I was initially excited to see The Hart Dynasty show up on RAW, but they did not look good and were booked to look weak. It looked like David Hart Smith missed spots. I think they could have been booked a lot better to give them a little push, but I guess that will have to wait.

The Miz shooting the midget in the junk with the teeshirt cannon was the best thing on the show.

Hey Kev,
Just wondering do you have any idea why MVP came out in a Manchester United shirt for the battle royal, as a United fan from the UK that was great but didn't seem to make much sense its not like RAW came from Manchester or anything. So that leaves the question why?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I have no idea.

Kev, even though we all new Trips was going to win, weren't you just hoping in your heart of hearts that Miz's sneak attack would at least eliminate Cena? I think the one thing the caps off this night is the utter disappointment I felt as soon as I heard the Trump was the new "owner".

Goldust is a ZERO.

Surprised you didn't mention this Kev but the Trump-McMahon interaction "via satellite" sort of took the wind out the sails following the big announcement. It was so obvious that Trump's comments were videotaped and McMahon looked stupid trying to "sell" it as live. Just say it was pre-recorded WWE...stop trying to fool us like we're all stuck in 1981.

I was listening hard for anymore "heelish" comments from good ole' JR. I didn't catch any. Perhaps they've backed off this for the time being.

I feel bad for Matt Hardy. Nobody wants it more than him. I'm pretty sure his hand is healed but WWE is keeping the cast on him anyways. He desperately needs new entrance music. The crowd doesn't react as negatively to him on his entrance because the music is far too upbeat.

The Miz really called out Goldust. The reason why Miz's promos are so effective is because alot of what he is saying is grounded in truth. I totally agreed with the whole "Goldust coming back time and time again to try to recapture the magic."

DiBiase was bad on commentary..."more better"?!

As expected, Hardy-Edge-Punk was the best match of the night. I still see Punk as a usurper. The true champion will be restored...he just needs to get the contract stuff straightened out. :)

About Rosa landing on the top of her head in the DDT, I think that's what's supposed to happen.

RESPONSE FROM KE: It supposed to look like that's what's happening. The way she landed didn't look safe.

I thought for sure the new "owner" was going to be JBL or Ted Dibiase, and I think either of those scenarios would of been better for the Raw storylines. Unfortunately, the Raw ratings is the only thing Vince is currently worried about.

Donald Trump looked like an overgrown Oompa Loompa. Whoever did his makeup really needs to be fired.

Some good wrestling last night...

...what will the WWE do without showing 5,000 Quiznos and Domino's Pizza commercials next week? Fill more time with recaps and replays?

Here's a question: If Raw is independently owned, how is Orton still going to be the WWE champion on Raw? Stupid.

I liked how Rhodes and DiBiase kept referring to it as the Great American Bash rather than just the Bash. Maybe if they keep talking they will get "more better". I think the Trump thing is going to be extremely lame. He is a terrible actor. I was really hoping for Santino to be the new GM.

Rosa's new music is great! She looked super hot.

Anyone else think mickie is getting chubby?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Absolutely not. If she's getting chubby, then there are very few non-chubby people in this world.

Come on Kev. The Ahmed Johnson reference was the spot of the night.

Donald Trump and HHH winning a No. 1 Contender match......Was last night a rerun?

I don't consider myself a Michael Cole basher, but after the WWE title match, he said "I don't think HHH and John Cena have any idea what just transpired here." Orton's music being played couldn't have provided a clue?

tell me you saw the sign at the beggining of raw that said

"The real viper is in my pants"

Sign of the Year

RESPONSE FROM KE: I saw it, and, yes, I got a chuckle out of it.

Donald Trump?...Sherry Preston of the View? ...Whats next a reunion of the two remaining Golden Girls ? Few years ago the WWE had a slogan get the _ out as in the letter f ...apparently they REALLY want me to get the _ out...next week on Raw ..Verne Gagne vs Ric Flair for the Heavyweight Title....the "New Generation" in wrestling..finally tv you can watch with your grandparents ...

