WWE Raw: Vince McMahon returns for big WrestleMania teaser
At the beginning of Monday night’s episode of Raw, WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon made an announcement that will give fans something else to speculate on besides whether or not Sting is coming to WWE for WrestleMania XXVII.
McMahon, making just his second appearance on TV since June (and his first since November), said that he had something special planned for WrestleMania XXVII – a guest host, whose identity will be revealed on next week’s Raw.
It’s been previously reported that Bob Barker – the iconic game show host who got rave reviews when he hosted Raw in 2009 – will be appearing at WrestleMania, so he could be the guest host McMahon was talking about.
If that is indeed the case, I think McMahon over-hyped it. Barker doing something at WrestleMania is fine, but I don’t believe his presence on the show would increase the pay-per-view buy rate.
And I have to believe that McMahon knows that as well. So the guest host probably isn’t Barker. So who is it?
My first thought was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The Rock having a role at WrestleMania would definitely be worthy of the hype. And while he recently stated that he was done wrestling, he added that he was not done with wrestling.
Responding on his Facebook page on Jan. 30 to the question of whether he would ever return to WWE, Johnson wrote: “Of course I will. Not a match, though, but in a capacity that would allow me to do so much more. I love that company and the fans. ... Vince and myself stay very closely connected and when the opportunity is right – which will be a lot sooner than you think – we will do something electrifying and historic for the fans.”
Johnson went on to say that he and McMahon discussed doing a special show called “Rock Raw.” However, if Johnson wants to truly do something historic, I think he needs to do it on the grand stage of WrestleMania.
With the crytic “2-21-11” videos and McMahon’s teaser about the guest host, WWE is doing a great job of creating a buzz. But now that the company has gotten everyone’s attention, it needs to deliver in a big way or else it will be a major letdown.
Other thoughts on Monday’s show:
The two best segments were the confrontation between The Nexus and Randy Orton, and the verbal exchange between The Miz and Jerry Lawler. ...
As I expected, CM Punk revealed that he interfered in Orton’s match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view to gain revenge for Orton attacking him and costing him the world heavyweight title in 2008. Logically, that would make Punk a babyface and Orton a heel, but the crowd loves Orton and loves to hate Punk, so logic gets thrown out the window. ...
During the physical altercation between The Nexus and Orton, Punk ended up suffering a broken nose, and the blood – while unintentional – definitely made the scene much more intense. ...
Miz and Lawler were both strong on the mic. I’m definitely enjoying the Miz/Lawler/Michael Cole angle. ...
The best match on the show saw Lawler and Daniel Bryan defeat The Miz and Ted DiBiase Jr. Yes, DiBiase was pinned again, but you already knew that. ...
John Cena and Vickie Guerrero had another entertaining segment together. The level of crowd heat that she gets never ceases to amaze me. ...
The ending to the Cena-Punk match was a little odd – Cena hit Punk with a low blow right in front of the referee and was disqualified – but I suppose it made sense. Since The Nexus was attacking the participants in the Elimination Chamber match all night, Cena figured he would just get rid of Punk and then take his chances against the other Nexus members. Cena – unlike Orton, John Morrison, Sheamus and R-Truth – survived The Nexus’ attack thanks to an assist from Lawler, who handed Cena a chair to even the odds. ...
The past couple episodes of Raw have been embarrassing for R-Truth. On last week’s show, he failed to execute the skin-the-cat move, and then on Monday he enthusiastically said to the crowd, “Green Bay, Wisconsin, what’s up?” Too bad he was in Milwaukee. The crowd booed and then chanted “Milwaukee” while R-Truth was being squashed by Mason Ryan. Cole was hilarious, as he went nuts on commentary about R-Truth screwing up the name of the city he was in, and he actually helped lead the “Milwaukee” chant. ...
Since R-Truth is in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title at the pay-per-view on Feb. 20, it seemed odd that he would be made to look so weak against Ryan, but I don’t think it hurts the Chamber match any. It’s not like anyone really believes R-Truth has any shot at winning it. ...
I didn’t care much for the angle in which Sheamus was beaten down by Mark Henry prior to his scheduled match with David Otunga, but I understand what WWE was trying to accomplish. Because Punk had instructed his followers to hurt all of the Elimination Chamber participants, WWE was faced with a booking dilemma: Sheamus had to be laid out, but it couldn’t be done directly by The Nexus or else it might make Sheamus look like a babyface. It seemed like a stretch, though, to have Josh Matthews interrupt Sheamus on his way to the ring to inform him that Henry had been bad-mouthing him. That led to Sheamus cutting a promo on Henry, who then came out and beat up Sheamus, and the match with Otunga never took place. ...
