While Raw at it's best still blows away Impact I'd find it hard to justify how you could say last night's run of the mill variety show beat a fast paced all action Impact.

I'm really not a TNA fan and there is still some illogical booking and perplexing heel/face turn issues to be ironed out but last night was a pretty exciting show. It feels a little rushed, and a little forced but there is some great talent in the company if they choose to use them correctly. (No Nasty Boys or Orlando Jordan is always a plus!)

The RVD thing kind of got ruined by jobbing Sting in 30seconds clean. At least Sting got his heat back I guess.

WWE was, frankly boring throughout. Next week promises much bigger things however with Wrestlemania Rewind matches, a Hart-McMahon contract signing and Austin as host. And I figure TNA are probably out of suprises now so it should be interesting.

I managed to watch both shows side by side and ended up muting most of Impact to listen and watch the build to WresteMania on RAW.

RAW seems to have all the star power. Even with Hogan and Flair in the ring, it seems to take their stock down somewhat by being in the Impact Zone.

With the Cena/Batista, HBK/Taker and Hart/McMahon storiesline building, I will be focusing my attention on RAW until WrestleMania for sure.

Impact did enough however to keep RAW and the WWE on its toes, if they can keep Jeff Hardy, and build him as their top star it could certainly help them.

I was able to watch both shows and from what i saw it seems like TNA tried to stuff everything they could into this one show. Honestly i felt like i was watching WWE from the vault. While raws show wasnt ground breaking I think it shows how much they respect TNA by NOT pulling out the stops. Once again Kevin you were right about the TNA heel changes now Sting is a heel!? And whats the point of bringing RVD on if youre just gonna squash him like 5 minutes later? Also is it just me or did EVERY single match on TNA get interrupted by some type of interferance. Also why were Hogan and Flair the only ones to bleed during their match? When its all said and done im just not sure what kinda product theyre trying to produce. They say theyre the Anti-WWE "an alternative product" but they only highlight past WWE performers.

Impact toooooo much Hogan and the pathetic crap about how oh please don't wrestle your going to never walk again blah blah blah. If we wanted the 80's we can go to youtube.

Raw tooo much Cena being a Superman.

In all honesty, I tried switching back and forth for awhile, but settled on Impact just to see if anything unexpected would happen. Hardy & RVD wasn't unexpected, and the show overall was just ok. Downgrade from the Jan 4 show.
Also, I can see Raw on Universal on Saturday night.

Honestly, I can't decide, because I don't think either show was particularly good. For all their hype, TNA's show was nothing special. I can't imagine that anyone was surprised by Sting's turn; I mean, it's TNA, where swerves are a way of life. The show spent way too much time focused on Hulk Hogan. And the guy that should have really made an impact (no pun intended), Jeff Hardy, was squandered until the end. TNA should have built this show around Hardy, not Hogan; I mean, Hardy's the one that's main evented PPVs in this decade.

And Raw had Criss Angel. 'Nuff said.

Sting uses that bat more than HHH uses the sledgehammer. Hogan could barely walk down the ramp. Flair is so done. The RVD appearance was good, but then to have him beat down so quick was dumb. You wait until WWE turns Orton into the a Stone Cold type character and history will repeat itself.

I flicked back and forth continuously. Impact was more interesting. Crowd energy level at Impact was high. RVD got a huge pop. I stayed on Raw for a bit during the gauntlet just to see who came out next but otherewise, there was little on Raw to hold my attention. Nice not having to watch long repetitive re-cap packages + such.

When Cole started to deliver his line about the longest running episodic blah blah blah, I was able to turn the channel three words in and be entertained. Nice!

Neither one was all that great. Impact's usual faults were on display to a higher-than-usual degree: heavy-handed soap opera, "shocking" surprises, too little in-ring action, their most talented wrestlers crammed into brief gimmick matches. Raw fell into a common pre-PPV trap: too much setup for the PPV, and not enough focus on the actual show.

I voted for Raw because Impact's flaws are worse, and because Impact failed to make a compelling case for viewers to change channels.