I new there was gonna be something for ratings, never expected this. I was thinking JBL as new owner. I would have liked to see MVP or Matt Hardy get the royal win. I think the HHH, Orton is getting stale. I mean HHH will be huge no matter what he does on the show. I did expect Orton to win the four way. In agreement, I saw Tommy Dreamer movin slow also. Not the greatest match of the night. Great blog! Thanks!

I was surprise that a 3hr Raw in Charlotte, NC did not have 1 appearance from Ric Flair. Jericho did a great promo to get things started. Only match I didnt like was The Colons vs The Dynasty. DH Smith seemed a little off in that match and I was surprise Kidd didnt really get involved. Wonder how long Trump will be the owner of Raw.

I like the new main page format for the Sun’s website. It’s a bit more rich than the previous setup, and also easier on the eyes.

I saw the piece on Raven’s Insider about the rumors of a possible trade for Brandon Marshall. I say go for it. Anyone else want to weigh in?

How ‘bout them O’s?

Local news items aside, Raw was decent. I’ve accepted that WWE will probably never go back to the way it was 5-10 years ago. Even though it has become a bit more bland in terms of storylines and segments, the matches are still fairly respectable. I would like to see more hardcore matches though.

I guess the biggest development was the announcement of The Donald as owner of the Raw brand. Interesting, but how far can they go with it? Once the initial buzz dies off, do they have a long term plan for Trump’s involvement? Will it be one of those cases where once the short term interest is gone, they let the angle stagnate, and act like it never happened? WWE has a poor track record with storyline consistency. It will be interesting to see how things play out.

The Jericho - Mysterio match was very good. I haven’t seen much of their feud, but I’ve heard it has been receiving rave reviews. Now I see why. The Code Breaker at the finish looked devastating.

The three title matches were fun. Dreamer vs. Christian was decent, the Fatal Four-way was good, and the Triple Threat was great. These match styles always show up when there is a three hour Raw, and usually do not disappoint.

Does Killswitch Engage have a marketing deal with WWE? Not only have they provided the theme music for CM Punk, but now Christian is using their name as his finisher. As a metal fan, I am anxious to see if someone will have a character named the Arch Enemy with their finisher being the Rumplestiltskin Grinder…

Matt Striker comes across as petty for jabbing at Obama constantly. I assume McMahon loves it. Get over it, dude; it’s been almost a year since he was elected.

The segment with Vinnie-Mac and Santino was funny. I got a good chuckle out of the line about Trump being attracted to Santina.

All in all, I would give Raw a 4/5. Not the greatest, but very respectable. It should be fun to see where they go with the Trump bit, even if it appears to be headed for disaster.

Kev, what did you think about the booking of the battle royal? Personally, I was really upset with how it went down.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I wasn't surprised in the least the way it went down. It would have been great for MVP to have won it, but I knew there was no way it was happening. It would have been nice if he made it to the final three or four rather than being the second one out.

Did you hear the King call Rosa Mendes "Eva"? I'm sure he'll hear about that! I'm not to excited about the whole Trump angle. I think the writers are completley out of ideas. Seeing this makes me look forward to Slammiversary. I dont like TNA that much, but at $7.00 a ticket, my daughter will love it!

Okay, your dislike of the Miz is well documented, but there's still no reason not to even mention him once when he played a fairly prominent role on Raw.

By naming Trump owner of RAW made me frown i was thinking it would be Eric Bischoff but everybody was saying ric flair. I dont know what Vince is doing but he needs to do something.I liked that Randy orton won the belt,hate that CM is still champion...he just doesnt look like a heavyweight champion..the belt is bigger than he is and for ecw belt well SWAGGER needs to get the belt back he destroyed christian in the first match and they still gave it to Christian AND when u said he going to headlining pay per views with kurt angle to being a jobber well TNA has A LOT of old good wrestlers or old washed wrestlers and few good new people and in WWE christian wouldve NEVER headlined a PPV with ANGLE

Trump went over like a led balloon.

