WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Mohegan Sun, Conn.

[Q1] The show opened with a shot of the WWE symbol on the stage. Lilian Garcia introduced Jeremy Piven while hyping his movie and television show. Piven received a nice pop from the crowd and drove into the building in a sports car. He exited the car and started to walk toward the ring, but then stopped and headed toward the back of the car.

Piven opened the trunk and Dr. Ken Jeong emerged wearing a pimp outfit. Dr. Ken threw money the crowd as they walked to the ring together. Once in the ring, they pumped up the live crowd. Jeong introduced Piven to the fans. Piven introduced Dr. Ken by saying, "You know him as the Asian gentleman from 'The Hangover.'

Powell's POV: This is the first time in all my years of watching Raw that I can say I've seen the crank of someone who appeared on the show. If you've seen 'The Hangover,' then you have to and you know what I'm talking about.

Piven said he's always wanted to do something. He left the ring and stood on the entrance ramp while pyro went off behind him. Piven headed back to the ring and hyped the show. He mentioned the Triple H vs. Legacy.

The Miz's music interrupted Piven and he came to the ring. Piven plugged his movie and said the fans have "the goods." He said The Miz doesn't have the goods. Dr. Ken mocked Miz whenever he tried to speak. Funny. Miz eventually stated that he wants a match with John Cena.

Cena came to the ring and thanked Piven for coming to Raw. Cena said Miz had a face for radio. He said he wanted to make this week's Raw special. Piven perked up. Cena continued to work Piven's movie "The Goods" into his promo. Piven booked Miz vs. Cena in a lumberjack match.

Piven said that if Miz loses the match to Cena, he's banned from "Summer Fest." Cena quickly said Piven meant SummerSlam. Piven covered it nicely by saying he's banned from SummerSlam and Summer Fest "whatever that is." Piven said Miz would be banned from Staples Center forever if he lost the match. Piven finally announced that Miz would be banned from Raw if he lost the match to Cena... [C]

Powell's POV: The Summer Fest line was a funny error that PIven covered nicely. That's bound to happen when you bring in celebrities who aren't big fans. That said, Cena and Dr. Ken were fun in this segment. Ken was way over the top with the pimp costume and his antics. Here's hoping Piven turns on Cena later in the show and helps Miz. Yeah, wishful thinking.

[Q2] Highlights aired of Evan Bourne upsetting Jack Swagger last week...

1. Jack Swagger pinned Evan Bourne in 2:15 The announcers said Swagger demanded the rematch. After some back and forth action, Swagger hit his finisher and scored the clean pin. After the match, he hit a couple of Vader Bombs on Bourne. MVP ran out wearing street clothes for the save. Swagger fled before MVP could get his hands on him... [C]

Powell's POV: Bourne won last week. Swagger won this week. Even Steven booking. By the way, Bourne has new music. Too bad. I dug the old music.

[Q3] A long recap segment aired on Shaquille O'Neal's appearance from last week... Back live, Cole flipped over all the entertainment shows that covered Shaq's appearance. "Even Youtube!" Cole exclaimed. Tool...

Powell's POV: Even Youtube? WTF? Anyway, they're making so much fuss over the celebrities that their own stars don't seem as important.

Backstage, Piven was seated on a couch with a few of the Divas. Dr. Ken came in the room and did his pimp routine. Piven told him to switch to this arena and become an Asian assassin. Ken referred to Big Show as "The Big Fatso." He continued to mock him until he turned around and saw Show standing behind him.

Show told Piven he wants Shaq to come back tonight to face him. Piven said he wants to take Show to the next level. Show asked for a match with Piven to make everyone forget about what happened with him and Shaq. Piven countered with a match against Kofi Kingston for the U.S. Title. Show accepted...

Powell's POV: Ken is not getting over with the live crowd whatsoever. They're sitting silently through his segments. As for Piven, I think most of us wanted to see Ari Gold host Raw, not the actor who plays him. I dig Ken's comedy, but he's dying in these segments.

