The show was pretty entertaining. I see Randy Orton being a Steve Austin type babyface. Austin would come out and give Stunners to heels AND babyfaces. Orton is the same way; he would RKO Edge one week and Cena the next. The Goldust comment would have been funnier with the TV-14 rating because Wayne Brady did a skit on "Chapelle's Show" where he said "I'm Wayne Brady, b****". Also, Wayne Brady hosts the new version of "Let's Make a Deal".

Amazing edition of RAW. With Edge turning heel, Edge-Orton feud and the Jericho-Miz tag team, RAW seems like the hot show coming out of the draft. The only thing interesting on smackdown now is the SES.

Despite being hosted by the lost member of the Brady Bunch, I thought this was one of the stronger RAW's in quite awhile. I really thought Morrison and DiBiase had great chemistry and hope that is a series of matches between the two.
Now with TNA bailing out of the Monday night wars, I hope WWE doesn't allow RAW return to auto-pilot. It wouldn't break my heart if RAW would dump the guest host idea completely if they can't get someone who can contribute to the show.

The Orton-Edge feud is really promising. I was hoping that they indeed reform RatedRKO to get a huge quality team on RAW but I will perhaps get my wish realised by the ChrisMiz team. after ShowMiz [that sounded like Showbiz], we'll get ChrisMiz [that resonates like Christmas, okay jokes apart]. They'll really be interesting as tag team. Weeks earlier, I was thinking that as Batista was leaving, the upcoming PPV Fatal-4-Way will see the biggest stars nowadays in the business clash in the likes of Cena, Orton, Jericho and Edge. However, if Orton really go in a feud with Edge, that seems to go for months. BAd luck for me even if Sheamus could fill one place.

Or, as Santino called it, Let's Consummate a Deal.

I first saw Brady on the Drew Carey version of the improv show Whose Line is It Anyway. He was amazing.

So when Jericho and Big Show were a tag team it was JeriShow. When The Miz and Big Show were a tag team it was Show Miz. So now that Jericho and The Miz have become a tag team will they be called Chris Miz?

A note about Wayne Brady. He used to be a regular on the ABC improv comedy show "Whose Line Is It Anyway" which was hosted by Drew Carey.

Given Carey's past association with the WWE I am surprised we haven't seen him as a RAW guest host. But I'm sure it will happen. It's just a question of when the price is right.

do u think jericho-miz are gonna interfere in the big show-swagger match? seems like theyre trying to establish swagger, but theres no way hes getting him up for the gutwrench powerbomb.

I think Sheamus would make a great tweener. With his already funny Irish accent, if they would give him a sense of humor that he would mix with the hard-ass demenor, I think he could be SOME WHAT......like a (heel) Rock.

Just one question.

Didn't Barett won his own intro music on a NXT episode? So why did he enter the ring with the NXT music?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Very observant. I forgot all about that.

correct me if im wrong, but isnt sheamus and jericho still owed rematch clauses for their titles. (jericho got beat when swagger cashed the mitb. sheamus never got a rematch after the elimination chamber). bad booking.

the rko that was executed as a counter to the spear looked fantastic. that's what happens when two true professionals are in the ring.

i'll say it here and now. there's no one better on the stick than the miz right now. no one.

also, when it comes to doing commentary, the miz and jericho are 1 and 1a. jericho is good at pointing out wrestling techniques, either for faces or heels. and the miz is great at putting himself over somehow during matches that have nothing to do with him.

so it was interesting to hear them together. their semi-forced respect and fake humility towards each other as they become a tag team should be fun to watch. i cant wait for all the backhanded compliments. they should easily have the most interesting tag team chemistry and dynamics since mvp and matt hardy from a couple of years ago on smackdown.

Wayne Brady also hosted a thankfully short-lived, self-titled daytime talk show, but kinda rose to fame on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

I couldn't believe Goldust got into full makeup for that one-liner.

Is it just me? I think Orton's facial expressions and body language have become a bit over the top and make him look kind of foolish. It's okay to call him a viper because he can strike the RKO out of nowhere, but for him to start trying to have the same body language as a snake is silly.

If they're going to keep Miz in the tag team title picture, I really wish they'd pull the US title from him. It reminds me of when Jeff Hardy or Ric Flair held the IC title for months without defending it...or even mentioning it, really.