Three hours commercial free? Look for a lot of filler next Monday.

Orton vs. Triple H. Wake me up when it's over.

If Orton and Trump were to engage in a verbal confrontation I might warm up to his involvement. But as far as I'm concerned the WWE has been there and done that.

I knew MVP wasn't going to win the battle royal when he came out with a shirt bearing the AIG logo. (Note: It was the jersey used by Manchester United.)

CM Punk, on the other hand, was magnificent. I liked his answer to Josh Matthews question. So while it was OK for him to cash in on Edge it's not OK for him to cash in on Jeff Hardy. His actions were exactly the same.

As for Matt Hardy, I wouldn't be surprised if Punk creates his own heel stable and the older Hardy brother is his first recruit.

Well Kevin we are left holding the bag of mixed reviews that has become Raw over the past few months. It just seems that Smackdown has surpassed them with talent, quality of matches, and storylines.
I was one off on the picks so to speak. I thought HHH would win the belt but because of the Battle Royal win and the now at least 2 Title defenses booked for the next month I find it impossible for Orton to keep the belt...It's only a matter of time.
As predicted Dreamer kept the belt but the match was stale. I don't know if it's lack of working with one another, or the fact Christian had to job for Dreamer it looked like the match took effort.
But as I predicted Kevin: Dreamer wins and the bonus was limp or no limp....Clean Pin.
CM Punk.....The stratosphere is the limit if he plays this or is allowed to play this right. Subtle comments, quite promos, and opportunities...Just like Jehrico.
Did you see the missed spot at the beginning of Kidd-Smith match?
Rhoads-DiBiase will be your new champs. Too bad WWE has went PG. A blood fued with 2nd generation Colon's would be interesting.
Most of the folks in the crowd don't remember when Goldust was Intercontinental Champ let alone the fact he lost to Ahmed Johnson at KOTR in 96.

Good Stuff Kevin

Kev, Maybe it was my screen or just me, however watching the Trump segments it looked to me that it was a computer generated image. I mean his hair never looks real but if you notice in the background it had that image that didnt quite match what was in front of it, also his hand did not look real to me. It just looked like a scene from a game system more than the real deal.

I think all of Trump's future appearances/statements will be taped and played on the big screen like they did last night. I can't see him travelling to the arenas. I hope when the wrestlers interact with him that they don't make it look as bad as McMahon did when he was "talking" to Trump.

While the rules of the brand extention are NOT set in stone, I could not help thinking when I saw the 10-man field that WWE must be somewhat committed to them right now since they had the opportunity to otherwise fill the match with headliners.

CM Punk is acting like the NEW Opportunist, which I think would make a great basis for a Punk/Edge program leading into SummerSlam 2009.

Next week's Last Man Standing match will be the THIRD such match between Randy Orton and HHH, following No Mercy 2007 and One Night Stand 2008. Except I have a feeling this will only lead them into The Bash for the ultimate WWE blow-off match: Hell in a Cell.

Going back to a previous post: Search for Albano vs. Gorilla Monsoon on YouTube and watch as The Captain drops the blade. Now that's funny - - and "not obvious".

I have to agree with alot of other people hear having trump come out as owner does not make since at all iknow that it is just for a quick publicity stunt and rating boost to get some non or former wrestling fans in but what they really need to do is work on these horrible storylines. I think Uncle Eric would have been great to bring back as owner or GM abd have him fight with the Mcmahons/HHH helping out legacy. As far as the matches themselves was glad to see Orton win the Title back really surprise dthough this is only his fifth title reign which reminded i was watching the history of the IC title on WWE on demand and they had the match between him & Edge and they got a lot of Boring chants throughout the match which is amazing because look at their careers 5 years later. With the World Title match i was almost hoping that Punk could not continue the match to see if they would hacd put the Title back on Jeff I think he was legitimitly hurt by the way he covered Edge and the trainers were out there to long for it not to be. lastly really was really upset with the Battle Royal MVP getting eliminated so early but thats the WWE for you

"tell me you saw the sign at the beggining of raw that said

"The real viper is in my pants"

Sign of the Year

RESPONSE FROM KE: I saw it, and, yes, I got a chuckle out of it."

