Didn't Kozlov and Santino become #1 contenders for the tag belts last week? CM Punk mentioning Katie Vick was shocking considering Linda's Senate run.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't recall there being a No. 1 contender stipulation last week, but I could be wrong.

So what about the rumored WWE logo change that didn't happen Monday night?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Guess it was just a rumor.

Not a bad Raw, but yeah, it didn't feel like a "special" one. Really, it felt like a commercial for Smackdown more then anything. My biggest gripe is probably that they didn't have Alberto Del Rio wrestle. They clearly were trying to entice Raw watchers that don't watch Smackdown often (like myself) to check it out to see him. So why not put the guy in the ring against, say, Daniel Bryan?

Weirdest thing, though, was the multiple references to guys not with the company but now active competitors. Not only was Mick Foley prominent in the Rock clip, but then Cole & Lawler talked about him and Socko for a bit. Then, during the clip of HHH's return, they included the part where Kurt Angle interrupts, which they certainly didn't need to do (I'd even forgotten he was there).

But the Big Show's Hulk Hogan impression takes the cake. I mean, Hogan's now the face of the supposed competition. Between that and Punk's wonderful "I don't know who that other guy is" dismissal of Brock Lesnar, I guess we know who Vince really thinks is the competition.

By the way, I think we got a glimpse of how a program between Punk and Show could be made to work. If Punk were shown to be inside the Big Show's head, negating Show's physical advantage by planting a seed of doubt in his abilities, maybe we could believe Punk stood a chance. But, as it is, this feud has basically destroyed whatever credibility Punk and the SES still had. Hard to believe they were the hottest thing in the WWE just a few months ago.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that the tag match ended in a double DQ to get both "teams" on the card in a triple threat. Meh. But Cody's mirrored jacket was the bomb.

Fully agree about Bret Hart. It's just silly to book him in matches, and it just makes everybody look bad, because the creative team has to keep coming up with more elaborate ways to keep Bret from taking the contact we all know he can't take. Just stop pretending that he's an active competitor already.

Okay, last thing: the Divas match was embarrassing even by Divas standards.

That was one of the most frustrating Raw programs I've seen since I started watching in the mid-90s. What a junkshop of disconnected, disorganized skits, clips and matches.

Was this show intended as a celebration of the program's history, an opportunity to advance recent stories, or a comedy program? What we got appeared to be a poorly organized mixture of the three.

There sure was a lot going on here but most of it had very little going for it.

The main event was the one and perhaps only bright spot in this mess.

I mentally tuned out once it became clear that the tag match was going to be a double DQ, but I assumed that meant that it was going to be a three-way match at the PPV. Is that not the case?

If so, I say make it a four-way and throw the Usos in there, since they and the Harts are the only "real" tag teams in the company.

It was.. shocking to say the least to see Cena get pinned. I was convinced he was going to overcome the odds yet again and possibly counter an RKO at the end into the FU to Orton. It was definitely a pleasant surprised to see Gabriel pin Cena! Let's hope that happens more often.

Layla could be pretty good by herself.. she plays the role to perfection! McCool on the other hand just comes off forced. To me anyways. Too bad Eve didn't get tagged in.. damn she's gorgeous!

Instead of a match between Henry and Del Rio, perhaps WWE is setting up a tag team with Bourne & Henry?

Just a thought.

Couldn't agree more Kev. The whole show was just so rushed. There was no point in putting so many matches on if they had no intention of going through with them. The entrances for each match lasted longer than the match itself! The bit with the lights was so bad. CM Punk's segment was the only decent part of the show and I can't believe how wild the crowd went when Stone Cold's music hit. Brilliant!
As for the main event, Barrett needs to get a new finisher. For Orton to lay down for three after that was poor and not believable at all.

I think it's safe to say that Wade Barret has arrived. Dropping The Undertaker and Orton on one show is unrivaled. This was his night.

Alberto Del Rio is a hoot. Having his own announcer and his exceptional mic work have catapulted him over the rest of the Smackdown midcard. Coming to the ring in a black sedan is his only negative unless he changes his name to Alberto Bradshaw Layfieldo.