The following takes place between the hours of 9:00pm and 11:00pm:

- Undertaker delivers a "dead" promo.
- Hogan & Flair deliver a match that was relevant 15 years ago.
- Sting looks sadly aged.
- promo, promo, promo, promo, promo...2 minute match....more promos.
- Scott Hall evokes pity.
- Sean Waltman evokes frustration.
- Batista evokes curiosity: did he lose a bet to get that nose piercing?
- more promos
- HHH/Sheamus= disinterest
- Cena is not quite superhuman
- Hogan and Flair wrestle the first ever slow motion match
- Jeff Hardy=too late for interest's sake
- TNA= ridiculous blood loss just because "they can"
- RAW= so much talking and "magic" the channel was turned

While I felt that Impact had the better show, I also felt that both shows did a good job of achieving their individual goals.

TNA had yet another high-energy, shocktastic Impact that showcased young talent and reignited the X-division, while RAW took its time and continued to set the stage for what should be a great Wrestlemania from a wrestling standpoint. I didn't even mind their guest host as I thought Criss Angel's tricks were actually pretty cool! (I don't follow much magic)

Out here in LA with the Time Warner HD package I subscribe to, I get RAW at 6:00 pacific time and Impact at 9:00 pacific time, so I don't have to go back and fourth and I can watch each show in its entirety the first time through.

What stood out to me was that each show felt different, which is the one thing that will make this so-called War a lot more fun for wrestling fans. WWE took the standard, yet effective, business casual approach for their show, while TNA provided the balls to the wall, in-your-face entertainment that has been missing from Monday Night Wrestling for quite some time.

In the grand scheme of things, however, I couldn't help but feel that The WWE was fighting a War, as they built towards Mania with established stars, while TNA was fighting a battle as they aimed to please and seemed to play their hand a bit too early with Sting, RVD, and Jeff Hardy all debuting on one show.

What TNA now needs to focus on is establishing new STARS with the young (under 40) pool of talent they already have. This is a War, and in order for TNA to achieve some measure of success, they need to fight strategically with long term goals in mind because surprises, while great in spots for pro wrestling, will only get you so far brother!

My concern is not about which show was better but just exactly what you're doing up at 4:34 in the morning to make this post! My best guess is that you are still in shock that THREE 60-year-old men were wrestling at the SAME TIME last night (Flair, Hogan, McMahon). Unbelievable.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Hogan's "only" 56.

Where's the ROH option?

And I'm being serious.

Terrible Monday night for me I didnt watch any show but I did dvr them both (first missed raw in about 5years )Either way I want a recount

Impact was way better in the beginning I mean come on at least a 10 min talk section with Undertaker and Shawn Michaels then leading it to a Divas match then another 5 min with guest host Chris Angel do a cheap trick. Then on impact first was Sting coming back and beating up Hogan and Abyss with a baseball bat. Let alone later Shannon Moore and Rob Van Dam coming to TNA I think WWE needs to watch out.

The funny thing about the poll is that most viewers only watched one or the other program with very brief switches. I missed the entire Orton vs. Legacy match but I had the misfortune of catching Hogan's and Flair's wrinkly a---- and blade jobs.

Still, the X division match, the Sting turn, and Impact going off the air were enough to seal the deal for me. It was a great show.

I didn't get to watch either show, but from reading reviews on line, it certainly seems as if TNA had the stronger show. Getting both RVD and Hardy into the mix, along with the return of Sting certainly will help the "buzz" surrounding Impact. Also, it seems TNA smartly didn't bury the young guys. We'll have to see how this plays out in the long term.

Not even close..TNA. Better show,better wrestling,better story..Loved Sting..great to see RVD,Jeff Hardy back..even liked Shannon Moore's run in.Hey we even got Daniels and Beer Money.WWE was same old,same old..only story line that kept my interest was HBK..who's writing thier stuff?It's STALE..Thanks Kevin and as always God Bless.

Raw. It wasn't even a good episode but TNA was just a big mess. Hogan and Flair in the ring was pathetic and sad - and we had to see it twice! I felt like i was watching "The Wrestler"

Granted, Raw's main event was terrible too, watching Cena kick out of everybody's finisher, thus burying the young talent.

