The Highs and Lows of WWE's First Viewers Choice Raw

Last night, WWE held a three-hour Monday Night Raw special, where viewers got to pick the matches, stipulations, or opponents for each match.

The concept seemed sound, until I found out that people couldn't vote on anything until the actual event was taking place. I'm sure that by doing this, WWE producers could gauge how people voted while watching the actual broadcast, but I am sure it limited the number of votes they received.

Bret Hart started out the night with Teddy Long in the ring talking about what the night had to offer. Randy Orton's music hit, and he came out wearing an arm sling to sell his injury.

Orton said he wanted Edge right then and there. On cue, Edge came out and agreed that a match should take place, so he could finish off Orton for good. Hart and Long convened for a moment and decided to let the fans vote.

The match would either be a debate, sit-up contest, or a one-arm match where Edge would have to wrestle with one hand tied behind his back. Obviously, the one-arm match won the poll.

Shortly after the match started, Edge released his tied up hand and beat down Orton until he was disqualified. My guess is this is how they plan to write Orton out of the Fatal Four-Way. They will probably have a match to fill the vacant spot soon.

Next, Chris Jericho and Big Show faced off in a Body Slam Challenge. All I can say is that no one predicted Jericho to win that one, and he didn't. To be honest, it was kind of boring.

The next match was a tag match where the Hart Dynasty would face an opponent voted on by the fans. The fans botched this one, and sent in Khali and Hornswoggle. The match was quick and boring, but the Uso Brothers came out to try and beat down the Harts for the third week in a row.

The Hart Dynasty fended off the Samoan trio, and it looks like this feud will come to a head some time soon. I think WWE had the three choices they had, in order to gauge if fans would vote for the rivals to face off, or if they would vote for the worst gimmick.

They voted for the worst gimmick.

Santino and Vladimir Kozlov faced off in a viewer chosen dance competition. Kozlov won with his robotic moves surprisingly. I liked this spot for the comedy, but felt it was a waste of Kozlov's talents. I expect this stuff from Santino, but not from the guy who holds a win over the Undertaker.

Next, the Divas were voted to face off in a battle royal. Maryse won, and furthered her feud with Eve Torres in the process. Nothing special, but it was better than most Diva action as of late.

The next match was going to be Sheamus against either Mark Henry, Kane, or Evan Bourne. I was surprised Bourne didn't win, especially after his main event feature last week, but I was happy with Kane.

This match ended up being pretty decent, considering it was two big men facing off. Kane and Sheamus traded offense, but Kane had the clear advantage. The end of the match saw Sheamus take a count out loss to the Big Red Monster. I thought this was a good decision by WWE, as it didn't make either man look weak.

Considering they both have major story lines going on right now, it was the smart move to make.

The next match saw R-Truth paired up with John Morrison to face The Miz, who was voted to team with Zack Ryder. I was shocked Ryder got the most votes here.

The match was average for the four men, but the surprise came when Miz got a pretty clean win over Morrison for his team. It was a good call, as seeing Miz winning dirty every week gets old. This reminded people that he can win fair-and-square.

Drew McIntyre was out next to face one of three opponents. It was between Yoshi, Golddust, and the most obvious mystery opponent in history: Matt Hardy.

Hardy got the vast majority of the votes, and went out to face the man who put him out several weeks in a row. Hardy took it right to McIntyre with a vengeance. After what seemed like less than five minutes, Hardy got the win with the Twist of Fate.

It was good to see Hardy featured so strongly on Raw, considering how poorly he was used while on the red brand last year.

The best part of the match was when Hardy grabbed McIntyre's head after the match was over, and continually slammed it down to the mat. This match made Hardy look like a real contender again.

The last match featured CM Punk winning the viewer vote to face John Cena. I got excited for this match, since they have never faced off one-on-one before. It was a good effort by both men, and there were some solid moments during the match.

The best part of the night came next as NXT winner Wade Barrett made his way to ringside. He distracted Cena long enough for the rest of the NXT rookies to surround the ring and close in on Cena.

After this, it became a mad house. All eight rookies beat down Cena, Punk, and Gallows. They then began to destroy the ringside area including the ring itself. I like this angle, and I am excited to see where it goes.

There were two things about this that were confusing, though. They had baby faces like Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel in on the attack, and it made absolutely no sense why they would conspire with people who they claimed to dislike the whole NXT season.

I am hoping this gets addressed tonight on NXT season two, but we may have to wait until next Monday for an explanation.

Overall, I was unimpressed with the viewer choice show, but I feel like they were not given good choices to choose from in most cases. Not even one title match took place and usually a three hour special is good for at least one match for a belt.

Side note: The more I see Barrett the more I like him. He really has what it takes to be a great heel in the WWE. I hope he makes the most of his opportunity.

So what did you all think of Raw last night?