I got a laugh out of that as well. That and the sign that said, "Jean shorts? Really? It's 2009." Good stuff.

Another RAW sleeper. Poor Matt Hardy, he's on his way back down in the card. I sure wish they would push Golddust a little more. Sure he's a little older but his character is company brewed and he can still move in the ring. A feud between him and Cody would be nice to see

"CM Punk, on the other hand, was magnificent. I liked his answer to Josh Matthews question. So while it was OK for him to cash in on Edge it's not OK for him to cash in on Jeff Hardy. His actions were exactly the same."

Well the unofficial rules for cashing MITB seem to be:

Heels cash in whenever they feel like it (i.e. major match that leaves the champion weak)

Faces cash in by making a direct challenge (i.e. RVD vs Cena) or after a major match where the champ is a heel.

Good grief man, what have you got against Dreamer?? You know, it's not like Christian is going to be losing to him a lot. Hell, he was just champion a couple of weeks ago! This is just a small title run for Dreamer. By your terms, you could also say it's amazing that Edge has gone from headlining PPV's as World Heavyweight Champion to jobbing to C.M. Punk. Geez.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I wouldn't compare Dreamer to Punk.

Go Punk!!!

The Trump idea was the WORST idea that the WWE could have thought of.

Just as Vince Jr. took over for VInce Sr. and ushered in a new area (s). Someone else needs to do the same now. Sorry Vince.

Go Punk!!!

Hey Kev,
Just wondering do you have any idea why MVP came out in a Manchester United shirt for the battle royal, as a United fan from the UK that was great but didn't seem to make much sense its not like RAW came from Manchester or anything. So that leaves the question why?

John L

MVP was out a while after his music hit, and, without his gloves on. I wondered if the had the Man Utd top on and no gloves on, because he was late, or, and more likely, because he wasn't ready as hit music was hit at the wrong time or too early. Just a thought.

Kev, I may be reading into this too much and I suspect that no-one really cares but;

Here in the UK one of the biggest Soccer teams, Manchester United have recently sold one of arguably the worlds best players for a world record sum of 80 million pounds. I think what M.V.P. was getting at when he wore the Manchester United shirt was that he is also worth a similar 'record' amount of money.

Maybe.

Anyways, decent enough show except for the Donald Trump angle, which could have been so much better with someone else, and of course the result of the Battle Royal which I was convinced M.V.P. was going to take as his own. Great blog once again though.

What a joke of a premise for the new "owner." Someone already mentioned that Vince's WWE Title is now defended on a product he doesn't own and just.....ya. I won't even get into it.

More than anything it just goes to show how bad things are. I distinctly remember how posessive of Raw Vince was in the Monday Night Wars and now he's going on TV saying he sold it out of the blue? I still don't see how changing "owners" changes the fact that HHH vs Orton is bordering on painful at this point and it's supposed to be the marquee feud on the show.

Maybe it will be a way to hit the reset button on some stupid decisions (like firing Kennedy) and the title landscape. Or he'll just have an affair with Santina so she can keep her job. Ugh.

It's a shame because the combined talent show made for great TV...

I loved the Trump angle IF ONLY for the fact that every Internet schmo was convinced it HAD to be Flair, and now are probably pissed because what they wanted to happen didn't happen.

Mickie James needs to drop the baseball cap. It doesn't make her look very attractive.

Maryse is quickly becoming the best part of the show.

The Trump thing was surprising, but I've got real low expectations for it. I'm not really a big fan of "The Donald" and the way it was done with no storyline setup and that cheesy obviously-taped interaction really doesn't bode well.

The reason Smackdown's been better than Raw recently has nothing to do with celebrity gimmicks and everything to do with showing fresh, compelling matches. Showing a commercial-free Raw with yet another Orton/HHH match isn't going to change that trend.

