WWE Raw (12/27) : Hits, Misses and "What The Hell"

I have decided that for every WWE Raw, Smackdown and PPV that I am going to write an article about the hits, misses and "what the hell" moments of the night. Without further ado, let's get started on the first ever edition of Hits, Misses and "What the Hell".

HITS

Cena-Punk promo to begin the night. Normally I would probably have an issue with a segment like this to start the show. When I turn on Raw, I want to see some action. Instead I got Cena standing in the ring talking about last week and then Punk coming out to have a "conversation" with him. The reason I am giving this a hit is because the crowd was really into it and it set the stage for the rest of the show.

Sheamus-Orton match. This was just an ok match. What I liked about it was that it gave the two stars a chance to be on TV without it being a "jobber" match. It was entertaining and was the only match that actually got any time on Raw. With that being said, I really loved the finish of Orton RKO'ing Sheamus during his attempt at a flying shoulder block.

Alex Riley's weird "push." You might be asking what am I talking about, Riley has been losing every match and not doing much. Exactly, he has been losing matches but at least he has been on Raw. He lost to John Morrison last night but he was in a match that meant something. After he lost, Miz got in his face and it looked to me that Riley was frustrated with the Miz. Look for Riley to turn on Miz in the near future.

Misses

Santino-Dibiase match. Plain and simple: What was the point? Santino and Tamina's on-screen "relationship" is rather annoying to watch. Santino can wrestle and he is funny, I'll give him that, but until the WWE treats him like he is an actual threat (like that will ever happen) please don't show him on my TV. The match was very short and pointless and something I probably should have fast forward through.

Punk being the new leader of NEXUS. The idea in itself is not bad, it was the delivery. As soon as Punk mentioned a big surprise at the beginning of the show, everyone could see this coming. There was no surprise. On top of that, what does this mean for Wade Barrett. Is he still a member of Nexus? Is he going to fight Nexus? Is the Punk-Cena feud going to turn into a Punk-Cena-Barrett feud. Only time will tell and I don't like that they are taking this long to give us the info.

No build to the Royal Rumble. For the first time in months, the WWE had a good amount of time to build towards the next PPV. Last week came all of the repercussions from TLC which is what I expected. This week I wanted to get an idea for what was going to be happening at the Rumble and instead got just a regular episode of Raw.

What the Hell?

Miz-Lawler "feud." I am getting tired of this Miz/Lawler/Michael Cole stuff. It is stupid and yet seems like it is never going to end. After Lawler beat Miz in a match by countout, Miz came back out later to beat up Lawler and gave him a Skull Crushing Finale to the floor. I am one person who is hoping this is the finale to this ridiculous feud. There is no point to it, nothing is going to come from it, and the wins by Miz won't mean anything and the losses really don't matter either. This feud shouldn't make it to a PPV so let's get it over with. We are going to look back at Miz's title run and say his major feud was with Jerry Lawler? Sounds stupid doesn't it?

Morrison title shot next week on Raw. Really? Really? This is what Morrison gets after stealing the show at TLC. It is a Falls Count Anywhere match which I believe Morrison can really shine at but it isn't a PPV title match. It is not like he would even be headlining the Royal Rumble because the Rumble match is going to do that. On top of that, do we honestly believe that Morrison will win now after Miz won his title on Raw and the major championships rarely change hands on free TV. Here is hope that this match makes a match between Morrison and Miz at the Royal Rumble.

Overall this Raw was average at best. Three matches were really short and only one match meant anything. We saw no build to a PPV and an ending that could have been predicted within the first ten minutes of the show. Apparently WWE is lacking in viewers but you wouldn't be able to tell by this show. They need better wrestling and longer matches if they want to achieve more viewers. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you believed to be hits misses and what the hell moments. Feel free to comment and thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this article be sure to look for the edition on Smackdown I will be writing at the end of this week.