I thought Natalya handled herself pretty well while Cole was insulting her non-stop when she sat in on commentary during the Divas six-woman tag match. ...
Alex Riley did a good job on commentary during the Lawler and Bryan versus Miz and DiBiase match, although he did at one point refer to Bryan as “Bryan Daniels,” and Cole corrected him. ...
The Alberto Del Rio-Santino Marella match was entertaining for what it was. ...
The Morrison-Michael McGillicutty accomplished its goal, which was to give Morrison a convincing win.
Comments
We'll probably have to agree to disagree Eck, but the heat Vicki gets is "You suck like X-Pac go away" heat, not "You are the bad guy Jericho so I will boo you but I enoy your character" heat. She hollers "Excuse me" when the crowd is quiet and it's the cheapest heat to tell the crowd to shut up. I understand there is sympathy in the company for her with Eddie's death but they need to get her off TV and maybe give her an office job in WWE Headquarters.
Posted by: Eric | February 9, 2011 1:58 AM
Hey Kev...Cole was hilarious? Seriously? Because hilarious was about the last thing that came to mind while that was happening. I've griped about Cole before, but I just don't get it. Is screeching at the top of your voice to diminish and ridicule wrestlers funny? Is that what a company's top play-by-play announcer (who is on both major shows) should be doing now? Cole is so over-the-top...and not in a good, Vickie Guerrero-way, that he just stops everything in its track and dimishes the product and wrestlers who are involved. Other than a few instances with A-Ri that are slightly funny, everything else hasn't worked. I don't get it in the slightest...but please, I would love to hear your take.
RESPONSE FROM KE: My take is that WWE is trying to get as much heat on Cole as possible so that people will be begging for him to get his comeuppance, which will probably happen at WrestleMania at the hands of Jerry Lawler. Sounds like it's working.
Posted by: Jeremy W | February 9, 2011 4:13 AM
I thought this was a poor Raw. The main reason being that the quality of wrestling on the show was very low. I understand that they are getting all the stories in place to drive home to wrestlemania but surely they still need to highlight their exciting wrestling if they want us to shell out to watch mania.
The Punk/Orton segment was good but the Nexus storyline was dissapointing. Who didn't know that the one man Nexus would struggle against would be Supercena?
I was really suprised (in a bad way) that Del Rio had a competitive match with Santino...aren't we supposed to be accepting Del Rio as a wrestlemania headliner? How are we supposed to do that when he has trouble containing a lower-card comedy act. Can we expect to see Del Rio, Santino & Hornswoggle in a 3-way next week?
Posted by: Big Dave | February 9, 2011 5:16 AM
Kev,
A couple of things. First, what does 2/21/11 have to do with the Undertaker? 2/21/11 is a Monday; Monday is Raw. Isn't the Undertaker on the Smackdown roster? What gives? Also, why is Alberto Del Rio being forced down our throat every Monday night. He too is on the Smackdown roster but, you already know that. And, his Wrestlemania match is for the World's Heavyweight Championship, not the WWE championship. So, why is he on Raw every week. As I've stated before, the WWE is making it very hard for even the average wrestling fan to believe in their story lines these days.
RESPONSE FROM KE: In the build-up to WrestleMania, WWE frequently has guys appearing on both shows.
Posted by: Magnificent Mark | February 9, 2011 7:30 AM
When he said "host of hosts" my first thought was the "king of kings" triple H being the guest host. But why would he want to only host?
Maybe its Bill Clinton.....only person I could think of outside the entertainment field who could make it cool.
I hate to say it, but I am still hoping for Sting on 2-21-11.
Posted by: peter | February 9, 2011 9:00 AM
I think Mark Henry will take R Truth spot in the Chamber (I hope too).
Posted by: zooey | February 9, 2011 9:25 AM
When Vince made the announcement i immediately thought it would be The Rock being from the UK i dont even know Bob Barker other than him hosting Raw i would buy Wrsetlemania purely because of Rocky.
Posted by: Danny | February 9, 2011 9:34 AM
Do you think they will ever have an elimination chamber match at wrestlemania?
RESPONSE FROM KE: No.
Posted by: peter | February 9, 2011 9:38 AM
Kevin,
You may have already seen this link of Hulk Hogan vs. Kim Jong-Il in Epic Rap Battles of History. If not, enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rE0-ek6MZA
Posted by: HB | February 9, 2011 10:00 AM
Definitely The Rock will be returning for Wrestlemania. He's got the movie Fast Five coming out at the end of April so it wouldn't surprise me if he hosts Wrestlemania then sticks around till the next PPV.