Mickie James and Gail Kim came to the ring. Cole said their match was coming up after the break... [C] Cole set up a preview of Piven's movie "The Goods"...

Powell's POV: This variety show shit is getting really old. They're pushing the movie more than their own pay-per-view at this point.

2. Beth Phoenix and Jillian Hall defeated Mickie James and Gail Kim in 3:20. No singing for Jillian. After some good back and forth action, Beth hit "this move right here" for the win. Thanks, King...

Powell's POV: Nice match. Gail was great and was given plenty of opportunities to shine despite being pinned.

[Q4] [C] The announcers narrated footage of Ted DiBiase preventing him from winning his Beat the Clock Challenge match in time... A shot aired of Triple H walking backstage with a mean look on his face...

3. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase defeated Triple H in a handicap match in 11:25. Hunter dominated the first 90 seconds of the match and made his opponents look like minor league jackoffs before the show went to break. [C]

[Q5] After the break, the heels took control of the match with a high-low move. It looked okay live, but the production play replayed it for some reason and showed that DiBiase was late with the low part. Cole told us we were watching the longest running episodic television show in history. Lawler hyped that Piven was the host of the show.

Hunter made his comeback. Cody was on the verge of tagging Ted, so Hunter cut him off and roughed up Ted at ringside to take away the handicap. However, DiBiase recovered and hit his finisher on Hunter. Cody went for a cover, but Hunter kicked out. Cody hit his finisher on Hunter and scored the pin. Cole said Hunter put up a hell of a fight, but the numbers game caught up to Triple H.

After the match, Hunter took the mic while selling the loss. "Owww," he said. "Alright, that hurt. It did not go as I planned." Funny. Hunter questioned whether it's a case of Rhodes and DiBiase being that good. "Maybe they're too tough for me," Hunter said. He added that he used to be good at gang warfare.

Hunter said maybe he'll bring back Evolution. More boos than cheers. He said it wouldn't work because Orton is a jerk, Batista is always hurt, and Ric Flair is signing autographs in a VFW. Ouch! Hunter said he might make one phone call. "And if you're not down with that then I got two words for you"... [C]

Powell's POV: That was the right finish and a good promo from Hunter afterward. Unfortunately, the promo and the Shawn Michaels tease erased the rare Cody and Ted win from the minds of the fans. I'm not saying that should be the focus as much as it's just too bad they didn't hold the match last week, let it sink in, and have Hunter make the HBK tease this week. Harsh words regarding Batista and Flair. I love it.

Backstage, Piven and Ken watched scenes from their new movie while Layla, Kelly Kelly, and Eve Torres sat by. Chavo Guerrero entered the room and marked out for Piven because he thought he was Joe Rogan or John Favreau. Piven called him Charro. They set up another match Chavo and Hornswoggle. Chavo insulted Ken and left the room. Piven told Ken not to worry because he had a plan for Chavo...

Powell's POV: Nothing says Raw is cool like the guest host watching scenes from his own movie rather than the actual show.

[Q6] Highlights aired of Carlito turning on his brother...

4. Carlito pinned Primo in 3:10. After some quality back and forth action, Carlito hit the Backstabber and scored the clean pin...

Powell's POV: Good match while it lasted. I'd like to see more from these two. I like the darker Carlito. I also dig his music. Unfortunately, the two just don't mesh.

Cole hyped the Cena vs. Miz match with the stipulation that Miz will be banned from Raw forever if he loses... [C] Chavo Guerrero came to the ring. Piven and Ken appeared on the big screen. Piven said Hornswoggle came down with the adult chicken pox, so his cousin "Markswoggle" had agreed to fill in for him...

5. Mark Henry defeated Chavo Guerrero in 1:10. Henry won with the World's Strongest Slam. Hornswoggle came out after the match and hit the Tadpole Splash on Chavo. Horny brought out a hat for Henry, who clicked his heels for a pop. The live crowd ate it up...

Powell's POV: I thought Chavo and Piven would have gotten along better since they both appear to have visited the same hair restoration doctor. It's okay, guys, not everyone can be bald and beautiful!

