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WWE Raw Hits

Vince McMahon birthday skit: This wasn't a popular segment with some viewers, but it reminded me somewhat of Mick Foley and The Rock's "This is Your Life" segment. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't nearly as funny and it sure as hell isn't going to pop an 8.4 rating, but going with something out of the norm can occasionally lead to strong ratings. Much like drivers can't avoid the temptation of gawking at a car accident on the side of the road, I'm guessing there were plenty of viewers who couldn't turn the station.

DX and Vince McMahon vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase: Sure, I could bitch about the 64 year-old owner of the company pinning the WWE Champion. What's important, though, is that he didn't do any work. This was not a Super Shane-O-Mac situation where a McMahon beat the hell out of all the heels. DX and John Cena did the real work and Vince simply scored the pin. Was it necessary? No, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Big Show and Chris Jericho vs. Mark Henry and MVP: The second half of the match was a lot of fun. Floyd Mayweather Jr. wasn't a great host, but WWE got something out of him during this match. I absolutely loved the spot where Henry caught Jericho when he went for the Codebreaker, only to go for his the World's Strongest Slam and then have Jericho counter with a DDT.

Evan Bourne: The live crowd popped big when he went to the top rope for the Shooting Star Press. Nice call by Jerry Lawler, who said, "Get your cameras ready!" That almost made up for Lawler's latest tired joke about a dead U.S. President. Time to get an updated that joke book, King.

The Miz vs. Santino Marella: It wasn't a bright idea to follow up 25 minutes of DX comedy with Santino, but the right guy won the match. I'm looking forward to The Miz challenging Kofi Kingston for the U.S. Title. By the way, I'm guessing a Kofi match was cut from the show. Cole told us that he was coming up later in the show, so either Cole messed up or they had to cut something due to the DX skit running so long.

WWE Raw Misses

Poor SummerSlam follow up: This was the thing I disliked most about the opening segment. WWE was coming off a hot SummerSlam show, yet they didn't do enough to sell the big stories the next night. Where was the love for Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBise following their impressive showing against DX? Why wasn't their more attention given to the Randy Orton vs. John Cena screwjob? More on that below.

Brett DiBiase explanation: I assumed they would reveal Brett was "the fan" who attacked the referee last night, but I never imagined it would be so unimaginative. Randy Orton simply introduced him and said it would never happen again. I'm guessing there's more to the story, but why create a little more mystery and eventually have John Cena spill the beans and allege that Randy put him up to it? There was some buzz coming out of the pay-per-view regarding Brett's attack, but the company did a terrible job of following up on it.

Nothing announced for next week: WWE didn't bother to advertise any matches or even the guest host for next week's show. Weak.

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