Regarding the battle royal, the booking of Miz really bothered me. You've got Cena and HHH appearing exhausted and looking the other way and Miz sneaking back into the ring. It's a great setup to further the Miz/Cena feud where the Miz can believably eliminate Cena and then get taken out by Trips to keep the same finish. But instead the Miz is portrayed as a complete buffoon and they destroy all the momentum of his push and the feud for seemingly no reason at all.

Simply for the wrestling alone, I thought this was one of the better Raw shows in many months. However, the way they went about it suggests that as currently organized the company's talent is overextended.

What yesterday's Raw demonstrated more than anything else is that when all the top talent is featured on one show you can have a great show. Maybe you could even have two great shows or brands. But there isn't enough top talent to have four A level shows.

All the matches were pretty well done and featured some very good work for TV, except possibly Dreamer vs. Christian. Dreamer really moved slowly in that ring, although I guess the WWE showed respect for his contribution to the business over the years by booking that win. When a guy wrestles in track pants and an oversized tee shirt that may suggest he's likely not in tip top shape.

The Trump ownership takeover angle didn't quite work for me. At least it didn't work the way they spun it last night.

Trump is an interesting and articulate guy and a larger than life persona and he will seemingly supposedly mess with Vince's product and mind. The problem is he has many bigger fish to fry than making guest appearances on Raw.
The taped segments to kick off the angle seemed to confirm that.

It also would have been more realistic if Trump had been given a more wrestling specific script and had interjected himself into more storylines and interacted more with some of the performers. That would have added another dimension to this construct.

The half baked acting by Vince, who appeared to be smart aleky when he should have been positioned as sombre, conflicted and contrite, also didn't help create a flying start.

As others have mentioned, I can't see this being a 'long arc' plot unless they come up with some twists and turns to make it more interesting. Perhaps it could also potentially work if Trump has more time to devote to the endeavour in coming weeks.

"Kev, even though we all new Trips was going to win, weren't you just hoping in your heart of hearts that Miz's sneak attack would at least eliminate Cena?"
as soon as miz went under the ropes and disapeared we knew this was gonna happen, he looked intense when he snuck up on the apron aswell and it would of give him great heat against cena to nock him out then have hhh nock out miz.....but no, it appears a complete moron booked this match instead.

and matt hardy fans stop crying, he either aint talented enough for a higher spot or he just sucks with this character... he really sucked up there next to punk, whos tweener gimmick, is really working great, kudos wwe for doing something right!

I'm glad I found this blog while searching on google regarding the whole "Trump" angle a few minutes ago. What an great blog.

Now, I have to admit that I hadn't watched RAW in a few years, but had recently been drawn to it from a few friends that had recommended that it was moving in a better direction. And after a few viewings I found myself hooked, but with the drawn out Orton/McMahon Triple H storyline, I'm finding myself in the same place I was a few years ago when I shut RAW off and found more appealing modes of entertainment like reading more. I understand that the WWE is banking a lot on Orton, but is there a way to make his storylines more enticing or more exciting? That's all I'm asking for. The dude is made talented with the mic, and aside from his many slip ups in the ring, he could be one of the "greats," but right now, he's stuck in the middle and he ain't moving out of it fast enough.

As far as the Trump storyline goes, once I found out about it, I deleted RAW immediately. If McMahon is desperate for ratings, I think it would have been wise of the WWE to hire one of the fan favorites to return. My heart skipped a beat when I found out that he was planning to "sell" and had hoped that Stone Cold Steve Austin would be the sole RAW "owner," as McMahon had said, "there would have been no chance in hell" that he would have ever sell to "the person." But that wasn't the case.

If the WWE wants to keep hardcore fans interested, they need to mix it up and create storylines that people are interested in and start relying on other wrestlers to help fill slots instead of its regulars: Orton, Cena, Triple H, hell, even the Big Show. Once this happens, I think ratings will improve and viewers would be a lot more happier, at least the older WWE viewers, like myself.