Posted by: Sam | February 9, 2011 10:26 AM
Kev, i thought it was Nexus who told Josh Matthews that Mark Kenry had been bad-mouthing Sheamus, when Henry actually hadn't said anything.
This would explain why Otunga walked very slowly to the ring, breathing a sigh of relief when Henry's music hit, meaning Nexus' plan had work.
I'm not sure if this is what you were meaning, but i don't think it's too far a stretch.
Keep up the great blogging Kev!
RESPONSE FROM KE: I got it that it was Nexus pulling the strings, but since when does Josh Matthews run down the ramp to tell a wrestler that another wrestling was talking smack about him? And how did Nexus know how Sheamus would react -- wouldn't it have been more logical if Sheamus just told Matthews to get lost? And howdid they know that Henry was listening in the back and would come running down? That;s what I meant by it being a stretch.
Posted by: Orton.1 | February 9, 2011 11:18 AM
I guess I'd have to be labeled a bona-fide Vince mark, but it was great to see and hear Vince, that is "Mr. McMahon," again this week.
As much as I miss the Rock's schtick, I'm thinking/hoping that the big announcement will be ridiculously underwhelming -- Pee Wee Herman, Aguilara to sing the anthem, somebody dead? After all, the last we heard (from Steph & Her Hubby Hunter while doing a Bob Newhart/Suzanne Pleshette imitation) the Chairman was still in a coma.
Since this is the second trip down this road of storyline incapacitation for Vince, I suspect there's something HE may want to do with it. And in terms of his on-screen character, Vince has always been over-the-top, whether he's portraying the evil CEO, the ultra-naive babyface announcer, a Costas-bashing bully, or the SOB head of TV's most dysfunctional family.
This could be something good, but with my luck, Vince is just coming back to job to Lawler at WrestleMania.
Posted by: Boomerang41144 | February 9, 2011 11:22 AM
Did they have Melina and Gail Kim flip a coin to see who was taking the loss?
I hope we see a Jerry Lawler old-school fireball before this is all done.
Posted by: Ray | February 9, 2011 11:50 AM
Kevin, is it just me or has Lawler become almost incredibly wimpy in his commentary - a little too babyface perhaps?
RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't know if I'd say that, but he definitely is playing the ultimate babyface role.
Posted by: Alex | February 9, 2011 11:53 AM
What a colossal waste of Vince's big reappearance. He comes out, gets the big pop, and announces that there's going to be an announcement? Lame.
There's real heat, and go-away heat. I think R-Truth has a third kind: Scotty 2 Hotty heat. The crowd pops for one thing he does -- "What's Up" and The Worm, respectively. But having one over gimmick does not a career make. R-Truth had better get his stuff together.
Posted by: jvwalt | February 9, 2011 11:58 AM
You know what's interesting?Orton feuded with HHH multiple times over the course of almost five years because HHH kicked Orton out of Evolution. For half of the feud, HHH was the face while Orton was the heel. Logic would dictate that people should have been sympathetic towards Orton. Now CM Punk is in the same boat as Orton. I wonder if that will come up during this feud.
Posted by: Cliff | February 9, 2011 12:15 PM
I've been pretty negative about Michael Cole but I'm starting to come around. JR raised the game at the mic and Cole will never be more than 3/4 of that talent, but he can do things JR never could, like interfere in the King-Miz match. And yes, go after the r-truth mistake and get the crowd riled up.
This push to get King into Wrestlemania seems so contrived and improbable, that I'm liking Cole's over-the-top criticism of King. I suspect Cole will interfere yet again, before Wrestlemania.
The only down side is being subjected to more of Josh Matthews - just cannot listen to his gibberish on-mike.
And I love the heat Vicki G. generates with her excuse me stuff. She has come so far since the post-Guerreo tragedy. I loved her long involvement with Edge and I'm into her new Dirk Diggler -- oops, I mean Dolph Ziggler -- stuff.
Posted by: BA | February 9, 2011 2:49 PM
For a show that was coming off a week of rampant internet buzz, WWE sure punted one this week. Vince recovers from a coma to say "tune in next week?" As Miz would say, Really? Really?
I feel like it sucked the life out of the whole show, that or the fact that the rest of the show just sucked. The best parts weren't even intentional. The broken nose made that segment and R-Truth's mistake gave fodder for jokes that were only funny because it was a rib.
I'm all for Michael Cole being a heel, but damn. There has to be a point where it's fluid. He's all over the place and even he get's confused when he's hyping a face not on his "hate" list, but then they attack someone on his "love" list. I don't see what's so hard about it. Maybe use different color highlighters on the faces and heels on his run sheet?