Anyways, TNA still has a long way to go before I can say it's a better show.

I only watched a few minutes of each last night. This has unfortunately become common, as I have found wrestling to be incredibly boring for the past few months. Between the G-rated WWE and the retirement home that is TNA, what is there to get excited about? I haven't even had Melina's entrance to look forward to!

IMPACT IS A SHOW FOR PEOPLE WITH A.D.D

I'M SORRY, BUT THEY WERE THROWING THINGS AT ME LEFT AND RIGHT LIKE THEY WERE GOING OUT OF BUSINESS.

THE ONLY GOOD SPOT I SAW WAS ANGLE'S SEGMENT. THE ONLY GOOD SPOT! OTHER THAN THAT...LEFT AND RIGHT STUFF IN MY FACE. COMPLETE WITH THAT SHANNON MOORE GUY LOOKING LIKE A TRANSGENDER PERSON AND HARDY COMING OUT AT THE END JUST TO HIT FINISHERS

AND WHY IS MANKIND JR NOT BEING MANAGED BY MANKIND, BUT INSTEAD PARADED WITH HOGAN???

Just the first twenty minutes of iMPACT beat the entire RAW show.

I was disappointed with Impact. The 2 hours seemed like a broken record with the same storyline played over and over again. All of the talent they have, and the focus was on Hogan, Flair, and Sting?

I cant believe that more people watched impact than raw? the ratings will tell a different story. impact made me think off when mean gene and hogan teamed up years ago. damn them! next week, wwe delivers an early fight knock down with stone cold.

i doubt wwe will even be phased by tna.

i picked impact bacuse of the suprises the stars are comming out for both raw needed somthing bigger than an old script recyled from the stone cold years

Caveat, I was only able to watch the first five minutes of Impact due to my work schedule (I have to be at work at 4.45 est, and have a very early bedtime), but taped Raw; I will watch Thursday's repeat of Impact Friday morning.

With that said, the highly-hyped "first five minutes" showed me that TNA has a long long way to go. They gave away the only advertised match (that I know of), the main event, to open the show. It featured Sting doing a very familiar-looking heel turn by attacking Hogan and Abyss. All in all, very disappointing and frustrating for me as a thirty-year-plus fan.

I voted Impact, just because there was more stuff of interest. I was fortunate to be in view of two TV's and the only time RAW ever had my attention was when Orton was taking on Rhodes & DiBiase.

Impact could have also gotten my vote alone for how the Impact crowd was vocally voicing their displeasure with Spongebubba Bigpants to the point where they had to play Hogan's music for nearly his whole segment with Sting.
f

I thought TNA was fantastic. I enjoyed almost all of it. I Raw was boring for the most part. TNA was exciting, it was fast paced, and I am waiting to see how Kevin turns all the positive from TNA into a negative review.

wwe is very predictable, especially with wrestlemania looming, far be it the results, raw nite afterwards should be of interest, but really does anybody care about either brand? who this guy? i remmeber that guy, didnt that guy used to be... too many belts/brands/wrestlers in wwe
tna seemingly smaller roster,but what ever happen to 1 champ 1 "middleweight/intecontinental/us cahmp/and of course tag team champ? ive long sinced dreamed where as wwe combine dthe belts put them on one gut for a long stretch, defending both or 1 at times, factions/clicks work well but there is no method to the madness one min Eric Young is teh lead of world elite... is that exist anymor ethe nex a rub w/nash???? wrestling is all over the place, teh best thing TNA can and should do is continue to throw it at wwe at this point whats tehre to loose, i'd round up everybody frm who's who to who's been to who should be, and take it to wwe, heck i by ticket after ticket and sit AJ STYLES in plain view of teh camera all nite week after week w/ an open invite to wrestle vince's best, and really who is the nex golden boy of vince Cena? never a fan never will be , but he surely has a loyal follwing, HHH HBK UNDERTAKER all in the November of ther careers who orton? kingston? r truth? lol as if i will giv credit to vince where as credit is due... he has an unique way of exposing a guy to the point where your forced to like him or not TNA is fesh and its all new well except the obvious BROTHER

I never thought I would ever watch TNA over WWE but with Talks of RVD and Jeff Hardy Returning I was actually flipping from both channels the entire time. Not only that but the Flair/Hogan/Sting storyline actually kept me interested in TNA until RVD and Hardy came out. I personally never took TNA seriously (first thing was there six sided ring) but last night I actually enjoyed it, so far it's only because of RVD and Hardy but who knows. Still wish Hardy and RVD had gone back to WWE rather than TNA though but at least they are back wrestling, I guess beggers can't be choosers.