When was the last time Cena was pinned clean and didn't kick out of a finisher? To me, that was the biggest shocker of the show. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like it has been awhile...and when he loses, there are always some kind of shenanigans going on.

Man you're hard to please. Just tearing into everything. I would have loved to read one of your posts recapping WWF Superstars during the mid-80's. :)

Hey Kev great blog as usual, I'm guessing Jericho is as good as gone, I just don't see him staying especially with the stipulation that if he doesn't win then he's gone, I hope I'm wrong though but isn't Sheamus going to stay champ until Trips comes back this fall. Also will you be in D.C. on Monday. I can already see that we're gonna get the G.M. to open the show and get Edge and Jericho(for walking out on them during the match) vs Cena and Orton in the main Event with Sheamus and Barrett somehow getting involved to close out Raw, take it to the bank, Their booking is so transparent.

I was at the show and the crowd was great. Seeing Taker on Raw always makes it a great show but it couldve been better.

I loved the Punk segment, once Austins music hit I was going crazy even though I knew he wouldnt be there. WWE wouldve def advertised Rock or Austin to get more viewers. Either way I wish he was there.

One thing I loved about Punk was when showing lesnar/show he said "I dont know who the other guy is" lol

Also one small fact is when he showed Austin throw the Rock in water he said he would never throw someone else in water but he actually threw Chavo Guerrero into the gulf of mexico back when the two were feuding in ECW.

Hi Kev,

I may be jumping the gun here, since you haven't posted about NXT Finale yet, but...
What are the odds that the Season 2 boys gang up and call it "Genesis"?
'McGillicuty' kept stumbling over his final lines when eliminated but that was the crucial word he mentioned...
I may be reading too much into things but that's my 2 cents.

and Line of the night goes to Cole, after Lucky Cannon's heelish comments:
"Oh, so he's a bad guy now?"
My sentiments exactly.

Kev your right there was the no buzz i would have liked to see stars from attitude erra the Rock and Stone Cold show up it would be more exciting if HHH showed and be reviled as the RAW GM but i did like the 5 on 5 match it great when Edge and Y2J walked out it was bizarre that Shemus stayed and actually saw a tag from Cena.

Eric's got a point, Kozlov and Santino did become No.1 contenders last week. But I was really disappointed with the way the Morrison/Truth vs Rhodes/McIntryre ended, because it was a really attractive match on paper. To be honest though, I feel WWE really dropped the ball this week. With all promoting that had gone into the '900th Episode' they should've had something a little more explosvie, perhaps revealing the GM or something along those lines. But in reality, they should have called this 'Raw's 900th Episode: The Tribute to Smackdown'. I bet if you add up the air time, Smackdown superstars would've had more than those from Raw.

How about Bret Hart forgetting he left WWE for 10 years.

Hart: "There is only one OTHER guy who has been here since the beginning and that is the Undertaker".

Um Bret - The Undertaker is the ONLY one to be there from the beginning.

That Raw had to be the most lackluster Raw I have seen in a long, long time. If I wanted to watch Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, and Oprah, I would watch those shows but for those of us who tuned in to watch wrestling were sorely disappointed. There were a grand total of around 17 minutes of actual bell to bell wrestling in the whole 2 hours and 12 minutes of the program. What happened to telling a story in the ring!? All we got on Raw was a long, drawn out, boring I might add, talk show.

It was so painfully obvious that all that was going to happen was a bunch of talk that I actually started timing the wrestling segments. I was so fed up with the show by 10:00 that I turned it off and did something else. I did DVR it so I could go back and fast-forward through all the talk.

The main event was the only thing slightly interesting but come on! How about cheapening the world championship, not to mention the world champion! The WWE Champion loses to HEATH SLATER! That's not the worst...he loses before Cena and Orton! Sure, I know they want to build an angle with Nexus going into a world title match and I understand the champion losing...but before Cena and Orton? Cheap. Sheamus has gone from a career killer to a mid-card champion.

