The post-No Way Out Edition of Raw is always a ridiculously important edition of the long-running television show, and usually very newsworthy.

Ahead of this week’s edition, which may reveal some sense of direction as to whether or not the proposed Chris Jericho/Mickey Rourke clash for WrestleMania is back on, I thought I’d look back at some at the good and bad points from last week.

What I found interesting was how, by and large, the heels were the saviours of this episode, and the babyfaces threatened to destroy the whole enterprise.

Heroes

Edge & Vickie Guerrero

If anything was proven on Raw, it’s that it is easy to rehab John Cena. Just put him in the ring with Edge. Every single time, it works a treat. These two were fantastic, with Vicki garnering incredible heat, to the point where Cena was completely and utterly over with the crowd. However, do we really want Edge vs. Cena at WrestleMania? How many times have those guys worked together? Is that the best they’ve got for Cena? If Austin is working the show, they need to position him against Cena, and maybe put Edge in a multiple person match. Someone’s going to lose out here, but Edge vs. Cena comes off as such a throwaway bout for the biggest show of the year. Nevertheless, there’s well over a month to go, and it’s going to be an interesting ride.

Chris Jericho

Jericho’s promo was outstanding. His delivery continues to be impressive, as he’s continually produced great stuff for about 8months.

The only issue with this angle… is that they are not sure where the angle’s going. Yes, they want Mickey Rourke vs. Chris Jericho for WrestleMania (which I love), possibly with Flair in Rourke’s corner (which I also love), but Rourke and his people are saying that he won’t be doing it. That may change after the Oscars, but then again, it may not. If it doesn’t, the WWE may end up in a position where they’ll feel the need to put Ric Flair back in the ring (which I hate, and think is an utter disgrace- hopefully Flair has some respect for the fans and flat out refuses to wrestle in any capacity).

Shawn Michaels & JBL

HBK’s segment with his former employer was well done, and created a nice development heading towards WrestleMania. It’s not the promo I thought we’d see from Shawn, but it could be a nice precursor to that. It also absolutely makes sense that JBL would be inserted into a match to fight for the right to Challenge The Undertaker, as it would be bizarre if he just rolled over following No Way Out, and was left off Mania. The promo between the two also played off in their recent history and presented a believable dynamic with Shawn no longer being restrained by JBL, but not being an ass, and heelish about it either. And for his part, JBL was portrayed as a smart businessman would be in this situation.

Randy Orton

Although partially castrated by abysmal booking (See the villain’s portion of this column), Orton was magnificent. They really played up to his despicable lack of judgement with his own shocked reaction to RKO’ing Stephanie McMahon. His movements, gestures, and whole demeanour were superb.

It was interesting that they had Triple H simply run to the ring, instead of playing his music, and go for the big crowd pop. The fans still responded, but as there were scattered “Cena” chants, it was obvious that the live crowd weren’t expecting Hunter. If they’d hit his music, the roof would have been blown off the house. However, what they opted for was far more believable, fitting in with the angle, and with Orton’s reactions to his RKO to Stephanie.

Villains

Shane McMahon

The non-wrestling, middle-aged man continues to be portrayed as an equal or better man than Randy Orton, the hottest young superstar in the company right now. The WWE should not be concerned about ever making Shane O’ Mac look like a tough guy, it achieves nothing. If they were insistent on having a match that made Orton look good, but went long, they should have had the Legacy leader come out first, and when he was waiting for Shane, the lights to go out, and Shane to attack from behind. It doesn’t matter that Shane needed saved by Triple H at the end, by then the damage was done.

Yes, he was over-matched, but for a long time he stood his ground. Wouldn’t it have even, in storyline terms, have made more sense if he was completely dominated? At times he didn’t look in need of saving (and at the PPV it was Orton who couldn’t do it on his own) and in fact, during the whole main event of Raw, I expected Shane to be on the verge of winning until “passing into unconsciousness”, therefore making Randy look lucky. What they did was just as bad. Once more, Orton needed his stalemates. Ugh. The WWE are complete idiots at times. Fans are less likely to pay to see a performer who gets slapped around by a McMahon. There will be less drama when it comes to said performer taking on other superstars. Awful, awful egotistical crap.

Roddy Piper

Sorry Piper, but almost everything you said was baby face pleading at its worst. Worse yet, it was hypocritical. So let me get this straight… When Piper attacked Mr T, or Jimmy Snuka, when he took part in the first few WrestleManias, he was a heel. His actions were despicable, but now somehow, because time has passed, they’re moments to be “celebrated”? While I liked the significance behind Piper’s promo, I cannot agree with his points. If anyone should applaud Jericho’s current position, stealing the spotlight because he’s challenged an Academy Award winning actor, it should be Piper. It was a great segment, but Piper came off badly because anyone who remembers his actions would surely appreciate those of Jericho. But that said, credit where it’s due – Piper’s delivery was awesome.

Jamie Noble

Ugh. Didn’t Noble just get drafted to ECW? So why the hell was he jobbing to Kane in 15 seconds on Raw? WWE need to address this issue. Is there a brand split or not? Why bother going to a different show, “officially”, if you can appear wherever, whenever? Was this just a joke gone wrong? Sigh.

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I welcome any and all feedback and I can be contacted at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc  or simply by emailing me at Michael@ifight365.com. I look forward to hearing from you, and will be back soon!