I hate to say it but even though both shows stunk, Impact stunk less. I thought ShawnM alost made Undertaker cry. Orton and Legacy is a yawner. Sheamus, well what can you say about him. I was hoping CrissAngel would make him disappear.
Hey Yo...Impact speaks for itself.

TNA IMPACT was awesome!

WWE RAW was it's normal bland show.

WWE fans bash TNA for having former WWE talent on their show. Hey WWE fans, look at the WWE roster for a second and you'll see names like Undertaker, Kane, HHH, Jericho, Mysterio, Edge, Big Show, Regal, Chavo, even Stone COld all came from WCW! There are even more than the ones I named. Also, CM Punk, MVP, Evan Bourne, Mickey James, Kaval, Lance Hoydt were all from TNA.

It's NORMAL for talent to work for other companies. Anyone who bashes a company for having former talent from another company shouldnt even be watching wrestling cause your a IDIOT!

I tried.. I really did. I wanted to see what Impact was doing in the first five minutes... and I watched. Its just not the same air quality as RAW. Its just not. Love STING. But the talent..and skills ( mic and mat ) still has to go to RAW. And I am sooo out of the demographic.

WWE is still king right now. But TNA did the damn thing last night. Im watching RAW now and its not holding my attention like Impact did. But TNA has a long way to go. But they had a great first start. Mature content!! blood, chair shots! and that damn Scott Hall said Dildo on live TV lmao. Vince would have fired him!

I am from New Zealand and we can't get Impact :(

TNA wrestlers and management put on a good show last night.. I congragulate them and hopefully they can be more consistent with there product to compete with the WWE once they realize that IMPACT is not going down without a fight....I know wish that they can continue focusing on the X division because that is what really seperates them from the WWE..The show held my interest from 9 pm until 11:05 pm....I will continue to support TNA and now since this is Hogans last match,i hope now that the focus can be seriously elevating the younger talent to challenge in the heavyweight division because Robert Roode and Morgan can be single stars especially with a manager...Keep up the good work TNA...As far as the WWE is concerned i will still watch it,but they need to create a star or two because it's getting real old with the same 4 to 6 main eventers every PPV and Monday nites for a year or so now..I love your blog Kev...

Seemed like TNA went on all cylinders to keep the show exciting. I could have done without some segments (Angle/Anderson comes to mind) but as someone who has decried TNA in recent months, it was entertaining television.

Lord Sake.....get those old guys out of the ring

I have to go with Impact. For once, they had very good wrestling, and they had longer matches than they have had in recent weeks. Hogan and Flair didn't get too involved in their match, and when they did, they didn't make AJ and Abyss look weak. My prediction for Lethal Lockdown this year: Team Hogan vs. Team Flair. I hope they don't actually wrestle, so I'll give them 4 or 5 to a team. Team Hogan should be Abyss, Hernandez, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, and Jeff Hardy while Team Flair should be Desmond Wolfe, Matt Morgan, Sting, Ken Anderson, and someone else. This is all depending on who turns heel in the Morgan-Hernandez split, if it happens. Impact had some very shocking moments, especially with Sting turning heel. I'm sure RVD had a stipulation in his contract that he put in there: that he had to wrestle Sting. It was probably a dream match of his, and hopefully they can wrestle a longer match in the future.

