Today's Rundown: Shaquille O'Neal hosts WWE Raw, SummerSlam main event, Beat the Clock, Michael Cole, Chris Masters, Chris Jericho and Big Show tag team, Evan Bourne defeats Jack Swagger

Shaquille O'Neal as the guest host of Raw: I will buy it overall. Shaq seemed pretty comfortable after the first few minutes and did a nice job. WWE obviously had a lot of confidence in him to feature him in so many segments. I could have done without the stuff with Big Show and Chris Jericho, but I see why it was necessary. I predicted Shaq's appearance would garner a lot of ESPN footage and since that happened, WWE should be pleased.

John Cena vs. Randy Orton at SummerSlam: I am selling this. I think they could have gone with Mark Henry vs. Orton and promoted that into an interesting bout. Cena vs. Orton hasn't been done in awhile, but it is still the same old thing. Also, this means we will probably get DX vs. DiBiase and Rhodes at SummerSlam as well. I think Shawn Michaels' return is going to sell regardless of what he does at the show.

Beat the Clock challenge idea: I'll buy this. There are only so many ways to come up with a number one contender and as long as they don't go back to the well too much too often, I am happy with it. I don't like two things about the BTC. First, the match results are usually predictable (although that was not the case last night) and two, the winner of the match should get in, not just the person who is eligible. Nonetheless, I was happy with WWE going this route.

Beat the Clock challenge execution: Again, I'll buy. Mark Henry won his match, but then MVP, Jack Swagger, and Triple failed to win their matches. I was happy about that because it took the usual predictability out of the concept. However, the fact that Evan Bourne beat Jack Swagger, he should have then been eligible to win the challenge. That is the main part of it I don't like.

Michael Cole: You can have him for free. I actually feel bad for the guy from time to time. I wonder if he is just a huge dork or if he is being produced that way. What is worse is that Shaq completely blew him off after the "Shaq-a-licious" line and failed fist bump, and Cole still praised him like a complete tool.

Chris Masters returns: I will buy this and then reserve further judgment for later. Masters looked good and the announcers did a nice job promoting his return. I'm not sure I am going to look forward to a Masters vs. MVP feud, but it could pleasantly surprise me.

Chris Jericho and Big Show as unified tag team champions: I'll sell Show being Jericho's partner and Jericho being a tag team champion preventing him from being in the world title picture, but I like that Jericho can be on all three shows. Jericho was the highlight of Raw and he normally would not have been there.

Evan Bourne defeats Jack Swagger: I am buying this for a couple of reasons. First of all, Bourne needed a high profile win and this was it. Secondly, neither man seems to have anything going on, so why not feud with each other? I would love to see a long term program between these two and possibly a match at SummerSlam.

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