By Jason Powell

Dot Net Members are listening to my 62-minute rant on Monday's WWE Raw television show. Join us on the ad-free version of the website by signing up for membership via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

WWE Raw Hits

John Cena, Goldust, and Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow and The Real Americans: The series of good matches involving Goldust and Cody continues. Cena was at his high energy best during and especially after the match. His post-match celebration with Goldust and Cody made it seem like this was an important with for him rather than just a throwaway six-man tag win. Unfortunately, I did not come away from this feeling like creative knew how to make Sandow following his standout performance on Raw last week. The other real negative of the match was the decision to have five men on commentary. I get a kick out of Zeb Colter when he sits in with the broadcast team, but he and Alberto Del Rio clowning around about gringos distracted from the best match of the night. Do you really need distractions when your World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Tag Team Champions are in the ring?

Randy Orton vs. Big E Langston: A good television match. I guess the idea is to show that Langston can hold his own with the WWE Champion. It's one way to approach it, but I question whether they would be better off having the guy actually win a bunch of matches while they are trying to build him up.

C.M. Punk vs. Luke Harper: A good match to open the show. I was actually hoping for the predictable Wyatt Family interference finish. I don't see what purpose it serves to show viewers that Punk can beat Harper heading into the program involving Punk, Daniel Bryan, and The Wyatt Family. I did like the way Daniel Bryan made the save at the end of the match. Did Punk really say in his backstage interview that no one realized that Daniel Bryan also had an issue with the Wyatt Family? Um, the fans were chanting for him once Punk was outnumbered in the ring.

Kane: I am mildly intrigued by the new Right to Censor version of Kane. We'll see where it goes.

Tyson Kidd and Natalya vs. Fandango and Summer Rae: A minor Hit for Kidd's return to Raw. It was nice to see him back and performing his flashy offense. WWE should think twice about Kidd performing the Sharpshooter. Natalya already pays tribute to her uncle with the move, and having Kidd perform the same finishing hold makes him look like a wannabe. Here's hoping creative has something in mind for Kidd beyond a bunch of mixed tag matches with his wife.

WWE Raw Misses

Big Show and Triple H segment: This was the worst closing segment on Raw so far this year. It was filled with so many holes that Triple H will need to do a 45-minute sit-down interview with Michael Cole tomorrow just to explain away half of the logic gaps. Big Show looked like a dope for giving up his lawsuit so easily. Triple H and his cronies beat him afterward, which in the real world would open the door for further litigation. It once again begs the obvious question of why no one bothered to run out to save Big Show. I thought we'd moved beyond the babyfaces fearing retaliation after watching Goldust and Cody Rhodes fight The Shield during Randy Orton's celebration of a champion that no one takes seriously. I've been beaten into submission when it comes to having any expectation that WWE would produce writing that is even remotely comparable to today's top television dramas, but I am tired of watching these awful segments that insult the intelligence of viewers over the age of ten. Vince McMahon and his creative decision makers should be embarrassed by the sad state of their top storyline. I am not going go into the Triple H conspiracy theory mode and blame him for everything. Rather, I will simply point out the obvious in that this storyline has set up the part-time wrestling authority figure as the most important person in the company at the expense of top babyfaces, the WWE Champion, and even the WWE Championship. Can anyone with a straight face really say that this is best for business?

Randy Orton vs. Big Show as the Survivor Series main event: There's no money in Big Show challenging for the WWE Championship. The live crowds like Big Show and he is the one person other than Triple H who has actually gained something from The Authority mess. However, I'm not convinced that people like Big Show enough to pay to see him in pay-per-view main events, and I certainly don't believe Randy Orton has been positioned to be a money drawing champion. The real money matches for Big Show and Daniel Bryan are with Triple H (along with Shawn Michaels for Bryan). The WWE Champion just feels like a hurdle those two have to clear in order to get to Hunter. We just finished watching three pay-per-views of The Authority screwing Bryan out of the championship. Couldn't Big Show have "negotiated" some type of agreement that would prevent The Authority from screwing him over, which would at least give viewers some reason to believe they might see a a clean finish for a change?

Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston: No one views Del Rio as a real threat to take back the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series, and putting him in a competitive match with a guy he's defeated a million times isn't going to help matters.

Curtis Axel vs. Dolph Ziggler: The wrestlers did their part. It's just a shame that the broadcast team was going through the motions and humoring themselves while talking about Paul Heyman's storyline injuries rather than make it seem like Ziggler pinning the Intercontinental Champion means something.

Eva Marie pins Tamina: A.J. Lee's muscle was pinned by the rookie who isn't good enough in the ring to make this mean something. Here's hoping this leads to a Tamina meltdown and an attack that comes off as being so vicious that viewers will forget that Tamina was pinned. By the way, why is Eva a babyface? She was the selfish and manipulative bitch of Total Divas, yet suddenly she's a babyface just because she was on the show?

Ryback vs. The Great Khali: Need I say more?

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