While it may never challenge WWE in production value, TNA sure had a more entertaining show. Could it have been better? Absolutely. Once again, Hogan cared more about entertaining himself by bogging down the show with his daughter and Bubbles the Love Clown. Also, while I am not opposed to a little blood, I think they went way overboard with the blading. In my mind, all the blood actually detracted from the match...thought not enough to disguise the fact that neither Hogan or Flair should be in the ring (Vince looked like he could whip either of them).
The X Division Match was top-notch, Beer Money returned to their heel roles which works better for them, the X-Pac/Hall angle was well-played, as was Sting and RVD. I loved Daffney's run-in!
Coming off that dud of a show they gave us last week, I thought TNA hit this one out of the park and has me already anxiously awaiting next week's Impact.

WWE vs TNA?????? It would be way better if they go head on. I mean John Cena vs AJ Styles, Divas vs Knockouts, Abyss vs Khali etc..... Raw is and will be the best show. I love WWE more than TNA.

TNA reminded me of WCW..in a bad way.

Raw was Raw.

@ MechanicalBull - I noticed that too! I definitely heard loud boos and "Fire Bubba!" chants going on for quite a while in the background when he first appeared. I wonder if we haven't heard more of that on recent shows because they were taped, whereas this was live and it's harder for TNA to cover up the crowd's displeasure at seeing that sack of garbage on Impact. Hopefully they won't try and control the live crowd - wrestling fans should be able to loudly voice their opinions at shows - that's part of the tradition! Hopefully the entire crowd won't get replaced by all those OBVIOUS plants wearing "Nasty I Am" shirts and holding up "Bubba Army" signs - Jesus that's soooooooo annoying!!! Every time I see those guys it totally distracts me from the action that's happening on the show - I'm sure that's not the intention - please, TNA/Hogan/or whoever came up with that idea - stop stop STOP with the fake fans! It's unsulting!!!

Is anyone else not able to see the results of these polls? I can't...am I the only one?!?

Kev, is this a real question? I mean RAW was nothing special but Impact was 20 lbs. of crap pushed into a 5 lb. bag. First of all the company should changes its name to TNC- Total Non-Stop Commercials. The opening segment that was supposed to have the big surprise in the first 5 minute, did I miss something because I didn't see anything surprising. Was it the Hogan/Abyss vs Flair/Styles match? Or was it supposed to be Sting? Did none of you see that coming? So how many times has Sting supposedly turned heel? The Carter/Sting backstage segment was barely audible and Carter did some of the worst acting I've seen in wrestling in a while. Moore now gets a X division title shot. Why? What has Moore ever done at anytime and anywhere to earn any title shot ? So Taz and Tenay had no idea who was facing Sting but then Taz ask Tenay where he was at 4:20 (An obvious reference to RVD). Then they come back from their 15th commercial break with the both of them acting clueless as to who Sting was facing again. Note to Taz, we know that you like to make little smart comments about Vince yelling instruction into your head-set. But when he was doing that we didn't really mind your commentating. Now that your supposedly commentating without any help, you really suck. The RVD was the worst kept secret but let's treat the fans ( Who in the zone were chanting his name) like idiots. Weren't some of you complaining last month about Sheamus who was Champ at the time beating Evan Bourne in a quick match, but it's OK for RVD to beat Sting in 10 seconds with a spring board side kick and then Rolling thunder? Has RVD ever won a match before last night using Rolling thunder? Another note to TNA, I understand sometime cussing might be nesassary to get a point across but there were a few time last night when it wasn't nesassary and sounded forced and childish. If you think cussing for the sake of cussing makes you cool or a hard-a$$, then my grandmother is the meanest, coolest person in the world. The Pope/Wolf segment was bad. Once again the audible was bad. Let me get this straight, Pope's ankle was hurt so bad he couldn't wrestle but he hit the ring really quick at end of the show. The Angle/Anderson was segment bad. Was that supposed to the honor the Army/military? The WWE gives free tickets to those who serve(d) and to there families, visits military bases and hospitals, and puts on the annual Tribute to the Troops show. That was a waste of time. The main event was horrible. Once again bleeding for the sake of bleeding makes no sense. Flair looked horrible. Hogan looked horrible. At one point Flair was stomping the bottom rope missing Hogan's head by a mile while the bad TV production of TNA showed a close-up of the whole thing. Isn't AJ Styles champ? You wouldn't of known it last night with all the Hogan/Flair/Sting TV time. Where was Hernandez? Morgan?. All those wrestler hitting the ring last night, hadn't the WWE just done that a few minutes ago? I'm not even going to get into Bubba, Brooke Hogan, Hall, Nash and Waltman. Let the countdown to Dixie sell TNA rights to Vince begin.