[Q7] A split-screen shot aired of Kofi and Big Show... [C] Backstage, Piven told Orton he wanted him to be the guest announcer during Cena vs. Miz. Orton wasn't happy to see Piven, who plugged his movie again. Orton said he kicked Vince McMahon in the head and questioned if they thought he wouldn't do the same to them...

Powell's POV: Looks like like Orton interferes to help Miz win the match. I'll take that over Cena pinning Miz again.

6. Kofi Kingston defeated Big Show by DQ in a U.S. Title match in 5:20. Chris jericho sat in on commentary. He came out with Show while the mix of their two songs played. Show controlled the action early. He threw a knee and then swatted Kofi to the mat in a good, realistic looking move. Show hit a Vader Bomb, but Kofi put his leg over the bottom rope.

Show continued to control the match until Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere. Kofi followed up with a top rope legdrop and went for a cover, but Show threw him off at two. A short time later, Show came back with a spear. Show ignored the referee's count and was disqualified...

Powell's POV: Show was really good in this match. I love the way he manhandled Kofi. It looked so much more realistic than most pro wrestling offense. Jericho was fun on commentary, and the two of them got strong heat while standing in the ring together afterward. Bonus points to the fan who brought the JeriShow sign.

[Q8] [C] The announcers recapped the Triple H vs. Cody and Ted match... Backstage, Hunter made the call. He didn't identify the man on the other end of the line, but Hunter said the man had said a thousand times before that he wouldn't come back. "I thought you didn't do jobs," Hunter said at one point. Hunter asked the man if he was ready. A dial tone could be heard coming through the phone...

Powell's POV: Wise ass Hunter is fun. Obviously, it was implied that he was talking to Shawn Michaels.

Another preview of The Goods aired... John Cena made his entrance... [C] Cole and Lawler announced that Sgt. Slaughter will be the guest host next week...

Powell's POV: I'm surprised by that. All indications were that they were aggressively going after celebrities rather than former wrestlers. Maybe they couldn't find anyone for next week's show.

Before the match, Piven walked onto the stage and said that while he's a fan of Cena's, he's a big fan of Randy Orton. He said that's why he handpicked every single lumberjack. Piven and Ken walked to ringside. Ken told the fans to shut up. "I'm from Hollywood!" Dr. Ken yelled...

Powell's POV: Nice line, Ken! Andy would be proud.

[Overrun] 7. John Cena defeated The Miz in a lumberjack match in 5:20. The lumberjacks were Cody, Ted, Chris Masters, Chavo, Jack Swagger, Carlito, Piven, and Ken. Early in the match, Masters caught Cena in the Master Lock at ringside. Ken taunted fans and made faces at the camera at ringside. Funny.

Despite all the heels taking liberties with Cena, he still took control of Miz and was setting up for the Five Knuckle Shuffle routine when Orton grabbed him and pulled him to ringside. The heels put the boots to him and rolled him back in the ring. Ken slid his cane into Miz, who swung at Cena and missed. Cena hit the FU on Miz for the win.

After the match, Piven climbed onto the top rope and jumped at Cena, who caught him and then used Piven's legs as weapons while fighting off the heels. Ken entered the ring and tried to suck up to Cena. "We won, the good guys won!" Ken yelled. Hilarious. Cena shook Ken's hand and then picked him up and tossed him onto a group of heels at ringside. Ken's head hit hard on the ringside mat and he grabbed it immediately. Ouch! Cena jawed at Orton, Rhodes, and DiBiase, who were all standing on the stage.

Powell's POV: Nice twist late in the show with Piven and Ken. It's ridiculous that Cena couldn't put over Miz in this situation. It wouldn't have made Miz by any means, but it would have given him something to boast about. I guess this means Miz is off Raw forever. The first hour of the show was lousy, but the second hour was strong. Ken was hilarious during the main event segment. Any celebrity who watched this show won't be taking the Dr. Ken bump anytime soon. Thanks for watching along with me tonight.

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