We saw the show from completely different perspectives..I thought Edge had to convince the crowd that he was trying to be a heel, it almost seemed like he was begging them to boo him..I agree that having Orton and Edge feud is a refreshing match-up, but I think that they didnt really give Edge a chance to be a fresh babyface..Why give Miz the US TITLE! He goes from one tag team to another. I understand the eventual storyline of teaming him with Jericho and for the next couple of months we will see who has the bigger ego, i get it. Just dont see why they dont use the U.S. Strap to give a rub to someone else (Morrison, DiBiase)

RESPONSE FROM KE: I honestly think the crowd was unsure what to make of Edge at first.

Brady starred in "Whose Line is it Anyway" and a few Disney movies.

I really liked that Edge referenced his failure to fully get over as a babyface as a reason for attacking Orton. WWE has been very strong in developing logical basis for feuds of late.

Eck <3's Orton's facial expressions.

Yeah, Wayne Brady was pretty lame, but let's not forget Kev: He cut a halfway-decent promo and took a MORE than decent RKO!!

That final segment between Orton and Edge was some of the best WWE non-wrestling TV I've seen since Foley was around. First of all, it firmly established Orton's new face character, with his silence and piercing stare. More importantly to ME, though, was the way it solidified Edge's character more intensely than ever as a desperate psycho. One minute trying to convince Orton to reunite the team, then switching gears and feverishly explaining that the fans won't accept him as a face, then out-and-out threatening to take Orton out altogether... just awesome.

I was even watching it at a crowded bar on closed captioning and it was still riveting.

Batista was pretty blatant when he was talking with Danielson during the match.

Also, I couldn't tell if it was a shoot or not during the match because it looked like Batista was getting angrier and angrier that Danielson was getting offense in during the match. The triple powerbombs after the match reminded me of Diesel powerbombing Bret Hart after their match at Survivor Series at the US Air Arena in the 90s.

Do you think it was suppose to last over 5 minutes or be a squash?

No mention of Brady getting an RKO?

The discrepancy in Bryan Daniel's booking is maddening. He can go toe-to-toe with Jericho and Batista, yet gets squashed by Skip Sheffield and Michael Tarver. The WWE is really sending a mixed message here. There better be a big pay-off waiting for Bryan in all of this.

I was thinking that maybe the stipulation for the next Cena/Batista fight would be if Batista loses he'd have to leave, though I think that would be in bad taste following Shawn's exit, so I'm thinking a three-way with Sheamus is more likely.

I was kinda disappointed with Wayne Brady's appearance. I loved his stuff on "Who's Line Is It, Anyway". Not saying he should have used that shtick on "Raw", but it coulda been better...

"Speaking of which, how sad was it that Goldust couldn’t even deliver the proper punch line to guest host Wayne Brady due to the PG restrictions? Playing off the Rick James character on “Chapelle’s Show,” Goldust said, “I’m Goldust, witch.” Ugh."

I'm pretty sure that's why Orton hit Brady with an RKO: he really wanted to hear that punchline, and he had to take out his frustrations on somebody.

Eck, you should watch some Who's Line Is It Anyway, Wayne was a big part of that show. Some great stuff there.

That was a phenominal job by Edge of putting Orton out there as a fan fave, but Orton's going to need some gimmick to get anywhere near the popularity that SCSA had. He doesn't have beer; he doesn't have a catch-phrase like - "That's the bottom line..." The glare and teeth grinding thing alone are only going to take him so far.

There's a reason why Orton and Steve Austin have nicknames based on serpents. I mean, snakes represent dubious alliance - someone who you just don't know when he's gonna strike you even if you think he's your friend. In that end, WWE seems to give that message with Randy Orton, and in that end, we can't help but compare the Viper with the Rattlesnake. At least Orton has an identity of his own.

Whoever's idea it was to put Jericho and the Miz together should be given the Nobel Prize. I hope they decide to give these guys a decent run as a tag team because it has the potential to be the funniest stable since the original DX (not taking anything away from SES because they are great but it's a different kind of entertainment from what Miz/Jericho can offer)..

