-- 3/8 WWE Raw Reax

Henry Jenkins of Seattle, Wash. (8.0): Best Segment: Triple H promo (yes, really!). Worst Segment: Legacy. If you liked tonight's Raw, watch TNA Impact next week. Any WWE PR claim that they don't consider TNA real competition was negated by the tremendous effort I saw on Raw, which left me very excited for WrestleMania. Triple H gave his best promo in several years - his humility was very becoming. The man actually referenced jobbing to the Ultimate Warrior AND Batista. As a dyed-in-the-wool Triple H hater, I was charmed by the credit he gave Sheamus for doing the same things he would have. Meanwhile, The Miz was in fine form, and that's saying something. The Allied Powers joke was so true. It just killed me. John Cena shared an outlook on his match with Batista that was almost profound. And the fact that The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels's great opener together gets buried under this is a testament to the show. It's nice to see Evan Bourne find a spot in Money in the Bank. But almost more than anything else, I was thrilled to see Kofi Kingston back. I really hope they find a match for him at the Show of Shows. I even liked the guest host. (Although, please dear God, tell me he didn't actually pull that out of his tear duct. I was almost sick.) The show wasn't without faults. The Legacy angle has become more sleep-inducing every week, Vince turned an intriguing main event into a gimmicky screwjob quagmire, and there were too many video packages. Undeterred, I'm excited about the contract signing between Bret, McMahon, and their soon-to-be special guest referee at WrestleMania, "Stone Cold." As someone who wants to see the Bret-Vince fantasy booking work, I'll be rooting for Bret to find his mojo.

-- 3/8 Raw & Impact Reax

Bill Sartori of Windsor Locks, Conn. freelance reporter (Raw 3.5 & Impact 7.5): Best Match: Impact X Division match. Worst Match: Cena-Vince. I will admit that it was my intention to watch more of Impact than Raw, and that's how it turned out, although it's good to have a remote in your hands. For the first time in nearly ten years, Raw and Vince McMahon actually get some real competition and they book a squash match of the most popular wrestler on their roster, Cena, as the main event. I knew beforehand that Vince wasn't really going to wrestle Cena, but a total squash match was beyond the pale. It might advance the Cena-Batista storyline, but just having Batista doing it himself was bad. ... The Brooke Hogan crying gag was a bit over the top, as was the Beautiful People tag title win. And, Sting, why? I think TNA is going to do with Sting what WCW did with Hogan - turn him heel, let them feud with each other, and then just before Sting's retirement, turn him back face. I thought the feature match was fine and a lot more exciting than the Cena squash. The right team won, too. I would have loved to have seen the X Division match go another 10-15 minutes, as it would have helped those watching TNA to see some really talented younger wrestlers give it their all. On Raw, the Legacy-Orton match was also good, and giving Rhodes and DiBiase the win made it more realistic. Memo to WWE: for old-time sakes, please have Stone Cold drop Vince on his head next week at the Bret-Vince contract signing. Finally, I want to see Evan Bourne win MITB.

-- 3/8 TNA Impact Reax

Patrick Michael of Rochester, N.Y. (2.0): I really gave TNA a try to the point where I DVR'ed Raw and only watched TNA. The show was a mess. The Vince Russo crash and burn booking was all over the show and I did not feel that anyone really came out of the show looking stronger; everyone seemed the same. There was so much going on. They had so many beat downs along with constant face and heel turns through the show that it's hard to remember even the next morning what happened. This was not the way that they needed to differentiate themselves from WWE. They have many talented younger guys that can work and I believe they have not utilized the undercard roster. They have turned Hogan into Rocky, but instead of a over-the-hill underdog fighter going against the odds against the younger, stronger opponent, he is fighting another broken-down fighter in Ric Flair. And are they already not doing another underdog program with Jeff Jarrett? They have so many angles going at once, it's next to impossible to keep current with the company that only has two hours of TV programming. The show ended with Jeff Hardy coming back to TV, but with all the crap that happened before and the debut of RVD, it came across as a whatever moment.

Ted Nickerson of Los Angeles, Calif. (5.0): Best: Kurt Angle-Mr. Anderson buildup. Worst: Brooke Hogan. The very fact that I watched my second ever episode of TNA says a lot about the new War. I knew even less than I thought, and continued to learn about the TNA brand throughout the evening. Outsiders switching over to find out what the big deal is will learn... (1) They have blood - grotesque buckets of it! (2) Their fans are insane and I wished I was there. (3) Several of their Knockouts are hotter than any WWE Diva. (4) The legendary X Division isn't that different from Smackdown. (5) Kurt Angle is still one of the most charismatic performers in wrestling. His entrance was really exciting, and his whole angle - so to speak - was the highlight of the night for me. (6) Unfortunately, it was the only angle that seemed to have a well-written storyline. The other storylines came across as a mess. Sting made a big return, seemed to pick a fight with Hogan, and then jobbed to RVD in a couple of seconds. What in the wide world of Vince Russo were they trying to accomplish there? (7) Their locker room reporter is a dead ringer for The Bachelor host Chris Harrison. (8) Kevin Nash kind of looks cool as a gray-haired old man, but he's still doing angles with Hall and X-Pac all these years later. Does anybody on the planet care outside of The Klique? (9) I've heard this before, but I've really got to echo it. Most of what's holding them back is their storytelling. If they signed Jim Ross, WWE should be really and truly concerned. (10) I still don't really want to watch it next week.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on these shows for a "TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw and Impact, click here.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE PPV REAX #1: "I wanted the biggest event of the summer to end with an exclamation point; it ended with a semicolon and a question"

WWE PPV REAX #1: Battleground finish generates mixed reactions...

WWE PPV REAX #2: In-Person Battleground Report on overall show, reactions, more