Kyle Busch, Joey Logano on next week's Raw!
Snoop Dogg:
1. A good first impression. REACT: Snoop came to the ring in a pink car, and he had The Bella Twins and Eve with him.
2. No nonsense. REACT: Snoop wasted no time making matches. By my count, he made five of the six matches! And he didn't verbally waste time doing so.
3. Hornswoggle-Chavo Guerrero-Jillian-Santino Marella. REACT: Too busy of a segment, but made up for very nicely with the technical difficulties screen making us think Snoop was smoking when all he did was bring out his stash of scented candles. Funny, although it pushed the PG rating.
4. Chavo vs. Snoop. REACT: Snoop executed a nice clothesline and an awesome spear. As a Snoop fan (I've seen him in concert), I marked out.
5. Pushing his music. REACT: Nothing run with trying to generate a CD push. He got to show his music video and did some dancing.
The grade: Snoop started slow and didn't take up much TV time, but he finished strong. He was funny and quick-to-the-point. He also got physically involved, which bumped his grade up from a C+. Grade: B+.
The angles:
1. DX. REACT: They took up a big part of the show (well, Triple H did). They tried to talk like Snoop, which was funny. They pushed the Raw-Smackdown match big-time, which was good (although I absolutely hated how they went on and on about Smackdown's team having a bunch of no-names). They shockingly pushed the censors by mentioning the Kane girlfriend angle (hasn't anyone been reading the Linda McMahon news this past week? -- see below in headlines and my reacts section). And they brought up Kofi Kingston not talking Jamaican, which was just strange.
2. Raw vs. Smackdown (7 on 7). REACT: I didn't care for the bickering between the Raw team. Cody Rhodes as captain isn't credible to use. However, I will say that the Raw team bickering makes it seem like the Smackdown team has a chance -- which is good -- because I don't see how the Smackdown team can win.
3. Ted DiBiase. REACT: His face turn is starting. The crowd seems to crave it, at least the Jacksonville crowd did.
4. Tribute to Captain Lou Albano. REACT: Awesome segment. The words "entertainment," "colorful," "charismatic" and "successful" ring true.
The matches:
1. Big Show/Mark Henry/Cody Rhodes/Kofi Kingston/Jack Swagger beat MVP/Evan Bourne/Primo/Chavo Guerrero/Chris Masters. REACT: I didn't like how the Raw team said if a Raw team member lost they would be replaced. That weakened the original selections. This match was just average, although I did like how Swagger stole the pin to keep his heel status on what will be the crowd-favored team.
2. WWE Champion Randy Orton beats Ted DiBiase. REACT: DiBiase should have fought back. I hated the angle tease, and not fighting back was stupid.
3. Triple H beats John Cena. REACT: Started out slow, but this match did go two commercial breaks. I'm surprised this is only their "fourth meeting ever" (TV, I guess). The crowd was really into this match, and it didn't finish strong. I didn't get why Cena released his hold when he could have gotten a submission. I should have known when Cena got to do "You Can't See Me" to HHH that Cena would lose. And why does Cena bother to go to the top rope? That never works for him. Otherwise, great match. HHH needed the win and Cena needed the loss as he had too much momentum going into Sunday's PPV.
4. United States Champion The Miz beats Marty Jannetty. REACT: Decent match, considering Jannetty is pretty much retired.
5. WWE Divas Champion Melina beats Jillian. REACT: Melina was tripping all over herself on the way into the ring. The match wasn't the best, but it was quick.
6. Shawn Michaels vs. Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho ends in a No Contest. REACT: I'm disappointed this match didn't happen, but we might see it down the road. WWE simply ran out of time. The "petulant little children" comment by Jericho to Team Raw was funny. The free-for-all to end the show was a decent PPV push, although inserting Vickie Guerrero into this is unnecessary.
Raw grade: Shocking (with Cena losing) and a strong PPV push. But teasing a DiBiase face turn wasn't cool. Grade: B-.
NASCAR invades WWE next Monday!
NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Joey Logano will be next week's guest hosts. David Arquette and Courtney Cox were rumored. REACT: Arquette/Cox both would have been better together as hosts, for many reasons, than just Arquette being a host. But with WWE confirming Busch and Logano on Raw for next week's show, Arquette/Cox is just a rumor. I'll have complete reaction right here early Tuesday morning as racin' joins 'rasslin. For more on Busch and Logano, visit http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/articles/12142940/nascarguesthosts
Smackdown/Sunday's PPV:
Just when I thought Smackdown would counter with a strong 7, it produced some weak names. I didn't think it made sense to have Chris Jericho strongly push his heel status on the crowd, generating boos, when the concept is Smackdown vs. Raw. I'll preview the PPV later this week. (Is it just me, or is the Raw vs. Smackdown concept dumb? Food for thought.)
TNA WRESTLING REACTION
Awesome match Thursday between Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles, even better than WWE's top match of CM Punk vs. John Morrison from Thursday's WWE Superstars.
As for Sunday's PPV, Kevin Nash got good reviews for a nice match finish, which is always good to hear. Samoa Joe losing to Bobby Lashley was questioned, but it makes sense. It was nice to see Kurt Angle put over Matt Morgan, Sting put over AJ Styles and Mick Foley put over Abyss. The Ultimate X match, as always, was awesome. It looks like Booker T is done here and likely WWE-bound. I do think the Sara (Victoria)-Kim Couture angle should have been acknowledged and not ignored.
LATEST HEADLINES AND MY REACTS
Donald Trump's next Celebrity Apprentice to feature Bill Goldberg, Maria and Cyndi Lauper. REACT: Trump has a WWE connection, but I'm wondering if Torrie Wilson's success on "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here" helped.
Connecticut Democrats send three YouTube WWE videos (Scott Steiner/Stephanie McMahon, Lita/Edge and Triple H/Katie Vick) to reporters to show how Linda McMahon's former WWE objectify women. REACT: All three of these were bad, none worse than the others.
Hulk Hogan tells Bubba "The Love" Sponge's radio show when his ex-wife Linda filed for divorce he put a gun to his mouth and nearly pulled the trigger. The Kabuki Dragon said he is saddened to see Hogan "make up lies such as suicide attempts to keep his name in the media." REACT: No one but Hogan knows what he almost did or didn't do.
Rene Dupree wants Shane McMahon to join him in Japan as his tag-team partner. REACT: Now that's funny.
Former WWE employee Mike Witt talks about Shane McMahon's business relationships in WWE, reminding us he is still a major shareholder and can return at any time. REACT: Good point by Witt, who rubbed many current WWE employees wrong with his comments.
THREE AWESOME LINKS
In case you missed them:
Wednesday's South Park: http://tinyurl.com/ygxxp5p
Irv Muchnick discussing his Benoit book: http://tinyurl.com/yllwrjv
The Rock on Saturday Night Live: http://tinyurl.com/ygdjofx