I know TNA has its problems and God knows it is like a schizophrenic wrestling show with a mess of confusion but heck, you actually get to see wrestling! 900th episode! It should have been dramatic and spectacular with lots of twists and turns! All we got was boring talk that led nowhere. I continue to be seriously disappointed in WWE...almost to the point of not watching anymore.

I guess Kane was also in a rush at the beginning of RAW? Since when does the Champ appear so many times, WITHOUT their belt?? Sheamus carries his around like Linus with his Blanket!

The show reminded me of Michael Jordan's HOF speech. All of the comments about the shows they beat took away from the experience for those waiting to see it.

I do have to admit that I do like the old school Undertaker ploys with the lights etc. Even if it doesn't always make sense, you still have an interest in what you'll see when the lights come back. The same can't be said for when his wife's intro music comes on, that's for sure. Which reminds me, Takers next feud should be to see who tattooed his neck again while he was in that vegetative state. Surely he learned his lesson not to do it himself after the final laser treatment to remove the last one.

Other thoughts: Can they PLEASE move the que cards off the laptop keyboard when Michael Cole is reading them? Believing two brothers are demons from hell or that John Cena punching you after saying you can't see him hurts 100x worse than when you were trading punches 5 minutes earlier and selling them like they were nothing is one thing, but those cards make it impossible to suspend disbelief.

I figured out who the Raw GM is. It can be nobody else! Only one person dislikes Bret that much. It has to be Owen. He’s been on that island with JFK, Marilyn, and Elvis, recuperating and preparing for his comeback.

(I can say this only because Scott Hall is allegedly in rehab and is unable to come and crash my birthday party.)

I've read somewhere that the WWE intends on unifying all major titles in the company. I don't understand why if there are two seperate brands. How would that even workout? Your thoughts please?

What a gigantic letdown thr 900th episode of Raw was!!! It seemed as if they tried to cram as many superstars and bouts in as possible. Can somebody explain how the Taker was overpowered and helpless on Barrett's shoulders after doing really well and then the lights going out for about 5 seconds? As they knew long ago that this "special" episode was coming up surely they could have arranged for Austin or The Rock or someone "special" to turn up. The Nexus look what they really are. A dwindling band of rookies. Are we really supposed to believe that they could take out the virtually indestructable Sheamus, Orton & Cena. Barrett is ok but without Sheffield they look very lightweight. If this anything to go by I dread to think what will happen at the 1000th show. Maybe an appearance by Gillberg!

The show was really really bad, especially considering that it was the 900th episode. I guess Vince was planning on getting an extra hour but was shot down by the USA network?

Every time Lawler said that the Undertaker vs Bret Hart match was going to be "incredible" I just had to roll my eyes. Just stop pretending that Bret can still wrestle, please?

That show was probably the worst show since they abandoned the 'guest host' format. I was really looking forward to seeing some older footage--from when I religously watched...maybe they're saving it for the 1,000th episode...

Poorly done show. The sad part it was the 900th show. The women's match was pointless, it would have been better had it never even took place. I understand why they made Nexus win because with the muscle of the group (Skip Sheffield) is injured, Nexus needed to look like they're still a threat.

I knew before the Bret Hart vs. Undertaker match that something was going to happen to prevent the match from happening... so predictable. I'm glad Bret came back to wwe but now I starting to find him kind of annoying.

And speaking of annoying, I am getting REAL TIRED of wwe pointing out how raw is the "longest running weekly episodic series in television history". It cheapens the milestone by constantly boasting about it.

CM Punk said "then you can all go out drinking, and then come to me so I can save you" great line. Nexus looked strong in their match. I have always been an Undertaker fan and even liked some of the effects they do for him, but last nights RAW not only overdue it, it made me less interested in this feud between him and Kane.

So disappointing...a great chance completly wasted! In fact this week's Raw wasn't just a disappointment for a "special" episode: it was just awful - was bad even compared to the last two (ordinary) weeks of Raw.

Although, I'm really glad that Nexus were put over strong in the main event - the eliminations of Sheamus and Cena were real shockers. Could'a done without them being pretty much squashed earlier by the Undertaker though.

I really hope Jericho doesn't leave...I'm sure WWE must realise his importance; main eventer, great worker, great on the mic and is willing to put people over.