The wrestling world NEEDS TNA!!! One compan is NOT enough

I watched both TNA and RAW, and Raw has the edge and always will. TNA had its moments but that was ruined with Hogan and Flair wrestling again, i had to change the channel quickly back to Raw. I have been watching wrestling when i was 5 yrs old & here's is my take on
this, this is just my opinion.

WWE will start losing its veterans soon, HBK will be the first to retire after WrestleMania 26, then it will be HHH (whenever that will be), and later will be the Undertaker soon there after, whenever he decides there is no other challengers at WrestleMania to end his streak. So now WWE came out with the show NXT to make new superstars cause TNA is ahead on that department. John Cena & Batista is supposed to be WWE future. Orton, Edge, Jericho, CM Punk, and Big Show has some years left, but the rest of the WWE superstars will have to step it up. TNA is a rerun of WCW, but even worse. Hogan, Flair, Sting, Nash, Scott Hall, Jarrett & Mic Foley should just go and retire. They are making a fool out of themselves and its very sad to see some of the greats that i looked up to, but its all about the money these days. They should be mentoring more of the new stars in TNA, instead of wrestling & trying to bring back past glory. They have no one that can carry the banner for them, AJ Styles is definitely not the answer nor is Samoa Joe. I guess bringing in Jeff Hardy, RVD, Mr Anderson (Kennedy) Orlando Jones, Shannon Moore is a fix for them, kinda like Free agents to boost TNA. What happened to Bobby Lashley, i thought he would be the future for them? Kurt Angle needs to come back to the WWE while he still has some wrestling ability left, he is wasting his time over there in TNA, he had it made over in the WWE & Vince will always let him return.

Dixie Carter, i think you need to get your company in order before ya end up like WCW and get brought out by the WWE, and the WWE better find some better impact talent or the superstars u have better step upcause the big boys are gonna be retiring. WWE needs to bring back THE ROCK, or Goldberg for short time to bring the excitement back.

I am going to say Impact won because of the excitement and energy it had moving to Monday. Raw was just a "business as usual" format with the Orton vs Legacy being the best match. It was good to see the crowd into the women's match, where Gail Kim was obviously the most talented. Cena vs McMahon was dumb, reminded me of WCW vs Nash where the ref did 3 counts on people without Nash even pinning any of them.
I would have booked the Sting/RVD match as the main event, had a nice strong match where RVD has Sting beat and then Sting demolish him with the bat, getting DQ'd. Then Hogan come in, still hurting from the opening match, and gets smashed by Sting. Hardy comes in and he and Sting do a stare down from across the ring and Sting walks out and struts backstage. Aaaaaaand Scene.
That way Hogan's in it, but not dominating the whole show, Flair's in it, Sting's heel change is a major factor, then we can focus more on the other stories such as Knockouts, Beer Money turn. If Hogan is so serious about the young guys then he's going to have to take himself off the top of the food chain and let Hardy, RVD, AJ, and others take his spot with Sting getting them over.

EVERYBODY!!!!!!!! !! ! ! ! ! !Look Raw is stale and is the same old thing every week! The reason why TNA was a better show was because it isnt the same thing every week. I mean Jeff Hardy returning? RVD on the roster ? Stings a heel? Come on it doesnt get any better than that. OH WAIT!!!!!!! SUPERCENA BEATS ALL THIS DOESNT IT WWE? WWE=KIDS TNA=WRESTLING FANS

I'll break it down. And then degenerate into something, fool. Actually, no, I'll just break it down segment by segment:

BEST OPENING SEGMENT: HOGAN/ABYSS VS. FLAIR/STYLES PT. 1, OR HBK AND TAKER?

Before I say anything else, Styles vs. Abyss would have been a hell of a lot better if it had been a singles match with Flair and Hogan at ringside. Yes, there was blood, but it's not as though one of the two younger guys couldn't have been busted open.