Oh, and they need to turn Cena at Mania. He's hitting a massive brick wall on the creative side of things. He truly had to beg for the chants against Vickie. His "friend" R-Truth went right for him in the Raw Rumble and he can say he's tired of having to fight everyone's fights for them. Nexus is always after him and no one ever helps him. He's always the savior, yadda yadda. Otherwise, I can't imagine why anyone would want to see the late April PPV.
Posted by: James C | February 9, 2011 3:09 PM
It's not the first time guests on commentary have gotten mixed up with Bryan's name. I don't really understand it -- the only reason I can think to flip his name around is to sound less nerdy, yet he's being sold as a nerd anyway. It's bound to cause confusion!
Posted by: Carreg | February 9, 2011 3:38 PM
hay kev so cm punk really did have is nose broke or is it just storyline thnaks
RESPONSE FROM KE: It's legit.
Posted by: darryl | February 9, 2011 4:09 PM
I'm surprised nobody picked up on what im going to say........
This week, during the 2.21.11 promo, I think they threw in a clue as to the identity of the person. They added a couple of lines of lyrics from a Johnny Cash song(i dont know which).....and they went something like 'Aint no grave gonna hold me down'.
Now, the last time we saw the Undertaker, he was buried alive!! I'll be surprised if its anybody other than 'Taker, but it would be totally amazing if it was indeed Sting!!
Posted by: UK Paul | February 9, 2011 5:15 PM
WRESTLEMANIA GUEST HOST IS THE ROCK OR STEVE AUSTIN.WHO ELSE COULD IT BE THAT WOULDNT BE A LET DOWN
Posted by: sean lang | February 9, 2011 5:56 PM
R Truth is awful. His spinning forearm move ( i believe its the lie detector) is in the top 5 worst moves of all time thats supposed to be special. The only thing i like about him is seeing him at a live event and acting like a fool during his entrance.
Posted by: iron mike sharpe | February 9, 2011 5:59 PM
I was thinking about 2 other possible guest hosts for Wrestlemania. First was Regis. Since he has been apart of WM before and has gotten a lot of publicity recently about his retirement, it could be a good "main stream" pull WWE looks for.
The other guest host I was thinking of was Stone Cold. Now everyone will plug in names like Austin, the Rock, or HBK however, it seems that WWE is serious about Tough Enough this time around. WWE could parlay Stone Cold hosting WM into kicking off Tough Enough. It would be logical for him to host WM to give some attention to the new show. If Austin said yes to hosting Tough Enough I'm sure he would say yes to hosting Wrestlemania.
Posted by: mat | February 9, 2011 6:40 PM
I disagree with that first comment by Eric. Vicki was pretty bad at first, but her character has developed into a very effective heal. Now, whether or not the creative team has her do things that don't make the best sense is a different issue.
Posted by: Ruzious | February 9, 2011 7:13 PM
Okay Kev, i see where you're coming from now regarding the Sheamus-Henry angle. It does seem a little far-fetched when you put it that way, haha.
Posted by: Orton.1 | February 9, 2011 7:28 PM
Regarding Lawler as the big baby face, it annoyed me that after watching the 2008 video of Punk being ambushed by Legacy and Orton that Lawler kept saying Punk should handle it one on one without criticizing Orton when he was the heel. I know I'm looking for logic where I shouldn't, but still...
Posted by: Alex | February 9, 2011 11:19 PM
World Wrestling Entertainment is going to film the WrestleMania this year in 3D. Its gonna take place in Atlanta on 3rd April and is going to be the first event of WWE as well as first MMA or wrestling event in North America that will be filmed in the 3D format. Excited!
Posted by: Dips | February 10, 2011 12:23 AM
This guest host for WrestleMania concept is extremely intriguing... I mean, it could be just about anybody! It could be The Rock. It could be Justin Bieber. It could be Aaron Rodgers. It could be "Mr. WrestleMania" Shawn Michaels. It could be "Mr. Baseball" Bob Uecker. It could be Conan O'Brien. It could even be Barack Obama! I mean, wow, it could even be Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself! Or an immediate family member of his. My guess: the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
Regardless, when else would WWE ever have a GUEST HOST for one of its shows? This is cutting edge, outside-the-box thinking that will surely raise its status and definitely not a wick that they've been burning from both ends for almost 2 years..
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | February 10, 2011 12:29 AM
I haven't watched WWE wrestling for couple of months now. I'm not happy with tons of new faces. But what surprised me in Royal Rumble was the look of CM Punk and Randy Orton.