Kevin, do you not get HDNet? Is that why you don't post about ROH?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I do not get HDNet. I would have to switch cable companies, which I am contemplating.

Before I say anything, you are absolutely right about Maryse. Something about how she did all after the match ended made me want to watch it over and over. It was a moment made for the movies. A new favorite diva for me. The Miz even mentioned too.

Anyways, anytime the three brands get together, the RAWs are spectacular. so I wasn't surprised that this RAW was so great and almost like an apologize for the all the sucky RAWs we've had for the past couple of weeks.

In my mind, The Big Show absolutely stole the show. I just absolutely cracked up when he was mowing down all the wrestlers, particularly in that fatal fourway match. Absolutely hilarious! One of Show's headbuts flipped HHH upside down and inside out like a rag doll inbetween the ropes and then Show busts out with that spear. I was like dang! Watching Show entertained. It made my night!

As for your criticism that Show intervened, I think Show was just trying to show off his utter dominance. More of these fatal fourway matches with the Show. Please! I've never seen HHH and Cena push anyone like that, much less at the same time and cleanly. That was great!

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Carlito and Primo are going to be taking on the Legacy members, pushing up their status a bit.

I thought Goldust mention of Ahmed Johnson was hilarious. At that point the crowd needed to be given a Maryse's hand gesture because that deserved a chuckle.

CM Punk is like my favorite wrestler so anything I say about him will just be biased. So glad that you like him, Kev. Everyone notice his new ring attire.

Also one more quick thing, I think that person who said Miz's promos work so well because he adds a ring of truth to them is exactly right. Adding to that, the harsh truth. I wonder if Miz would say Triple H got to where he is because he's married to the boss' daughter or something.

Why,when Cena and HHH were the only two in the ring during the 4 way, did Cena look out to the crowd like it was some historic 1rst meeting between the two? Cena you are not the Rock and HHH is not Hulk Hogan.

The only other thing that bothered me about last night beside the whole Trump buzzkill, was the fact that I thought a 3 hour RAW was a big enough stage for either a HBK or UnderTaker return. If not both.

Eck you had commented in an earlier post about how SmackDown will be even better when UT returns, I agreed with you then but quiet frankly now I don't think they need him.SD is firing on all cylinders. UT would be best served on RAW. Maybe the could run an angle where Trump bye's him from Teddy Long. If nothing else Taker and HBK could resume there feud. That would make for some good TV.

If Andy thought Mickie looked chubby it was only because she was next to Rosa. Even Michelle McCool would look chubby next to that girl. To me, she looks way too frail to be believable as a wrestler.

Seeing Josh Matthews back off from Randy Orton during his interview segment makes me wonder why the WWE decided to have their interviewers no longer have exchanges with the wrestlers. Remember how Mean Gene Okerlund used to talk back to the heels? It was pretty funny.

Do you think Don, Ivanka, or someone from the Apprentice will be the new GM? Not many will live up to the hype, and that applies to a non-wrestling personalities.

It couldn't be Flair since he was punted in the head, and that leaves people out for a couple months at least. I still think the WWE dropped the ball by not letting the Sandman become the GM of Raw some time ago. Maybe Mr. Trump will hire Bobby Lashley...

I missed everything up to CM Punk's interview, but the World Heavyweight Title triple threat match was fantastic. I was hoping that it would go the better part of the final hour. If it had gone at least ten more minutes, then it would have crushed the world title four-way from ROH on HDNet in my opinion. Punk, Edge, and Hardy brought the action to a sprint with some creative spots thrown in for good measure. Giving the match ten more minutes was feasible if they dropped some of the recaps.

Was the live audience quiet or was it just my TV? Not too sure.

Dave in Parkville: "Regarding the battle royal, the booking of Miz really bothered me. You've got Cena and HHH appearing exhausted and looking the other way and Miz sneaking back into the ring. It's a great setup to further the Miz/Cena feud where the Miz can believably eliminate Cena and then get taken out by Trips to keep the same finish. But instead the Miz is portrayed as a complete buffoon and they destroy all the momentum of his push and the feud for seemingly no reason at all."