The Sting heel turn and Hogan selling the Pele Kick were good things IMO, but despite there being no action in the segment on Raw HBK made it interesting. The guy isn't just a great performer, he's a damn good actor as well. So I'll have to give this one to Raw.

BEST WOMEN'S MATCH: DIVAS MATCH OR KNOCKOUTS MATCH?

Knockouts, without question. The divas actually did impress me a little more than usual this time, but they just do not wrestle as well as Tara, Angelina Love, Taylor Wilde, or Sarita. Even Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky hit some good-looking moves. Where women's matches are concerned, Impact is by far the better show.

ORTON VS. LEGACY, OR DANIELS VS. KAZARIAN VS. WILLIAMS?

Both of these three-man affairs were what I considered the best matches of their respective shows. Orton, Rhodes and DiBiase put on a good match for them. But it was still not as fast-paced or exciting as the match between the X-Division guys, and that is the kind of match that I like. So the winner here is Impact.

STING/RVD OR HHH/SHEAMUS?

I'm comparing these two segments because even though one started out as a promo and the other as a match, they both ended with one wrestler attacking the other. The fight between HHH and Sheamus had the momentum shifting back and forth before HHH finally won out and was preceded by a not-unentertaining promo by HHH, whereas Sting's beatdown of RVD and the match that preceded it were boring and too short respectively. Hogan coming out to get held back by security (who were apparently just fine with what Sting was doing; guess they were Sting's personal security force) didn't help matters. Gotta give this one to Raw.

RAW'S OTHER STUFF BESIDES THE MAIN EVENT OR IMPACT'S OTHER STUFF BESIDES THE MAIN EVENT?

I didn't particularly care for most of the backstage stuff on either show, but despite Brooke Hogan and "Chubba" (as Kevin calls him; sounds like something you'd name a Hutt, which kind of fits) being there I have to give this to Impact. The other matches on the card were Eric Young vs. Sean Waltman & Jeff Jarrett vs. Beer Money for Impact, and ShowMiz vs. Morrison/Truth & Evan Bourne vs. William Regal on Raw. Since ShowMiz vs. Truth/Morrison was ridiculously short and ended in a DQ because Big Show was in the ring without tagging in or something, and Jarrett vs. Beer Money was an actual match, I'm giving this to Impact as well.

MAIN EVENT: HOGAN/ABYSS VS. STYLES/FLAIR PT.2 OR JOHN CENA VS. VINCE MCMAHON WITH A BUNCH OF OTHER GUYS?

Well, both of these matches had appearances by guys we didn't expect to show up. Only one of these matches seemed like a match, however, and that was the one on Impact. The one on Raw was boring because McMahon said it was a gauntlet match, but unlike other gauntlet matches Cena didn't actually pin anybody to advance. For those readers of this blog who haven't seen a gauntlet match, Randy Orton wrestled one in 2009 and it worked like this: first Orton wrestled Evan Bourne. He beat Evan Bourne, so then he had to wrestle Jack Swagger. He beat Jack Swagger because Swagger got himself counted out out of "respect" for Orton, so then he had to face Mark Henry. He got pinned by Mark Henry, so he lost.

In this gauntlet match, McMahon called down Kozlov, who hit Cena with a few moves and then tagged in Vince to make the pin, even though none of those moves were Kozlov's finisher. Cena kicked out. For some reason, this meant that Vince could not tag in Kozlov again, so he brought down McIntyre, who hit Cena with a few moves, tagged Vince, pinFAIL, and McIntyre was done. That is not how gauntlet matches work. It would have been more entertaining and made more sense if Kozlov was tagging with Vince until he got pinned, and then McIntyre took his place and tagged with Vince until HE was eliminated, etc, and if Vince tagged those guys back in when he didn't get the cover. Which would make the goal for Cena to beat five or six guys (if Batista counts). That would have at least adequate, but what they did instead was just make it a big cluster**** . So Impact finished off better, and IMHO won the night.

Raw was the better show because it was a key part in the buildup for a PPV event that will do over 1,000,000 buys.

Impact was a failure because the show was specifically built around creating a high rating with the Flair/Hogan match, and it completely failed.