They look...tired and skinny. Specially Orton lost a lot of pounds. Does anyone know if he has any problems?
Posted by: Dejan | February 10, 2011 2:05 AM
Hey Kev, I can see The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin as the guest host of Wrestlemania... But can you see Diesel (Kevin Nash) hosting Wrestlemania?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Nash doesn't seem like a big-enough deal to me.
Posted by: Adrian Seminara | February 10, 2011 3:17 AM
Surprised you didn't mention the Vince-Orton interaction. As Orton stared down Vince, Vince smiled and nodded! That's not how i would react to someone who punted me in skull a while back!
Just because you're both faces Vince, doesn't mean you have to like each other!
Posted by: Bryan | February 10, 2011 5:42 AM
I agree with Eric, they need to find some new wrinkles for Vicki Guerrero's character. Kudos to Vince for giving her a job and to her for her energy and enthusiasm.
But the inane, tired dialogue and awkward construct (run with Ziggler rather than Edge this time) isn't adding much to the product.
It would be interesting to see what she could do if the creative team would take a risk and let her run with something deeper and more substantial than the superficial, repetitive fluff she's been given.
Posted by: Mark | February 10, 2011 8:15 AM
I saw a link to a video to promote the RAW in fresno. 2/21/10. It was talking about the main event and then the return of the undertaker. So, unfortuneatly, we will not be seeing sting in WWE. Maybe he finally called it a career. What is your take?
Posted by: Peter | February 10, 2011 8:49 AM
How do you think, Just for Men felt when Natalya told Micheal cole that his just for Men products weren't working.....
Posted by: Micheal Deff | February 10, 2011 9:17 AM
By the way, did anyone else hear Michael Cole stumble over his words after referencing the Raw GM with the male gender in the first segment? Cole said "he" and then paused midway through his next word, then just kept going. It sounded as though the GM is supposed to be female and Cole realized he screwed up as soon as he said it.
Of course, since Vince was in the building, Cole might have paused to listen to something being yelled at him over the headset and gotten the same reaction.
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | February 11, 2011 1:29 AM
Hey Kev,
I can't believe I didn't pick up on this sooner, but it's all starting to make sense. While I may have been wrong about my 2-21 prediction, I think I'm onto who the guest host of WrestleMania is going to be. Vince said they had hosting experience and I just got done watching Ring Posts Xtra, with host Kevin Eck.
I need to camp out at BWI now so I can alert the dirt sheets when you board your flight to Anaheim. You lucky dog, spending Valentine's with the Bella twins like every other guest host.
Posted by: James C | February 11, 2011 1:41 AM
"(Punk) interfered in Orton's match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view to gain revenge for Orton attacking him and costing him the world heavyweight title in 2008. Logically, that would make Punk a babyface and Orton a heel, but the crowd loves Orton and loves to hate Punk, so logic gets thrown out the window."
I disagree, I think it is perfectly suitable for CM Punk to be the heel here, but the announcers didn't dig deep enough to put Punk's actions over as cowardly.
If someone wrongs you, then you should confront them in a timely fashion. What kind of person waits two years to confront someone on an issue? And what kind of person builds up a group to back him on the issue before he confronts the person? Not a hero.
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | February 11, 2011 11:28 AM
So sometime before Wrestlemania, I guarantee you will see this: Guest Host The Rock is talking via satellite and is interrupted when the music plays for #1 contender Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio comes out and states, "My name is Alberto Del Rio! But you already...." However, he is unable to complete his sentence as the Guest Host of Wrestlemania interrupts him: "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!"
I also think the Wrestlemania Guest Host will play into a storyline about Hollywood and the WWE Universe that directly leads to a John Cena heel turn.
Finally, the Wrestlemania Guest Host will also be involved in a storyline involving HHH and Sheamus.
One final thought: perhaps the Wrestlemania Guest Host will have a mic showdown with a returning Chris Jericho?
Posted by: Steve from Eldersburg | February 12, 2011 10:27 AM
Austin will be the host in order to promote him being the Tough Enough host. They'll wait 'til next year to use the Rock's stardom to get PPV buys by putting him in the HOF when all the Wrestlemania festivities are in his hometown Miami.
Posted by: Xelpzat | February 12, 2011 5:21 PM
you are going to face john cean on monday night raw
Posted by: Anonymous | February 13, 2011 4:00 AM
hey so who is the host for the best WM yet it is my first time watching it ? i am pretty slow. it better be good.
Posted by: *kstar* | February 14, 2011 5:50 PM
oh my god,finally the rock has come back
Posted by: wrestle | February 15, 2011 3:05 AM