I absolutely agree, what an awful booking!

Enough of Triple H, enough of this feud, these characters... I'm a huge fan of Orton but it's ridiculous how he's booked as a coward heel who needs two light chickens backing him up to survive, he should be a monster one, or a very smart one at least like Jericho.

It's a shame such a talented guy like Jeircho is feuding for the IC title he already held countless times, being stuck at 5 world titles, whereas Triple H is gonna get the gold back... 13 times is already way too much. Being pushed by his wife is just unbearable.

Those invincible faces are always uninteresting. See how Orton has to RKO the big show, making the move look less spectacular because of the size of show, just because it'd make the 8-year old fans cry if HHH or Cena got beaten by Orton.

Smackdown is just so much better than Raw since the draft. Jericho is greatness, Edge and Hardy are always intense, and Punk's new opportunist character is fascinating and his moveset is great. Mysterio is still flying, the storylines are way better...

Kevin, I'm French and it's funny how different people see the same things differently. From Paris, Mickie is definitely chubby, and The Bellas look twice better than her !

You're right. Sorry Mickie!

I get the feeling this commercial free Raw will be like how they do commercial free soccer matches.

I think Mickie James looks great. Maybe she's not pencil thin, but she's still a gorgeous woman and I like her better for being normal sized!

RESPONSE FROM KE: Me too.

"Hey Kev,
Just wondering do you have any idea why MVP came out in a Manchester United shirt for the battle royal, as a United fan from the UK that was great but didn't seem to make much sense its not like RAW came from Manchester or anything. So that leaves the question why?

John L"

Good question...I'm guessing it was a joke that Donald Trump and Vince put together since the Manchester United dropped AIG as a sponsor and those T-shirts went on sale weeks ago. Poor MVP.

Other thoughts: Rosa Mendes is muy caliente and they need to have her start winning matches. The Bella Twins aren't doing anything so insert those two in the ring with her off and on. Also, why not liven up these title situations..Put MVP vs. Orton at the Bash, have Kelly Kelly competing for the Divas title. Do some new and original things!

Trump as new GM was a shocker. I was expecting Eric Bischoff, JBL or even that fake Nuggets owner to be named. Then they stick Trump on the big screen like Max Headroom from the 80's, and pretend Vince is interacting with him. It's kinda hard to cut someone off when they're on videotape, it just comes out as cluttered talking. So will Trump really be at Raw next week or will they use another fake "look-alike" from the Rosie ODonell feud?

Does it make me sick to have laughed for a solid five to ten minutes after Miz shot Hornswoggle from 5 feet away with a T-shirt bazooka? I don't think so because Hornswoggle's always been used as a comedy act on Raw. We need more Goldust stuttering too, maybe Miz and he can have a rap battle.

Anyways, strange angle with Trump, but if money drops down from the rafters next week, I don't think you'll hear many of the Raw fans complaining..

Re: Bob Buscaglia

"If Andy thought Mickie looked chubby it was only because she was next to Rosa. Even Michelle McCool would look chubby next to that girl. To me, she looks way too frail to be believable as a wrestler."

Sorry, but I've got to disagree with you there Bob. Michelle McCool always came off as too skinny to me since her earlier days on Smackdown and in fact it's been documented that she suffered from an eating disorder. Nothing against her, she's a very talented diva wrestler but she's never made a huge impression on me in terms of her look.

The Bella Twins aren't exactly bulky, and aren't exactly wrestling these days. Let's cut Rosa some slack, she's bootylicious and feisty....She can always grab some more salsa and nachos off the backstage buffet table in between segments.

"During the battle royal, it didn’t make sense when Big Show intervened while a couple guys were trying to toss Cena over the top rope. Since Big Show hates Cena so much, why wouldn’t he help them get Cena out?"