Lastly, something which really bothered me was the lack of The Miz...The Miz has the potential to be the biggest star of WWE - more so than Orton in my opinion, but he was barely on the show, and when he was he was lost in a mid card triple threat tag team - he's gotta be up their with the main eventers - I know he has got to lose his title (hopefully to Bryan, been a great feud) but still he should be one of the main focuses of any show.

I, and probably just about every wrestling fan, agree that they have to stop portraying Bret Hart as a wrestler. No one is fooled that he is for promotional reasons only. The last he was due action in the ring I think he was wearing a Batman shirt, which was pretty telling that he wasn’t doing much in the match.

Aside from that, it appears that they have used the 900th show as a 'changing of the guard' since most of the show was heavy on rising stars and most of the video were current and past. But I agree again, for a 'historic show' they could have focused on new breed of wrestlers and saved the video for WWE.com

Well, a special RAW episode without DX reunion. Not much of a special episode for me. Do you still set the DX theme song as your ringtone?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Yes.

Having Del Rio's entrance during Swagger's match was pretty dumb unless their goal was to make Swagger look unimportant.

If WWE titled its shows the way TNA does, this one would have been called "RAW is respect." It was two hours of attempt after attempt to show that this moment was a big deal. With all the emphasis placed on proving how monumental the accomplishment was, you would have thought that a little more effort would've gone towards making the show, well, watchable.

Nexus got their SummerSlam victory 3 weeks too late to matter. The main event went as expected, Randy Orton is hurt (again), so he wasn't going to be allowed to bump much. They couldn't have made Sheamus (you know, the guy with the championship belt) look any weaker than they did in the match.

I guess we can start a new Y2J countdown, this time for his departure.

Huge letdown. As soon as the Nexus said they wanted to do something people would talk about forever, I knew the show would be a bust because other than killing someone, what could they do? Yes, beating Sheamus, Cena and Orton was big, but not earth shattering.

Teasing Austin, The Rock, HHH... that was just bad. It's an historic episode but they couldn't find anyone to come back? Hart vs. Undertaker is the best they could come up with? Very disappointed.

"Even though Sheamus is the champion, a win over Orton is more impressive because he is a bigger star than Sheamus"

The whole show was lame as you've pointed out. Nothing was "impressive", just rushed and another 3 hour waste of time.

Did I see Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan featured in one of the promos?

Why would WWE do that with so many things to chose from regarding RAW historical footage.

I still think WWE is Abyss' "they" and will be taking over TNA sooner rather than later.

Shawn Michaels (in his last years) and The Undertaker possess lighter schedules... Why don't the WWE allow Chris Jericho to have one too if that's what "the best in the world at what he does" wants ? In my book, Jericho is in the same league than HBK and Taker.

Jericho is the greatest performer of this company today in my opinion... and Vince is going to let him go with a cheap shot. Shame on you, McMahon.

I miss when "special episodes" were actually special.

I hope the powers-that-be in WWE have the common sense to make a War Games match between Nexus and 5 Main-Eventers soon.

What a terrible episode. Hopefully the #1000 will be better--- and after the failed McMahon election run is done we'll be out of this stale PG product era. I guess the upside of having so many short matches is less chance of botches .... *sigh*.

After your basic abuse of the 900th episode of RAW I shudder to think what you'll write after Thursday's episode of TNA. Don't get me wrong, Kev, you've been needing to go off on the nonsense that has been RAW for the last few months, and maybe all of 2010.

Hey Kev have you herd that at next year WreasleMania that WWE and World heavyweight championship will be unified and the brand concept is over it has be on every blog i have seen .

The show was a "changing of the guard" . But the thought of not resigning Jericho is crazy. I don't want to imagine.

Del Rio is an instant impact. By him entering during Swagger match will be used for a future feud with each other. Mexico vs America. Swagger will turn to a babyface once DelRio "attacks" the AllAmerican maybe by Bragging rights or Survivor series.

Do you think there is even any plans to announce the GM at any point or is the anonymous thing going to go on for a while? If there are plans, any ideas who you think it may turn out to be?