12/22/08 RAW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
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12/22/08 RAW:
Shawn Michaels vs. Kane (Race to the Rumble): *3/4 (Decent action. HBK using the crossface was a nice twist to the match.)

Kofi Kingston vs. Manu: *1/4 (Nice moves from Kofi, otherwise an ordinary match.)

Mickie James & Melina vs. Jillian & Layla: 1/4* (Some good spots, but at least a couple of botched spots. Looks like Mickie might have injured herself in the match, probably after being pushed from the top rope to the floor.)

JBL vs. Rey Mysterio (Race to the Rumble): **1/2 (While HBK's slap on JBL led to a DQ, I actually liked the dual function the slap served: (1) HBK hates working for JBL and the crowd loved it, but (2) it helped JBL advance so it really helped JBL.)

Randy Orton vs. Batista (Race to the Rumble): N/A (Batista written out of storylines with Orton punting Batista in the head last week. Batista was to have impacted wisdom teeth removed today and actually has a torn hamstring that will require surgery.)

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk (Race to the Rumble): ***3/4 (Because we were in Toronto, the crowd was unbelievably loud for Jericho in this one.)

John Cena & Trish Stratus (!) vs. Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix: *1/2 (Crowd went nuts when Trish came out. Trish appeared to have no ring rust. Otherwise, it was a very ordinary match.)