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WWE Raw Hits

Shaquille O'Neal: The NBA star played his part very well. The opening segment with Shaq, Chris Jericho, and Big Show was excellent. Shaq standing up to both wrestlers was well done, and Jericho had the line of the night when he stuck his head between the two giants and said he wasn't going to fight Shaq either. Shaq was very charismatic during the segment, and Jericho was also his usual great self throughout the show. Sadly, though, the opening segment was more entertaining than the main event.

Big Show and Shaq: I was concerned that Shaq would make Big Show look small, but there was only an inch or two difference between the two giants. Jim Ross was right in his blog about putting the two on camera together. Sure, Show was a tad smaller, but this scored WWE some time on ESPN and did nothing to ruin Show's gimmick.

Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne: A rare upset in a Beat the Clock Challenge match. Bourne needed the win because the creative team hasn't done anything to make him stand out since he was traded to Raw. Meanwhile, Swagger can bounce right back from the loss.

Mickie James, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix, Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes: The match was nothing special, but it was nice to see Beth back on Raw after a short hiatus. It was also interesting to see them dropping hints about a possible feud between Mickie and Gail. Now if only they could scrap all the six-diva tag matches in favor of having singles matches between the better workers on the Raw brand.

WWE Raw Misses

Overall show: The guest host gimmick saved this show. Otherwise, it just felt like the same old show with the same old wrestlers dominating. Who didn't know John Cena or Triple H would win the Beat the Clock Challenge and go on to face Randy Orton at SummerSlam? The Beat the Clock Challenge is a good gimmick, but knowing that one of the Big Two would win took a lot of the fun out of the concept.

JeriShow vs. Cryme Tyme: A ho-hum main event. The only rub Cryme Tyme received was from the footage that aired on ESPN. I just didn't get the sense that WWE fans are going to take the duo more seriously because they were hanging out with Shaq on Monday night. The real problem I had with the match was that they had Shaq make it a non-title match. Shaq made it clear that he didn't like JeriShow, yet he didn't force them to put the tag titles on the line? Big logic gap.

MVP vs. Chris Masters: They could have done a much better job with bringing back Masters. Sure, it was a surprise to have him come out unadvertised, but why not create some suspense via a mystery man angle. Wait, they did that at Night of Champions and delivered a lousy payoff that no one enjoyed.

John Cena vs. The Miz: Anticlimactic for anyone who has been watching WWE programming in recent years. The same old, same old routine with Hunter or Cena in the WWE Title matches is tired and played out. Let me guess, they'll shake things up once Shawn Michaels or Batista return? At some point, WWE has to take a chance on one of the mid-card wrestlers by giving them a strong push and inserting them into the WWE Title picture.

Michael Cole: The Shaq-alicious line was asinine. It's not like Michael Cole needs help from WWE creative to come across like a tool. The question I have is why WWE wants to make the current voice of Raw look so dorky?

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