WWE Raw Hits

Bret Hart tease: Nicely done. Any complaints about WWE showing the Montreal screwjob are idiotic. That's the story. Should they rewrite history and act like it never happened? It was interesting to watch the live crowd's reaction to the Bret tease. There were some very passionate fans who wanted to see Hart return, and it also appeared there were a lot of fans who were sitting on their hands. Fortunately, I think the video and the tease were solid enough that fans who are too young to remember Hart are now looking forward to seeing what all the hype was about.

Chris Jericho: Another great performance. The protest outside the building was classic Jericho. He and Big Show must win the tag straps back next week or Bret has to swing a trade to bring Jericho to Raw because the show just won't be the same without him. The skit with Jericho and Big Show outside the building together was quality comedy. Oh, and I'm just as lost as you are when it comes to why Big Show would select Chavo Guerrero as his partner.

John Cena and Sheamus verbal battle: Cena got the show off to a hot start by working up the live crowd and then carrying an entertaining verbal battle with Sheamus. The live crowd was hanging on Cena's every word, and Sheamus scored some quality heat by refusing to do the match on Cena's terms. I dug the line about how putting Cena through a table wasn't a challenge for Sheamus. It was effective in the sense that established him as a cocky champion who isn't backing down from Cena.

Ted DiBiase vs. Evan Bourne: Sure, the finish was botched, but they recovered nicely and delivered a strong match. The match was also aided by the tease that Randy Orton was going to beat the hell out of DiBiase if he lost. Sure, we've seen them tease the Legacy breakup before, but this was still an effective stipulation that made the match feel important. By the way, bonus points to Orton for his facials during the Legacy matches. He looked intent, yet you never quite knew what he was thinking.

Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz: Sure, we could bitch about Miz being made to look weak, but he'll regain his heat the second he opens his mouth on next week's show. This appeared to be WWE's way of letting viewers know that Kofi isn't just another mid-card wrestler despite his recent setbacks. He dominated Miz and Randy Orton's interference sets up their rematch for next week.

Overall show: I mentioned in audio last week that there was light at the end of the tunnel when it came to WWE moving away from the silliness we saw on the two previous editions of Raw. WWE tends to take themselves more seriously when the Royal Rumble approaches as the build to WrestleMania truly begins. While it's fair to complain about the short matches, the bottom line is that this show featured enough in-ring action and some memorable angles that built well toward next week's showdown with TNA Impact.

WWE Raw Misses

Sheamus vs. John Cena: Forget about the cheap finish. The thing that bothered me most about the match was that Cena was established as being so dominant. Vince McMahon is a great promoter, but he's apparently forgotten that a sympathetic babyface taking down a dominant heel means more money than watching the dominant babyface chase the chickenshit heel.

Timbaland: A lousy guest host who added nothing to the show. I was surprised that he did such a bad job of working up the live crowd. You'd think that would be one of his specialties considering that he performs for a living.

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