Some thoughts on last night’s Raw:

As expected, the “Who Blew Up WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon?” saga dominated the show, climaxing with a teary-eyed Stephanie McMahon cutting a promo in which she vowed that the McMahon family would avenge Vince’s “death.”

While there was speculation throughout the show about possible suspects, the “whodunit” aspect of the broadcast wasn’t as compelling as I thought it would be. I didn’t think the mystery would be solved in a week, but I did think the story line would be advanced a little more than it was. Perhaps things will pick up during next week’s three-hour edition of Raw.

It will be interesting to see what the ratings were for last night’s show, because ratings will ultimately determine whether this angle is a success. After the surprise demise of Mr. McMahon on Raw last week, the ratings for Tuesday’s ECW rose slightly, but the numbers for Friday’s Smackdown were at their normal level. …

When the limo arrived during the show and they kept cutting back to it, it reminded me of the glory days of WCW Nitro during the NWO angle. I was expecting Eric Bischoff to be inside. …

I was pleased to see Randy Orton score the clean pin on Bobby Lashley in the tag-team main event that pitted Orton and King Booker against Lashley and John Cena. Orton has been rejuvenated as a character and it’s important that he not lose any momentum. …

It sure seemed like Mr. Kennedy was turning babyface en route to a potentially hot feud with world heavyweight champion Edge on Smackdown. Instead, Kennedy was sent to Raw in the draft last week and he delivered a heel promo last night. That surprised me because I sensed the fans were ready to embrace Kennedy as a babyface. If the plan is for Kennedy to eventually challenge Cena for the WWE title, the fans might make Kennedy the babyface in that feud even if he isn’t supposed to be. …

The Iron Sheik is always good for a laugh. I wonder, though, whether his backstage vignette with Coach was live or taped. After seeing clips of The Iron Sheik’s profanity-laced shoot tape and reading reports of his unstable behavior at independent shows, I can’t imagine WWE would give him a microphone on live television. …

Unlike the Iron Sheik, Cryme Tyme is never good for a laugh, as last night’s skit once again proved. As lame as it was, however, the Cryme Tyme bit was like a classic episode of Seinfeld compared to Kevin Nash’s act in TNA.