It seems to me as if the WWE might be on the verge of ending the PG era. I might be wrong but alot of the segments on Monday were indicative of a change. I hope there was some sincererity to Edge's comments backstage and the WWE is not simply putting us on.

Personally, I think the WWE has great young talent in people like the Miz, Swagger, CM Punk, Sheamus, McIntyre, etc... and has done a good job in developing most of their characters up to this point. In addition, I think the Orton/Edge feud has unlimited potential, especially if they get some wiggle room with the PG rating, although I wish people would stop comparing Orton to Stone Cold.

Wrestling has always been supported most by the 18-25 age demographic and eventually the writers are going to have to go more edgy or else they risk turning the show from "family friendly" into a kids program. It's not going to happen overnight but the mix of young talent and veterans creates the perfect conditions for a change in eras and I think it is only a matter of time. There is not enough star power here right now to recreate the Attitude Era but I think this newer generation of superstars could carve out their own, very entertaining era if they stop being stiffled by the PG rating.

A lot of people are saying that the guest host concept should be rid of (and have been for a while) and I couldn't agree more. The only question I have for that is, who should be the new GM of Raw? I've always thought that JBL would be a great GM. Now I don't know his status and I'm not sure if he even wants to come back to the WWE. But ever since McMahon said that he had sold Raw to "A smart businessman" and it turned out to be Trump and not JBL, I've always thought he would be a great fit. I know this doesn't relate much to the post, but I wanted to find out what people thought about it.

Kev - I'm surprised you didn't mention that wicked looking DDT that Maryse planted on Bella Twin #1. Wow! I wasn't sure if she was getting up after that one.

I enjoyed Edge backstage promo when they kept telling him he can't do any of the things he used to do before the pg rating. When he said he was going to make it rated R again, I think the fans started cheering. Maybe they were a little confused as to whether he's a baby face or not.

I wouldn't have a problem with scrapping the "anyone can be a guest host" on RAW and using JBL as GM. I think Roddy Piper would be solid in that role...great on the mic, can work effectively as a heel or a face.
I would like to see some former wrestlers brought in for a one or two month stint as guest host or guest GM, giving them more time to build a storyline. One month it's Piper, the next month it's Godfather, then maybe Dutch Mantell, bring in a female GM like Trish Stratus. I suspect there is a bottomless well of former wrestlers who miss the spotlight yet don't want to commit to anything long-term, and can be entertaining.

The closing segment of this show was definitely the best thing on it, which is a surprise considering only one guy spoke throughout the entire thing. It's just so easy to watch two guys like Orton and Edge in that kind of scenario, simply because they're both so good at what they do. I can't wait for their program to continue, and the inevitable match at the end of it should be something special.

It was cool to see the two NXT guys wrestling on Raw, and I guess Bryan looked quite good in his match, but I'm starting to really worry now that the way WWE is making him out to be some kind of idiot will surely backfire. I just wish they'd let him wrestle quality matches. Barrett, on the other hand, did look pretty impressive against Cena. Surely WWE has to keep him on one of the main shows after this season of NXT is over.

I like the idea of The Miz and Jericho forming a tag team so they can make it to Smackdown and get revenge on the Big Show. The two of them are great on the mic and both of them together should make for an entertaining angle.

I've said a lot of things about the guest host format over the last year since WWE brought it in, but they seriously need to pull the plug on it now. Wayne Brady seemed like a nice enough guy and he actually made a good accounting of himself on the mic, but he really didn't do anything else worth mentioning. It was fine when the concept was first created and actual proper celebrities and entertainers were hosting the show. But WWE have been seriously scraping the barrel and grasping at straws in terms of who they've had in recent months. Just bring back a permanent GM role for someone on Raw. Someone like JBL would definitely get my vote.

I don't think they will bring back JBL. I've read a lot of stuff about him being really difficult to work with. And racist (rumours of goose-stepping in Germany etc).

I don't know what's worse, the fact that there was less than 20 minutes of actual wrestling in the 2 hour show or that reviewers have seemingly overlooked this.

Quality promos and confrontations are entertaining but they simply shouldn't be taking up 85% of the program.

BTW I hope Gail Kim is getting paid very well because otherwise it'd be pretty depressing for a quality performer to spend the peak of their career as little more than arm candy for Mark Henry.