By Will Pruett

- The Miz and Steve Austin had a really good verbal exchange to start off Raw. Austin was on top of his game all night and the Miz showed that he can hang with one of the all time greats. This was a great way to kick off a long show.

- Alberto Del Rio is another character that interacts so well with the classic Steve Austin character. I would watch Austin and all of the major heels in WWE mix it up verbally for hours on end if that was an option.

- Kane's got a lot of feelings these days.

- Big Show's return to attack Ricardo Rodriguez was really well done. It was a great way to bring in Show and make him look like a big star returning. I've also never seen Big Show move as fast as he did when he ran down last night.

- Sin Cara's match lighting is distracting and a silly gimmick. I don't see how those lights help to get him over.

- Sin Cara, Daniel Bryan and Ezekiel Jackson vs. Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase could have been a nice, long match. Instead it was a match where all six men got a big spot and the babyfaces went over. Hopefully we get a rematch of this six man combination soon, as it can be very fun. All six of these men have serious mid card and higher potential on Smackdown.

- Hornswoggle has never been used better than he was last night with R-Truth. This segment was an opportunity for Truth to shine and he did just that. This was Truth's night on Raw and he took full advantage of it.

- If that was John Morrison's big return, it is one of the worst returns in history. Why was Morrison smiling?

- Although he defeated him without a problem, Sheamus does not belong in a match with Santino, especially after having one of the best TV matches of the year against Randy Orton on Friday night.

- Raw's usual first segment at 6:00pm was completely dedicated to Smackdown. That's a pretty big deal when you think about it. Orton and Christian have been doing great work and deserved to be in that slot. This segment was a nice way of letting fans know that Christian is a heel now and make them want to see Orton get his hands on Christian.

- The G.M. in charge for the night was Steve Austin. The G.M. Of Smackdown is Teddy Long. Why is it that the Raw G.M. MacBook gets to order two Smackdown wrestlers not to touch each other when it has nothing to do with Smackdown?

- I was hoping to see another good, long match with Christian and Rey Mysterio, but once again we got a quick finish. Sadly, this finish was the exact same as the finish in the Alberto Del Rio vs. Kane match earlier. It's not that hard to come up with a finish that hasn't been used on the show yet.

- Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler's relationship took an interesting turn last night. I wonder if WWE is testing the waters for a push and babyface turn for Ziggler. I'd like to see him pushed on his own, but remain a heel.

- Once again, R-Truth delivered a good segment, this time with the backstage beating of John Morrison. This was an effective way to make Truth look dangerous and crazy, which the character needed. Kudos to WWE for getting so firmly behind him tonight.

- The Dolph Ziggler video package was a great touch. If WWE highlights one mid card performer a week with these, they will have an over mid card in no time.

- I like what WWE is doing with the Raw mid card when I see Bourne, Swagger, Kingston and Ziggler all involved in consistent stories. These guys can go in the ring and have a great connection with the crowd.

- WWE is really getting behind Alex Riley. Little touches last night like Piper's introduction leading into his music and giving the "Alex Riley" chant time to flourish showed just how over Riley is getting.

- We did not get the transcendently brilliant "Rowdy" Roddy Piper from last November, but we also did not get the rambling incoherent one from 2009. Piper did his job well last night playing off of The Miz.

- The Miz vs. Roddy Piper match was a nice little tie in with the All Stars video game. Thankfully, it was kept short and used to further Miz and Riley's program.

- Well, that Diva's match was pointless.

- Call me crazy, but if I was Andy Leavine, I would at least ask Steve Austin why he stunned me last week instead of enjoying a beer with him in the middle of Raw. I'd also probably ask for a match.

- C.M. Punk is always at his best when working with a character that is the compete opposite of who he is. Steve Austin is the epitome of that character. This was a great segment from two verbal masters. I hope and pray that we get more Austin and Punk as time goes on. This is a true dream match.

- We have another three hour Raw next week. If this show was any indication, it might not be a good one. This show seriously lagged in the middle, with the second hour feeling like it went on forever. Hopefully we will get more in ring action next week to pass the time.

- "Power to the People" Raw reminds me of the awful Viewer's Choice Raw from last year. Please tell me this show will be better.

- Steve Austin destroying what appeared to be a working MacBook Pro hurt my heart a little bit. The segment was good and funny, but that computer deserves better treatment for being such an excellent machine.

- Before John Cena entered, I was surprised that we had not seen him all night. Then, once he did enter I realized why. This crowd was vocally split about John Cena and it made the main event a very fun match to watch.

- Punk and Cena is the pay-per-view main event it seems like we will never get. They just keep main eventing Raw.

- R-Truth made his third major appearance and had his third great performance of the night. Truth was awesome in this closing segment. I was amazed by how good R-Truth looked holding up the WWE Championship. I never thought I would see it, but now that I have, I kind of like it.

- Punk promised earlier in the night that his match against John Cena would change WWE forever. I think this is a story to watch develop as it could be the end of Punk's WWE run beginning to take shape. If not, it could be the next great C.M. Punk storyline. Either way, I'm interested.

This Raw was long. The show felt long than the standard three hour shows. They had a lot of hype to pack into this show, but they could have easily dumped a few segments and given a couple matches a little more time. I feel like the lack of long matches made this show feel even longer than it was. Time flies in the ring. Don't overbook things, just deliver some Wrestling. The hype for Capitol Punishment was heavy tonight, but it probably was not enough to rescue this show from buy-rate hell where it seems destined to reside.

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this show! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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