, but I guess that's one way to have Sheamus look good, yet still end up losing without being pinned. No matter what happens, it's so nice to see WWE take a chance on pushing a young wrestler so aggressively. I'm not sure how Shemaus managed to avoid all the excuses they find not to push other young wrestlers, but it's refreshing to see them give strong pushes to him and Kofi Kingston.

Jesse Ventura: The Body was great on the mic. His verbal sparring with Vince McMahon during their throwback announcing gig was fun for those of us who grew up watching them on the old syndicated Superstars program. Jesse also had the benefit of delivering a well received message regarding the main event picture. Then again, his rebellious persona made him the perfect person to deliver that message. Overall, Ventura was one of the best guest hosts the company has had.

John Cena vs. C.M. Punk: A good match with a fun series of counters at the end. The best of the bunch was Cena countering the GTS by grabbing Punk's leg and turning it into the GTS. As I mentioned last night, though, I don't understand why they didn't save this for a future dream match. Sure, this fit with Ventura wanting to give the fans some first-time moments, but WWE only has so many legitimate dream match possibilities for future WrestleMania and other big shows.

Batista and Kane: A good segment that set up Friday's Smackdown. I wish WWE would do more cross promotional work for their various shows. You rarely get the sense from watching Raw that ECW, WWE Superstars, and Smackdown are worth going out of your way to see. That brief angle between Batista and Kane made Friday's show feel important.

Michelle McCool, Layla, and Maryse: It was so nice to hear one of the Divas complain about wearing the campy holiday themed costumes for once. Meanwhile, Maryse made a memorable return by wearing the Gobbeldy Gooker outfit to ringside and eventually attacking Melina. Sure, I could give the Divas match a miss, but that's getting too repetitive. Maybe I'm just feeling the holiday vibe.

Overall show: WWE kept the campy comedy aspects of the show to a minimum and delivered a strong wrestling show that focussed on the younger talent. They seemed to run out of gas during the third hour, as the live crowd was drained and WWE didn't give them much to cheer about. Nevertheless, this was a strong three-hour show with meaningful qualifying matches and several memorable moments.

WWE Raw Misses

DX vs. The Hart Dynasty: All the years of history between Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart, yet this was the best they could come up with for the first DX vs. Hart Dynasty match? This was a huge disappointment. I'm not even sure what I was hoping for, but I know that a throwaway glorified squash match wasn't it. I also hated the way DX went from fighting at Survivor Series to clowning around 24 hours later on Raw.

Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase: WWE spent the summer building them up and then fed them to DX at SummerSlam. I assumed they would find a way to give them their heat back shortly thereafter, but creative has done nothing for them ever since. They had to stand there and take John Cena badmouthing them on Raw a few weeks ago, and then they received very little reaction from the live crowd during their match with Cryme Tyme last night. It's great that WWE finally appears to recognize the need for young stars, but I think they're forgetting a couple of them.

Jack Swagger: There was a small part of me that hoped they were going to get Swagger back on track by having him win the battle royal. Then he came out with Chris Masters and Chavo Guerrero for the six-man match and it left me wondering just how low on the totem pole he is right now.

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