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WWE Raw Hits

John Cena and Sheamus: Strong final hype for their pay-per-view match. Sheamus looked like a million bucks for the most part. Who came up with the bright idea of having dorky Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban shove Sheamus to the mat? Even if you like Cuban, you have to admit that it was idiotic to have a non-wrestler shove the new monster heel down. Fortunately, Sheamus got his revenge by putting Cuban through the table. Overall, Sheamus looked like a star tonight thanks to this segment and the videos that aired throughout the night.

Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton: They gave us just enough to whet our appetites for their pay-per-view match. The fast count from Cuban evened up the wins and losses heading into their first pay-per-view match together.

Maryse vs. Gail Kim: A short match, but it was fun while it lasted. Sadly, everything about the Divas division still seems rushed and comes across like it was thrown together at the last second. There are some talented performers in the division who deserve better from the creative team.

Chris Masters: Masters shakes his tits to the beat of an Ozzy Osbourne song and suddenly he's over to the point that people are chanting his name. Only in pro wrestling, folks. I'm still stunned that Chris's tits have more rhythm than Mark Henry had while rapping.

WWE Raw Misses

No Umaga tribute: What would the reaction be if the NFL just ignored the death of a player? I'm sure WWE will post a video on their website, but I strong disagree with their decision to not include some type of tribute to Eddie Fatu on their flagship show. Given the history of wrestlers dying young I can understand why they wouldn't want to draw attention to Fatu's death, but I believe it opens them up to more criticism for making the callous decision to not mention his passing during the show.

Mark Cuban: I realize he's a controversial figure in the NBA, but I don't get the sense that the masses really cared to see him host the show. I certainly fall into that category. He was over big with the Dallas fans, but how many people across the country had an interest in watching him on Raw? Worse yet, how many people internationally even know who he is? Based on some of the feedback posted by UK readers in the Dot Net Members' forum, not many. That said, I give him credit for being a good sports and taking the table spot, which led to WWE and Cuban getting the ESPN attention they were looking for.

Hornswoggle: How many characters who appeal to children on other PG programming would grab their own tits? Sure, I got a chuckle over it, but I wonder how many parents had to tell their kids to stop emulating Hornswoggle last night. By the way, anyone who buys their kid a "Littlest Member" t-shirt has some serious issues.

John Cena vs. Carlito: I was hoping the company was going to do a little more with Carlito. He got a nice reaction for his surprise heel promo on Cena last week and they could have stretched this out and had a month-long television program with these two. Instead, Carlito was pushed right back down to the undercard.

Overall show: There wasn't much about this show that left me looking forward to Sunday's pay-per-view or next week's three-hour Slammy Awards. The pay-per-view hype seemed to be put aside in favor of pushing Mark Cuban and generating that SportsCenter moment. As for the Slammy Awards, why not announce the nominees for some of the bigger awards a week before the show to make them seem important? I'm sure they'll do something like that on the WWE website, but it would have felt more prestigious if they had made more of a fuss over the awards on the actual television show.

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