On that note, it's tough to grade Hill as our guest host, as he became a solo guest host after story lines were no doubt already written.

 

However, I have to grade our guest host on what I saw, and it wasn't pretty.

 

Let's review:

 

 

1. 42 minutes in? REACT: Yes, we're that far into the show before we see our first Dule Hill sighting. That's pathetic. We had John Cena with an expected plug for his Wednesday show. The Miz was solid here.

 

2. Pyro. REACT: Setting off pyro to scare Maryse was funny.

 

3. Vince McMahon makes a match. REACT: Isn't this the role of the guest host? Shame, shame.

 

4. 1:21 in? REACT: Dule Hill is now pushing buttons in the control center. I guess he did give us Kelly Kelly for a few minutes, so he gets some bonus points.

 

5. Cena again? REACT: Did I actually hear someone say Dule Hill was doing a great job as guest host? This was all for Cena's appearance.

 

6. Smacked by Alicia Fox. REACT: Dule Hill got Alicia over. He did something right.

 

7. Dule Hill's grade. REACT: Grade: D. Simply brutal. WWE did well in having James Roday on the speaker phone, but Hill added almost nothing to the show as guest host. The only thing saving Hill from an F was awesome cross-promotion for Cena's appearance on "Psych" on Wednesday night.

 

 

1. Unified Tag Team Champions DX beat The Legacy. REACT: Before the match, DX teased a split. This is a smart angle for the Royal Rumble. The match was pretty solid, with Shawn Michaels doing most of the work. I do think The Legacy continues to take one step back each week.

 

2. Big Show beats MVP. REACT: I did not like how MVP was talking up a feud with The Miz before this important match. However, The Miz had a very strong promo, and MVP held his ground with a solid promo. But, why were the "prison talk jokes" acceptable in this new WWE? Also, if WWE was going to bother pushing MVP vs. The Miz, why have MVP get squashed by The Big Show? Shouldn't Big Show be facing The Miz next then?

 

3. Maryse beats Eve. REACT: Strong match, by women's standards.

 

4. Kofi Kingston beats United States Champion The Miz in a Non-Title Match. REACT: Decent match, but it's stupid to make it look like Kofi can only win like from a distraction by MVP. It buries Kofi.

 

5. Carlito vs. Kelly Kelly ends in a no contest. REACT: This was a complete waste of time. Carlito wasn't dressed in his gear, Santino Marella came out and said he was going to take Kelly Kelly's place, and that match never happened either because Jack Swagger came out and destroyed Marella. None of the three -- Carlito, Marella or Swagger -- were built up as believable enough to win the Royal Rumble. In Swagger's case, it's too little, too late.

 

6. Gail Kim beats Alicia Fox. REACT: The result surprised me here, as Alicia was starting to grow on me. She had a fiery segment with Dule Hill, and a decent match with Gail.

 

7. WWE Champion Sheamus beats John Cena by disqualification. REACT: I felt Sheamus was built up nicely during the match. Cena had a nice rally after running back into the ring on an 8-count. Sheamus' kick to Cena's face near the end was very well done. While Orton's run-in makes sense since he could beat down Sheamus before their match Sunday, it made no sense for Cena to lay out Orton and be the only one standing with Sheamus and Orton on the mat. Why push one of 30 Royal Rumble participants and have the two guys in the world-title match laid out?

 

 

1. Threatens Undertaker? REACT: This -- McMahon daring Undertaker to call him a coward -- better be followed up on.

 

2. "Is there a reason to bring back Bret?" REACT: Yes.

 

3. "We want Bret." REACT: The crowd continues to crave this feud.

 

4. McMahon going into the crowd and asking fans about Bret. REACT: Strange part of the show. Were these vocal fans plants?

 

5. John Cena. REACT: He really sold this segment with his "help building empire," "lining your pockets and serving your ego," and "pathetic" comments to McMahon. I found it interesting that he brought up the names of Shawn Michaels, Undertaker and Batista, in addition to Roddy Piper.

 

6. August 24, 2035. REACT: I'll assume Cena is correct that McMahon will be 90 on that day. Cena was funny when he said he would have knock McMahon out of his wheelchair and kick his false teeth down his throat, for Andre The Giant, Outback Jack and Bret Hart.

 

7. It's official. REACT: I'm very interested to see where this angle goes next Monday.

 

 

1. The Legacy. REACT: It's time The Legacy steps up their game. Randy Orton saying he is going to win Sunday with or without them was rather silly.

 

2. The Royal Rumble numbers. REACT: I think this was the same numbers recap as last year, with updates. It was still interesting to see the numbers. The key number, of course, is 70 percent of the Royal Rumble winners going on to win a world title at WrestleMania.

 

3. William Shatner. REACT: Shatner could be blind-folded next week and do a better job than Dule Hill did this week.

 

 

The McMahon-Cena segment was by far the best part of the show. I had no problem with the wrestling, either, But, quite a few wrestlers were made to look stupid. The Royal Rumble was pushed, but not as well as it could have been. The guest host was horrible. Grade: C+.