Kev, I think for the same reason Show got mad when Miz took cheapshots on Cena during their tag match. Big Show wants the task of making Cena suffer all to himself. So Show would want to be the one to destroy Cena and eliminate him from the Battle Royal..just a thought based on how his character's been..

re: JoeChambro

"Sorry, but I've got to disagree with you there Bob. Michelle McCool always came off as too skinny to me since her earlier days on Smackdown"

That was my point. I was trying to say Rosa looks even skinnier than Michelle.

I hope Rosa's neck and head are ok.

Bob, I know that was your point, I'm disagreeing. Rosa doesn't seem skinnier than Michelle or the Bellas. We agree to disagree :)

I agree with everyone else, horrible booking for the Miz in the Battle Royal on Raw.

I mean everyone knows the best situation woulda had Miz climb onto the apron sneakily, and then Hornswoggle and Goldust sneak out from under the ring with the t-shirt gun and blast him in the backside, knocking Miz out of the match..Come on WWE!

OK, so apparently, the Wrestling Globe Newsletter claims MVP wore the Man Utd shirt as part of a request by a Make A Wish foundation kid so that clears it up! thanks for everyones input though i honestly had no idea and they were all great suggestions!

Brilliant Zartan! It would have been hilarious to see the little guy get revenge.

It was nice of MVP to honor a Make a Wish request but isn't there another Man U shirt he could have worn? A baby face shouldn't be wearing a shirt that says AIG.

Do you remember the details of the initial brand split in 2002, specifically whether Ric Flair was the owner of the RAW brand -- or just co-owner of WWE and assigned the RAW brand? The announcers keep saying that Vince McMahon has owned the RAW brand since 1993, but I think they're ignoring that storyline.

The reason I ask is that I had a thought that Ric Flair's lawyers could find a caveat to the contract for the match in 2002 when Vince McMahon won back RAW whereby Flair had to be given a chance to match the offer before RAW could be sold to someone, kinda like what happened between USA Network and Spike TV over RAW (except USA was attempting to retain ownership to WWF-TV rights).

Thus, the sell to Donald Trump could be null-and-void and Ric Flair would own RAW (again?).

Did anyone, even for a second, think it would have been crazy if Vince announced that the billionaire who bought Raw was..... wait for it.... Ted Turner! :-p Seriously, that would have been epic, in an odd sort of way. Then, when Ted (more than likely, also in a pre-taped segment) finished chewing out Vince, he would announce Eric Bischoff as the new (well, sorta) GM of Raw. Yeah, yeah... I was a WCW fan, but that, as a wrestling fan, would have been much cooler than this Donald Trump stuff. Oh well....

I gotta give Punk credit...he playing his role well AND he managed to sneak in a tribute to Miswawa on his taped wrists..

I love Dreamer but boy did christian have to slooooooow dooooooooooown in that match to make it look good....

Trump.....hahahahahahahahaha WWE = desperation?

Jericho is the best heel WWE has got going right now...

To Kevin Eck,
How Donald J Trump will face and to
explain to
U.S. Government about his venture as
Monday Night Raw by Indepent Corprate
Board of Director of WWE Corp. Brand
Business as your system of corprate
attorney and Board of directors try to
print and documents paid by money into enter the Elite Authority Societites

Hey kev I have to agree with everyone else that interveiw with trump was totaly prerecorded. Sometimes i think the WWE thinks there fans are all idiots or children and as for as trump being the owner of raw goes I guess it could be worst I thought the new Gm was going to be eric bischoff that would have been horrible or it could have been mike adamley again and we all know how much of a mess he was P.S could someone post the goldust Amhed johnson reference I think I missed it P.P.S viper in my pants definatley best sign ever

I always thought, albeit it over the top, Vince was one of the better performers in his Mr.McMahon charachter . The best thing Trump can do is get through tonights Live Raw with him being there. Introduce a new GM, Perhaps Ric Flair, and then only appear via video wall every now and then , ala Jack Tunney from years gone by... just a thought..